Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet

General Sir Lionel Smith, 1st Baronet GCB GCH (9 October 1778 – 2 January 1842) was a British diplomat, colonial administrator, and soldier.

His mother was noted writer and feminist Charlotte Smith.

[1] In 1821, General Smith, then serving in the Bombay Army, commanded a punitive campaign against the Bani Bu Ali tribe in Oman.

During his governorship, the United Kingdom passed the Abolition Act that stated that slavery "shall be and is hereby utterly abolished and unlawful".

On 1 August 1838, Governor Sir Lionel read the Proclamation of Freedom to a crowd of 8,000 at the celebration of emancipation in the Square of Spanish Town, the then capital of Jamaica.