The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Smith, William Jardine
Smith, William Jardine, was born at Stockwell, near London, and went in 1852 to Melbourne, where he attached himself to commercial pursuits. Subsequently, he became a contributor to the Melbourne Punch and ultimately editor. He was also prominently connected with two short-lived and long defunct journals—the Spectator and Touchstone. For some years preceding his death Mr. Smith was one of the principal political leader-writers of the Melbourne Argus. He died in Melbourne on Jan. 13th, 1884, aged forty-nine years.