Sir William Reardon Smith, 1st Baronet (7 August 1856 – 23 December 1935) was an English shipowner and philanthropist.

[1] Descended from Irish seafaring stock, he was born at Appledore, Devon, the youngest son of Thomas Reardon Smith, a merchant navy captain, and his wife Elizabeth (née Green).

[2] After her husband and eldest son Philip Green Smith were lost at sea when the schooner Hazard sank off the coast of South Wales in October 1859, his mother was forced to bring up her surviving eight children by herself on her income as a dressmaker.

Reardon Smith went to sea at the age of 12, joining the crew of the 32-ton wooden sloop Unity as a cabin boy and served from August to December 1870.

Service on other ships followed during which he gained experience in the coastal trades of the Bristol Channel as well as carrying railway lines to the US and copper ore from Chile.

Reardon Smith came ashore in December 1900 and joined his wife Ellen (née Hamlyn), who had recently relocated the family from Devon to Cardiff.

However, after the Holman family from Topsham in Devon[7] showed their faith in him by buying a large number of shares the remainder were soon taken up.

[2] Following her delivery in March 1906, she was placed in the traditional exporting of coal and transporting back grain under the command of his brother John Smith with his son Harry serving as second mate.

Under Reardon Smith's careful management, the vessel was profitable from the start with the first two voyages giving a return of 8% per share.

[8] Instow's second vessel, the Leeds City was a trunk deck ship delivered in 1908 also by Ropner & Son.

[11] Reardon Smith's wartime losses were initially replaced in 1919 when seven ships were acquired from the Swansea-based Letricheux & David Co.[12] and then in 1920–21 by nine German vessels surrendered as War reparations which were purchased for £468,000.

These factors in combination with post-war optimism lead to vastly inflated ship values to create a boom which lasted until the late spring of 1920.

[14] This boom resulted in a massive increase from 1919 onwards, when 88 shipping company prospectuses were issued at Cardiff, fuelled by the belief that the freight rates which had been inflated by wartime requirements would continue indefinitely.

Despite the grim economic outlook, Reardon Smith misjudged the market and continued to expand, establishing the Oakwin Shipping Co. Ltd in 1920 with capital of £100,000.

Two ships were sold, two transferred to the Oakwin Shipping Co and the remainder transferred to the St Just Steamship Co.[9] In response to what had been his most disastrous maritime venture, Reardon Smith offered as compensation one share from his personal shareholding in the financially sound St Just Steamship Co Ltd for every three Cornborough shares.

[8] In the late 1920s, in response to the continued deterioration in maritime trade, Reardon Smith began to reduce the size of his fleet, with seventeen of the older ships eventually being sold.

The Reardon Smith Line started a regular service from Great Britain to the West Coast of the United States.

[8] Reardon Smith died peacefully in his eightieth year after a short illness on the evening of 23 December 1935 at his home, Cornborough in Cardiff, surrounded by his family.

Once finished, the boats were rowed on the flood tide up the River Torridge to Bideford and then taken from the water and transported by rail to the shipyard constructing the new ship.

[18] Reardon Smith was a major benefactor to the National Museum of Wales and served as its Treasurer (1925–1928) and President (1928–1932).

[21] Although, at the time, Lloyd George was selling baronetcies for £15,000 and Cardiff had the reputation of being the "city of dreadful knights", there is no conclusive evidence that Reardon Smith paid for his title.