Francis Smith (Australian politician)

Infobox Officeholder
honorific-prefix = Sir
name = Francis Smith
honorific-suffix =


imagesize =
small

caption =
order = 4th
office = Premier of Tasmania
term_start = 12 May 1857
term_end = 1 November 1860
vicepresident =
viceprimeminister =
deputy =
predecessor = William Weston
successor = William Weston
constituency =
majority =
birth_date = birth date|1819|2|13
birth_place = Lindfield, Sussex, England, UK
death_date = death date and age|1909|1|17|1819|2|13
death_place = London, England, UK
nationality = flagicon|UK British
party =
spouse = Sarah Giles
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater =
occupation =
profession = Lawyer
religion =


footnotes =

Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith (13 February 1819 – 17 January 1909) was a British lawyer, judge and politician, who was the fourth Premier of Tasmania from 12 May, 1857 until 1 November, 1860.

Smith was born in Lindfield in the English county of Sussex, the eldest son of London merchant Francis Smith and Marie Josephine Villeneuve. Smith would acknowledge his mother's ancestry from French naval admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve by adopting her surname in 1861. The Smith family emigrated to the Australian colony of Van Diemen's Land (later called Tasmania) in 1826, settling in Campania near Richmond. Smith, however, returned to England to further his education, studying law at Middle Temple and arts at University College London. He was admitted to the Bar on 27 May 1842.J. M. Bennett, F. C. Green, [http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A060165b.htm 'Smith, Sir Francis Villeneuve (1819 - 1909)'] , "Australian Dictionary of Biography", Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, 1976, pp 144-145.]

In 1851 he became a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council and soon after became Attorney-General. He was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1856. He was Attorney General in William Champ's first ministry from 1 November, 1856 until 26 February, 1857. When William Weston's ministry (1857) collapsed he proceeded to form his own with himself as Premier and Attorney General, he held office for three years until 1860 becoming the first Premier of Tasmania to hold office for more than one year.

He represented the now-defunct electorate of Fingal. He was also Chief justice of the Supreme Court of Tasmania. Smith was knighted in 1862.

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