Frederick Edwin Smith 1st earl of Birkenhead

Frederick Edwin Smith Birkenhead, 1st earl of , 1872-1930, British statesman and jurist. He was called to the bar in 1899 and entered the House of Commons as a Conservative in 1906. A brilliant orator, he soon gained prominence as a Conservative spokesman, particularly in the fight against Irish Home Rule. He was solicitor general (1915), attorney general (1915-19), in which capacity he prosecuted Sir Roger Casement , and lord chancellor (1919-22). Created earl in 1922, he was (1924-28) secretary of state for India. His books include International Law (4th ed. 1911), Famous Trials of History (1927), Law, Life, and Letters (1927).

Bibliography: See biography by his son, Frederick, 2d earl of Birkenhead (1933-35, rev. ed. 1959).

Smith, Frederick E., 1st Lord Birkenhead (1872–1930). Lord chancellor. Educated at Birkenhead and Oxford, Smith made a name for himself as a barrister in Liverpool where (1906) he was elected as a Conservative MP. In 1915 he became solicitor‐general and then attorney‐general in the wartime coalition government, and in 1919 was appointed lord chancellor; from 1924 to 1928 he served as secretary of state for India. Though a supporter of Ulster's right to opt out of Home Rule, Smith did his best to bring about a compromise in the Irish question, and played a key part in the negotiations which led to the Irish treaty of 1921.