The first Landmark Trust building to open was Church Cottage in Llandywydd, Wales.
John Smith, Born 1923
BANKER & FOUNDER OF THE LANDMARK TRUST
Sir John Smith was educated at Eton. He joined the Fleet Air Arm in 1942 and flew as a navigator in an operation to dive-bomb the German battleship Tirpitz in Kvænangen fjord in July 1944. After the War, he read history at New College, Oxford. He followed the family tradition of being a director of the Coutts and Co, where he was the ninth generation of Smiths to work in the bank. Smith served on committees of the National Trust from 1952 to 1995, and was deputy chairman from 1980 to 1995. He founded the Manifold Trust in 1962, to raise money for charity by buying long leases close to the date of their expiry. This funded many of his charitable interests, including the Landmark Trust, which he and Lady Smith founded three years later. Sir John identified and acquired properties for restoration, while Lady Smith supervised their fitting out, commissioning soft furnishings for each inspired by objects or design features associated with the buildings. After the death of the Speaker of the House of Commons in 1965, Smith was elected to succeed him as Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster. Smith served until he stood down in 1970. He was knighted in 1988.
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