HE has been dubbed the David Beckham of his day.

Gilbert Smith was a famous footballer who rose to become captain of the England squad in the 1890s and was idolised by almost every schoolboy in the country.

Described as one of the greatest centre forwards in the history of the game, he was the best-known soccer player of his age.

Smith played for England at least 17 times, making 13 appearances as captain, before retiring and embarking on a second career as a schoolmaster.

He retired to Penning-ton in 1932 and became one of the local school’s greatest benefactors. Pupils lined part of the route when his funeral was held at the village church in 1943.

Smith is one of 25 New Forest figures who feature in Lives Less Ordinary, a new exhibition at the |St Barbe Museum in Lymington.

A museum spokesman said: “Smith was the David Beckham of his day. He was the first public personality to emerge from the world of football and was every schoolboy’s idol.”

Other personalities selected by |St Barbe include a best-selling writer and a shotgun owner who once opened fire on a cross-Solent ferry.

The writer was Dennis Wheatley, who lived at Grove Place, Lymington, between 1945 and 1968.

Best known as the author of novels about Satanism and the occult, Wheatley also wrote a book about the Russian revolution and a biography of Charles II.

During the Second World War his job was to deceive the enemy by writing bogus but official-looking documents that were then fed to the Nazis.

Wheatley and his wife visited Lymington in 1944 and bought the badly-neglected Grove House for £6,400.

Embarking on a major restoration scheme, he also built a 200ft long wavy wall, followed by a second serpentine structure that can still be seen in Church Lane.

Wheatley owned a London flat and left Lymington in 1968, partly because he could no longer afford to maintain two homes.

Other figures featured in the exhibition include barrister Andrew Peterson, who built the iconic Sway Tower between 1879 and 1885.

Completed at a cost of £30,000 it remains the world’s tallest non-reinforced structure built entirely of concrete. The 13 floors are accessed by a spiral staircase comprising 400 steps.

Dan Bran was a well-known boatbuilder who lived at Rope Walk Cottage in King’s Saltern Road, Lymington.

The museum spokesman said: “He was undoubtedly one of the town’s great characters.

“Virtually illiterate and something of a stranger to personal hygiene, he was known to enjoy a drink and was famous for firing his shotgun across the bows of an Isle of Wight ferry after its wake tipped his punt.”

The exhibition runs until January 10.