Joseph Herbert Smith is the Patriarch of the Smith Family, one of the most prominent families in Levuka, Suva, and Qamea.

Joseph was born on 15 August 1873 and is the eldest child of two children to Thomas East Smith and Maria Dale in Southampton, London, England. He was baptized on November 7, 1873 in Hammersmith, Middlesex, England.

Joseph and his brother, Stanley Cecil Smith, became scholars at age 8, and Joseph became a Junior Master Mariner at 18 years old in 1891. 

Joseph comes from a long lineage of Seafarers and sailors in his family. 

He came to Fiji in 1904 on aboard HMS Rosemary to deliver materials for the British Crown in Lautoka Port and Levuka where he meets Flora Mitchell and marries Flora on 28 June 1906. His younger brother, Stanley, came to the wedding and met Ella Mitchell and later married her in 1907.

Joseph would permanently settle in Fiji for Economic opportunities that was available to European Settlers especially when Fiji at the time was under British colonial rule. 

Having seen the increased trades in sandalwood and copra which made Joseph realize that he can transition from a mariner to a successful planter and landowner.

He would soon be married to Flora Mitchell in Somosomo, Fiji on 28 June 1906. She was the daughter of Frederick George Mitchell and Adi Matila Maramanikaiviwa and a direct descendants of the Lovoni people who owned islands in Cakaudrove and Lomaiviti specifically Ovalau where the Lovoni resided in.

He married Flora out of strategic reasons, to gain access to lands in Silana, Levuka, and Qamea and several other islands in Cakaudrove. Joseph and Flora would have five sons together from the oldest to youngest. They are named Thomas Smith, Walter Smith, Stan Smith, Frederick George Smith, and Herbert William Smith. 

It is unknown where he died but there were hints that he was sailing around the Reefs of Ovalau where he passed away. He would be murdered by a man from Qamea who knocked Joseph out by throwing an object at him and falling to the waters while unconscious. 

Joseph would pass away on 23 June, 1917 at age 44. He was buried in Levuka on 26 June, 1917. His death would leave his wife to be a widow to look after five children and her brother’s children in Silana, Flora managing the huge family including the management of the estate. This made her a symbol of strength for the Descendants of the Smith Family.