F. W. F. Smith (1907-75; 2nd Earl of Birkenhead, succeeded father 1930; Viscount Furneaux, 1921; Baron Birkenhead, 1919) was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took modern history. He was parliamentary private secretary to Halifax, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (1938-39), a lord-in-waiting to King George VI (1938-40 and 1951-52) and to the Queen (1952-55). He wrote the biographies of the first Earl of Birkenhead (1933 and 1935), Lindemann (1961), Halifax (1965), Walter Monckton (1969) and Rudyard Kipling (1978).
See list of letters .