His parents were land speculator Lewis Francis Smith and Sarah Leicester.

[1] In 1887 he was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a Free Trade member for Balmain.

[3] In February 1892 he was convicted of conspiracy to fraudulently misrepresent the financial affairs of the company,[4] and was sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years.

In 1891 Howe had been convicted of conspiracy to defraud the company and was also sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years.

[7][8] He attempted to return to politics, standing as an independent Free Trade candidate at the July 1895 election for Balmain North, but polled just 32 votes.