He wrote a life of the sculptor Joseph Nollekens, that was noted for its "malicious candour",[1] and was a keeper of prints for the British Museum.

He gave up his topographical drawing and acting ambitions to compile Antiquities of London and its Environs which was later described as his favourite work.

His next publication, Vagabondiana, or Anecdotes of Mendicant Wanderers through the Streets of London, had an introduction by Francis Douce, who had at one time also worked for the British Museum.

[1] The unkind portrait of Nollekens was also accompanied by short biographies of other leading figures that were better received and are a valuable source for art historians.

[7] Smith died from inflammation of the lungs on 8 March 1833 at his home at 22 University Street, off Tottenham Court Road.

[2] He left Anna Maria (born Prickett) – whom he had married 45 years previously – unprovided for,[4] and also an adult son and daughter.

[2] Smith's 1797 work Remarks on Rural Scenery contains what appears to be the earliest reference[8] to the compositional "rule of thirds".