Sir Archibald Levin Smith (26 August 1836 – 20 October 1901) was a British judge and a rower who competed at Henley and in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
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Smith was the son of Francis Smith, J.P. of Salt Hill, Chichester and his wife Mary Ann Levin. He was baptised at New Fishbourne, West Sussex[1] although he had some Jewish ancestry.[2] He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge.[3] He suffered from the pituitary disorder, acromegaly, which caused him to grow to nearly 7 feet (2.1 m) tall.[4] Athletic as well as tall, he rowed for Cambridge in the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race from 1857 to 1859.[5] Oxford won in 1857 and Cambridge in 1858. In 1858 he was in the winning crews at Henley Royal Regatta in the Grand Challenge Cup with the C.U.B.C. and in the Visitors Challenge Cup and the Wyfold Challenge Cup with First Trinity Boat Club.
In the 1859 Boat Race "the race was rowed in a gale of wind, and the Cambridge boat filled and sank between Barnes Bridge and the finish.... Smith alone of the Cambridge oarsmen could not swim, and sat stolidly rowing until, when the water was up to his neck, he was rescued." In later years he regularly bet a new hat on the Boat Race with W.B. Woodgate "on principle and from patriotism to his flag, even when public favour and market odds might seem to be dead against the hopes of his own club."[6]
Smith was admitted at the Inner Temple on 27 May 1856 and was called to the Bar on 17 November 1860. He was engaged on the Home Circuit and became Judge of the High Court of Justice (Queen's Bench Division) in 1883. He was then knighted and became an honorary bencher. In 1892 he became Lord Justice of Appeal, and on 24 October 1900 became Master of the Rolls for the last year of his life.
He married Isobel Fletcher, daughter of John Charles Fletcher, of Dale Park, Sussex in 1867 and had sons Archibald and Geoffrey. Smith lived at Salt Hill, Chichester, and 40 Cadogan Place, London.
He died at the age of 65.
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| Preceded by Lord Alverstone |
Master of the Rolls 1900–1901 |
Succeeded by Sir Richard Collins |