Memphis lawyer D. Jack Smith, 68, has worked a lifetime as a supporter of local history. But it is little known that he also supports the history of a small town across an ocean. So much so that he holds the title of Lord of Great Horwood, a village about 70 miles northwest of London, according to a media report.
As a state legislator in 1967, Smith made headlines by sponsoring a bill that repealed the Butler Act, the law that banned the teaching of evolution in Tennessee state schools. He is also a staunch supporter of maintaining the name of Forrest Park in Memphis, which is home to a statue of the controversial Civil War Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest.
But his interest in history extends far beyond the state lines: The Manorial Society of Great Britain named Smith as Horwood's new lord on Halloween in 1997, The Commerical Appeal reported.
Smith had a team of British lawyers and representatives negotiate the sale of the title, which had been held by the New College at Oxford University for more than five centuries.
"It's awe-inspiring to think I have something that Oxford held alone for twice as long as the United States of America has existed," Smith told the newspaper.
Smith said the lordship once belonged to a French monastery and it has origins all the way back to William the Conqueror. Smith declined to say how much he spent to become a lord.
"It appealed to me to hold something that will last my lifetime and that my family will inherit," he said.
If the pictures that accompany the certificate are any account of his approval among the people of Great Horwood, Smith is a well-liked leader, even if the title is an honorarium lacking any privileges.
One picture shows Smith at Great Horwood's summer festival two years ago, which was given a "Yankee Doodle" theme in honor of their American lord.
Smith has contributed to efforts to restore an 11th century church in the town and other local causes.
"I have had a deep love of history, all my life," Smith told the paper. "I wanted to try and live history and not just read about it. These lordships have so much tradition."
