Age, Biography and Wiki

William Smith was born on 26 January, 1954 in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is an An ulster volunteer force member. Discover William Smith's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 62 years old?

Popular As N/A
Occupation Prison orderly shipyard worker
Age 62 years old
Zodiac Sign Aquarius
Born 26 January, 1954
Birthday 26 January
Birthplace Belfast, Northern Ireland
Date of death 8 June, 2016
Died Place N/A
Nationality Ireland

We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 26 January. He is a member of famous worker with the age 62 years old group.

William Smith Height, Weight & Measurements

At 62 years old, William Smith height not available right now. We will update William Smith's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.

Physical Status
Height Not Available
Weight Not Available
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Dating & Relationship status

He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.

Family
Parents Charles William and Isobel Smith
Wife Not Available
Sibling Not Available
Children Not Available

William Smith Net Worth

His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is William Smith worth at the age of 62 years old? William Smith’s income source is mostly from being a successful worker. He is from Ireland. We have estimated William Smith's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.

Net Worth in 2024 $1 Million - $5 Million
Salary in 2024 Under Review
Net Worth in 2023 Pending
Salary in 2023 Under Review
House Not Available
Cars Not Available
Source of Income worker

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Timeline

1954

William Smith (sometimes erroneously spelt Smyth) (26 January 1954 – 8 June 2016) was a Northern Irish loyalist, paramilitary, and politician.

He had been involved in Ulster loyalism in various capacities for at least forty years.

Smith was born in Mountjoy Street on Belfast's Shankill Road into a poor Ulster Protestant family, the son of shipyard worker Charles William Smith and his wife Isobel.

He had three older sisters, Margaret, Elizabeth and Nan (the latter dying in infancy before he was born), a younger brother Gordon and a younger Sister Jean.

There was rumoured Native American ancestry in his family; therefore in his youth he acquired the lifelong nickname "Plum" after The Beano character Little Plum.

He was raised in a working class home where his parents sent him to Sunday school and taught him to respect the law.

1969

Like many of his contemporaries from similar backgrounds on both sides of the divide, the outbreak of the socio-political/religious conflict that came to be known as the Troubles in 1969 saw him become involved in paramilitarism.

1970

Along with the likes of Billy Hutchinson, David Ervine and Billy Mitchell, Smith was one of those on the UVF wings of the Maze prison in the 1970s to be won over by Gusty Spence to his newer, more politicised, way of thinking.

1971

Following the introduction of internment in 1971, Smith worked for a time as an orderly in Crumlin Road Gaol where he served six months for rioting against the British Army in the Highfield estate.

Unbeknownst to the prison authorities, Smith was working as a mole for the imprisoned Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) leader Gusty Spence, passing on information about the conditions in which the internees were being held.

Around this time Smith was a member of the vigilante group and was part of a group within the SDA that later became the Red Hand Commando, including founder John McKeague, who decided to form a new, more active organisation.

1972

In 1972, Smith was a founder-member of this new group, which quickly became an elite squad augmenting the UVF.

On 1 July Smith was one of two armed RHC men to meet Spence when he was released from prison to attend the wedding of his daughter to Winkie Rea.

He took Spence to a meeting of the UVF leadership where a plan was hatched to keep Spence out of prison.

A few days later when Spence was being returned to jail by his nephew Frankie Curry, their car was stopped on Belfast's Springmartin Road and Spence "kidnapped" by UVF/RHC operatives.

Soon after this incident Smith was himself arrested for his part in the attempted murder of Catholic civilian Joseph Hall, a drive-by shooting that Smith would later admit was motivated by "pure sectarianism and bigotry".

Smith was handed a ten-year prison sentence for the shooting.

Tried along with Ronnie McCullough and Tom Reid, Smith pleaded not guilty although he subsequently admitted that he did so to satisfy the UVF's policy of members never pleading guilty and would state that "we were caught red-handed".

1977

Smith was released on 28 July 1977 after serving five years of a ten-year sentence.

1978

Smith secured a job in the Harland & Wolff shipyard in 1978 and became involved in trade union activity, initially as a shop steward before ultimately ending up a member of the general executive of the Transport & General Workers Union.

1981

In support of his stance Smith even gave evidence at the trial of Gerry McGeough, arguing that the republican should not have been tried for the 1981 attempted murder of Sammy Brush because of the supposed deal being in place.

1988

He was dismissed from the shipyard in 1988 following a period of restructuring that involved a sell-off of part of the business, although Smith contended that his trade union activity had hastened his removal by making him unpopular with the management.

At this point the unemployed Smith became involved with a number of community schemes on the Shankill Road that were organised by Gusty Spence, initially in a voluntary capacity.

1990

The two became close and when Spence undertook a reorganisation of the PUP in 1990, Smith was given the role of chairman and Prisons Spokesman, along with Hugh Smyth as leader, David Ervine as Political Spokesman and Spence and Jim McDonald as members of the party executive.

1993

Through Spence, Smith established contacts with Joe Colgan, a Dublin-based Irish republican, and in March 1993 the two arranged an event in the city at which both a member of the UVF and the trade unionist Chris Hudson were in attendance.

As a result of the meeting Hudson opened a regular channel of contact with the UVF through which he exhorted them to seek peace.

1994

This cadre of Spence-trained political figures would go on to play a leading role in bringing about the UVF ceasefire in 1994 as members of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP).

He learnt Irish during his time in prison, and was happy to refer to the language as 'his own'.

The Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire was announced on 13 October 1994 at Fernhill House, Glencairn when Gusty Spence read out a joint statement of ceasefire flanked by Smith and Jim McDonald of the PUP and Ulster Democratic Party representatives Gary McMichael, Davy Adams and John White.

Smith was the chairman of the press conference at which Spence read out the statement.

For a time he had served as Chairman of the Progressive Unionist Party itself.

Smith would go on to devote his attentions to community work with the Ex-Prisoners Interpretative Centre although he has remained a spokesman for the PUP.

1998

Smith argued that such investigations contravened a guarantee he had been given by Mo Mowlam that offences committed before 1998 could not be prosecuted due to a general amnesty.

Soon afterwards Smith claimed that a document released by the British and Irish governments proved that the deal was in place as he claimed.

2001

He was also an unsuccessful candidate for the PUP in the Belfast City Council elections in 2001 in the Court district electoral area.

2009

In 2009 Smith was strongly critical of the report issued by the Consultative Group on the Past, as chaired by Robin Eames and Denis Bradley.

He criticised the work of the Historical Enquiries Team, which investigated unsolved incidents from the Troubles, arguing that it was opening "a can of worms" and preventing "closure".

He compared any attempts to reopen investigations and bring about criminal proceedings to the Nuremberg trials.

2010

In 2010 Smith attacked the work of Victims Commissioner Brendan McAllister, who was investigating the activities of the UVF unit based on the Mount Vernon estate, north Belfast, during the Troubles.

2012

Speaking out in 2012 about Unionist concerns at the Maze prison becoming an IRA shrine with a proposed Conflict Transformation Centre, Smith stated that if Loyalists themselves got involved in the scheme they could tell their side of the story and no one particular group could use it as a shrine.