William Smith (mariner)

William Smith (c. 1790–1847) [1] was an English captain born in Blyth, Northumberland, who discovered the South Shetland Islands, an archipelago off the Graham Land in Antarctica.

Smith had a younger brother, Thomas, and sister, Mary, and his father was a Joiner of Seaton Sluice.

[2] According to John Miers' account of the discovery, William Smith had undertaken his apprenticeship ‘in the Greenland whale-fishery’.

During his life he worked with Richard Siddins, described by historian Ida Lee as "...perhaps the greatest traveler of them all, who gave so much information concerning early Fiji, and delighted to hold mission services on board his ship in Sydney Harbour.

"[citation needed] By 1811 Smith became part owner of the ship William, which was then under construction in Blyth, Northumberland.