Born in Brighton to a Catholic family,[1] Smith became an apprentice lighterman when he was eleven years old, but ran away to sea and settled in the United States.
There, he took a variety of jobs, from tram driver to oil well worker, teamster to fisherman.
[2] After some years at sea, Smith returned to London in 1884, where he became a taxi driver.
He was a founder member of the London Cab Drivers' Union,[2] and served as its president from 1906 to 1913.
He stood in East Dorset at the 1918 general election, then switched to Leyton West in 1922, 1923 and 1924, but never won the seat.