▶Date of birth:  (baptised) 20 March 1820        Place of birth: Slindon, West Sussex

▶Father:  Maurice Smelt     Mother:  Mary Anne Williams

▶Spouse(s):  Hannah Mary Murray   Date(s) of marriage: 31 December 1856      Place(s) of marriage: Ockbrook, Derbyshire

▶Occupation: Clergyman; Meteorolgist

▶Lifestory: Maurice Smelt served as a parish priest along the south coast of England before retiring to Cheltenham in 1867, where he regularly reported meteorological statistics to the local newspaper. He was the eldest son of the Revd. Maurice and his wife Mary Anne; his father was Rector of Slindon. Maurice was educated at Caius College, Cambridge, BA 1842, MA 1846. He was ordained Deacon in 1843, and Priest (both Chichester) in 1844. Between 1843 and 1845 he was licensed Curate of Poling, Sussex and then of St Keverne, Helston, Cornwall 1845-6, before returning east as Curate of Patrixbourne and Bridge in Kent 1846-56.

In late 1856 he married Hannah Mary, only daughter of Captain Murray, “of the Guards”; his daughter Ellen married the Revd. Richard William Ferguson and retired with him to her cousin’s house, Balgowan House, in Cheltenham. In 1857 he became Curate of Petersfield, Hampshire 1857-63, and in 1863 he was presented to the rectory of Medstead, Hampshire.

He left Medstead in 1867, and retired to Cheltenham, where he and his family lived at Heath Lodge, Pittville Circus; he named his new house Heath Lodge after his house, named Heath Lodge, in Petersfield, which overlooked Petersfield Heath. The Revd. Maurice Smelt was a keen follower of science, and in particular of astronomy; in 1856 he had read a paper to the British Meteorological Society “on the great changes of the weather in December, at [his parish of] Patrixbourn, near Canterbury”, and in 1861 he issued a synopsis of rainfall at eighteen meteorological stations in Britain, including Helston, Little Bridy, Clifton, Southampton, Petersfield, and Slindon (it was in this year that he was elected FRAS).

He continued this work in Pittville, building an observatory in his garden at Heath Lodge and for many years he published detailed weather reports for Cheltenham in the Cheltenham Chronicle. In 1870 he became a licensed preacher in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol. He held Broad Church views, and “had no sympathy with the prosecution of Mr. Edwards, then vicar of Prestbury, for Ritualistic practises”; he was known widely in Cheltenham for his indefatigable charity work, especially with the Church of England YMCA, the Orphan Boys Asylum, and the Cheltenham and Gloucester Society for the Blind, of which he was for twenty years Honorary Secretary and then President; in 1883 he was elected to the Governing Body of the Cheltenham General Hospital and for a short while in the 1890s was on the Executive Council of the Primrose League. The Revd. Smelt presented a stained-glass window to his parish church of All Saints in 1889, and donated a clock to the church in 1892.

He died in 1904 at his home of many years, Heath Lodge, on Pittville Circus; his wealth at death was sworn at under £35,000.

▶Moved to Pittville from:  Medstead, Hampshire     Moved from Pittville to: (deceased)

▶Date of death:  6 December 1904      Place of death: Heath Lodge, Pittville

▶Date of burial:   10 December 1904      Place of burial: Cheltenham Cemetery

▶Notes:        ID: 10297

Contributor(s):  John Simpson/Alan Munden

Cheltenham Chronicle 10 December 1904: DEATH OF THE REV, M, A. SMELT. AN OLD CHELTENHAM RESIDENT: There passed away at his residence, Heath Lodge, Cheltenham, on Tuesday, at an advanced age, one who had resided in the town since 1867, and who, so long as health and strength remained to him, led a life of quiet usefulness and of unostentatious work for others. We refer to the Rev. Maurice Allen Smelt. M.A., who though he had retired from active service to the Church, as far as the holding of a benefice is concerned, when he came Cheltenham, was always ready to help in forwarding its local charitable and social institutions, and to undertake temporary duty for or assist his clerical confreres when occasion arose.

