Humphrey Smith, the famously private owner of the Samuel Smith's brewing empire who banned mobile phones, music, television and swearing from his pubs, has died aged 81. His death was confirmed as the Union flag flew at half-mast above the historic Tadcaster brewery, prompting tributes from locals who described him as a "true gentleman" and a "man of principle".
Smith, whose family established the brewery in 1758, had run the Samuel Smith Old Brewery – the smallest of three breweries in the North Yorkshire town – since the 1980s. Taking control as chairman, he introduced sweeping changes, turning tenants into managers directly employed by the business. This allowed him to dictate the strict policies that made his roughly 200 pubs distinctive: havens from the digital world, as the company's website puts it, where customers could escape phones, screens and foul language.
“Humphrey Smith, owner of Samuel Smith's brewery who banned phones and swearing from pubs, dies at 81.”
Tadcaster's mayor, Richard Sweeting, said the town was in mourning. "He hadn't been well for a little while but Mr Smith was a private man and it was kept quiet. But it always is a shock when something actually happens," Sweeting said. "The one thing people are saying is that it is the end of an era and it's true because you often saw him walking through the town."
Smith's reclusive nature was legendary – the brewery is structured as an unlimited company, allowing it to maintain financial privacy – but Sweeting insisted Smith had Tadcaster at heart. "He's done many things in Tadcaster unseen that people don't know about. There's a lot of amenities in Tadcaster that, if it wasn't for Mr Smith and the brewery, we wouldn't have."
Councillor Kirsty Poskitt, who represents Tadcaster on North Yorkshire Council, said her family had close ties with the brewery and that Smith was passionate about local history. "He was very well-known, not just in Tadcaster, but across the country and probably throughout the world. It's impacted lots of people. It's a sad day."
Sweeting added: "Mr Smith had his standards, Mr Smith had his reasons and a lot of people understood. Mr Smith was also a man of principle and there would have been a reason for regulations in the pubs. A lot of people were quite happy for those regulations because we respected him."