MARK OF BENJAMIN SMITH II AND JAMES SMITH III, LONDON, 1809

The arms are those of Ellice impaling Grey for the Right Hon. Edward Ellice (1781-1863) and his wife Lady Hannah Althea (d. 1832), daughter of 1st Earl Grey whom he married in 1809. Ellice was of a London merchant family involved in the North American fur trade. He spent several years in Canada and became a deputy-governor of the Hudson Bay Company. In 1818, he entered politics via his wife's connections as the M.P. for Coventry. He served as Joint Secretary of the Treasury from 1830-32, and as Secretary at War from 1833-34. Although Ellice resigned from electoral politics in 1834, he remained active in political affairs and was instrumental in founding the Reform Club in 1836. His nickname was "the Bear"--"for his wiliness rather than any trace of ferocity" (Carlyle, Reminiscences, i. 207 as quoted in the DNB). In 1843, he married secondly Lady Leicester, widow of the first Earl Leicester. He inherited large landed estates in Canada and New York state.