He graduated at Gonville and Caius and College, Cambridge, in 1842, and took his M.A. degree four years later. He was ordained deacon in 1843 and a priest in the following year at Chichester. His curacies were of Patrixbourne, Kent, and Petersfield, Hants; and was rector of Medstead, Hants, from 1863-67. On leaving Medstead he retired to Cheltenham, where he was, in 1870. licensed as a preacher in the diocese of Gloucester and Bristol.

His work in Cheltenham, however, chiefly consisted, as we have said, in helping others, especially the young. In the early years of his residence here he became actively associated with the Church England Young Men's Christian Association, and undertook the presidency of the Bible class held in connection with it. On his retirement from that office in June, 1871, he was presented with an illuminated address by members; and the "Cheltenham Chronicle" of that day, commenting on the gathering, says: Mr. Smelt has now been a resident among us for some years, and is always ready to lend a helping hand to anything and everything that is for our good." About this time, he also became associated with Cheltenham and Gloucester Society for Blind, and for the next twenty years he held the post of hon. secretary to that useful institution.

Though failing health necessitated of late years his relinquishment of his official connection with several charitable societies, he retained a special affection for the society for the care of the blind, and on retiring from the secretaryship he became president, a post which he has continued to occupy. His sympathy with the blind was further shown by his frequent visits to the institution, and his lectures to the inmates. He was also for many years associated with the Boys' Orphan Asylum, both as joint secretary with the Rev. C. E. Gibson and as president.

A man of somewhat broad Church views, he had no sympathy with the prosecution of Mr. Edwards, then vicar of Prestbury, for Ritualistic practices, and frequently wrote to the "Cheltenham Chronicle" during the "seventies" protesting against it. In a letter dated June, 1878. he said: "The injury done to the cause of Protestantism (by these legal proceeding) is incalculable. It is only owing to the glorious uncertainty of the law that the vicar has escaped the fate of John the Baptist at the hands of the Church Association. We are always glad see a hare escape from cruel dogs ... The plaintiffs are the Church Association and a tailor, with whom, doubtless, the vicar does not deal—had he given the snip a reasonable order for a pair of trousers this trouble might have been avoided. What can be the prospects of the Church when these two great clerical Trades Unions, the C.A. and the E.C.U., are pulling in different directions?"

Reverting to his practical charity, he was a generous supporter of the General Hospital, to whose governing body he was elected in 1863 and his large store of tickets for distribution led to his being regarded by the poor and their friends as a ready help in the time of trouble. He also extended his kindly feelings to our humbler fellow creatures of the animal kingdom, having been one the trustees and at one time president of the local branch of the Society for the Prevention Cruelty to Animals. Further, he took a passing interest politics, shown by the fact that he was for a short time in the early nineties on the Executive Council of the Primrose League.

Living in All Saints' parish, he was naturally more closely associated with the activities of that church than with any other in the town; and his assistance with its services and the Church Council was much appreciated, especially as he was gifted with a musical voice and a clear delivery. In this connection it may be mentioned that he presented a clock to All Saints' in 1892; while his interest in the Parish Church was shown by his presentation of a stained-glass window in 1889.

We may add that he was a frequent correspondent of "The Echo" and "The Chronicle," chiefly on matters of social and popular scientific interest. Indeed, he took much interest as a cultured amateur in several fascinating branches of scientific research, notably botany and horticulture and astronomy. Amongst his useful hobbies was the study of meteorology; and before the weather records were officially published by the town he was in the habit of supplying us with his notes every week, as well as with an annual summary—contributions which were much appreciated both by ourselves and by our readers. We understand that, though Mr. Smelt has recently suffered from the natural infirmities of age, his last illness was brief, and his death somewhat unexpected. He had attained the venerable age of 84. He leaves no children, and we regret to hear that his widow, who will have the deep sympathy of all in her bereavement, is seriously indisposed.

Contributor(s):  David Drinkwater