Edward Percy Smith

British politician (1891–1968)

Edward Percy Smith

Member of Parliament for Ashford
In office 1943 – 23 February 1950
Preceded by	Patrick Spens
Succeeded by	Bill Deedes

Personal details
Born	(1891-01-05)5 January 1891 Wandsworth, London
Died	25 May 1968(1968-05-25) (aged 77) Eastbourne, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Mary Newland

Edward Percy Smith (5 January 1891 – 25 May 1968) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom and a playwright under the name Edward Percy.

Biography

Born in Wandsworth, London, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashford at a by-election in 1943, and held the seat until he stood down at the 1950 general election.

Under the name Edward Percy, he was a popular playwright. His plays included The Shop at Sly Corner and, with Reginald Denham, Ladies in Retirement.^[1] He also worked occasionally in television and film, including contributing to the screenplay for the 1960 Hammer horror film The Brides of Dracula. He died in Eastbourne aged 77.

Smith has earned mild infamy among biologists for releasing 12 specimens of the marsh frog in his garden at Stone-in-Oxney, Kent, during the winter of 1934–5.^[2] These escaped into a nearby mere, before steadily spreading. Today, it is regarded as an invasive species which eats the tadpoles of the common frog and which it widely succeeds.

Selected plays

The Last Straw (1937)
The Shop at Sly Corner (1945)

References

^ Reginald Denham, Stars in My Hair, page 150
^ Lever, Christopher (2009). The naturalized animals of Britain and Ireland. New Holland. ISBN 9781847734549. OCLC 432408429.

Craig, F. W. S. (1983) [1969]. British parliamentary election results 1918-1949 (3rd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. ISBN 0-900178-06-X.
Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs