Smith was born in London in 1752, the eldest of seven children of Charles and Hannah Smith and cousin to James Cook's wife Elizabeth. He enlisted for naval service in 1767 at the age of thirteen, using his family connections to secure an immediate ranking of able seaman and a position aboard under Cook's command, for a survey voyage off the west coast of Newfoundland. On 27 May 1768, and still ranked able seaman, he transferred to his second vessel, Cook's, at Deptford ahead of its expedition to the Pacific to observe the 1769 Transit of Venus and then to search the south Pacific for signs of the postulated Terra Australis Incognita.
Pacific exploration
Smith sailed with Cook to Tahiti, then to New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. On 28 April 1770 he became the first European to set foot on eastern Australian soil, Cook telling him "Jump out, Isaac" as the ship's boat touched the shore at Botany Bay. A month later on 23 May 1770, Smith was promoted to midshipman following James Magra's suspension on suspicion of having assaulted Cook's clerk. Cook's lieutenant Zachary Hicks died from tuberculosis in May 1771, and was replaced by the master's mateCharles Clerke. In turn, Smith was promoted to fill Clerke's former role and served with distinction for the remainder of the voyage. Cook singled him out in a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty in 1772, noting that Smith "had been of great use to me in assisting to make Surveys, Drawings &c in which he is very expert." Smith sailed again with Cook in 1772, as master's mate aboard. He assisted first mate Joseph Gilbert in drawing Cook's maps and survey charts during the voyage, including one of the first recorded maps of Tierra del Fuego in 1773. Smith's wider artistic talents were also demonstrated by the production of a small watercolour of icebergs, painted while Resolution sailed close to Antarctica in 1773. On Resolutions return Cook again singled Smith out for praise, advising Admiralty that he was "a Young man bred to the Sea under my care and who has been a very great assistant to me in , both in this and my former voyage."
Independent command
On Resolutions return to England in 1775, Smith was promoted to lieutenant and given command of the elderly 16-gun sloop, holding this post for two years. In December 1787, he was promoted to post-captain in command of the 36-gun frigate HMS Perseverance.The future Admiral John Surman Carden was a member of Smith's crew from 1787 to 1793, before his transfer to. As captain of Perseverance, Smith was assigned to the East Indies Station under the overall command of Admiral William Cornwallis and took part in the capture at sea of the French frigate in 1791 at the Battle of Tellicherry, shortly before the outbreak of the first French Revolutionary War.
Later life
Despite this achievement and continued commendation from his superiors, Smith's active service days were drawing to a close. In 1794 he contracted hepatitis, and his ill health gradually prevented him from performing his duties. In either 1804 or 1807 he applied for and received a promotion to the superannuated post of Rear Admiral and returned to England to retire. In initial retirement Smith shared a house in Clapham with his cousin, Cook's widow Elizabeth, until in the 1820s he inherited Merton Abbey in Merton, Surrey, from his brother in law. He then divided his time between these two homes, until his death on 2 July 1831 at the age of 78. His will left a sum of £700 to the church of St Mary the Virgin in Merton, the interest from which was to support the poor of the parish. A memorial to Smith, originally financed by Elizabeth Cook, stands in the church grounds.
