Thomas Christopher Smout

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, FBA,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

, FSA Scot, FRSGS (born 19 December 1933) is a Scottish academic, historian, author and Historiographer Royal in Scotland.

Early life

One of the five sons of

Arthur Smout Sir Arthur Smout (18 November 1888 – 21 February 1961) was first Director-General of Small Arms Production for the British Armed Forces during World War II and later became Director-General of Ammunition Production at the Ministry of Supply ...

, Christopher Smout was educated at The Leys School and

Clare College, Cambridge Clare College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The college was founded in 1326 as University Hall, making it the second-oldest surviving college of the University after Peterhouse. It was refounded ...

. Gazetter for Scotland:
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Career

Smout taught at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, from 1959 until 1980. At Edinburgh, he rose steadily through the academic ranks in the Department of Economic History – as an Assistant Lecturer (1959–62), as a lecturer (1962–64), and as a

reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

(1964–70) before being appointed as professor of economic history in 1970. At St Andrews University from 1980 to 1991, Smout held the Chair of Scottish History. He is now professor emeritus in history at St Andrews University. Smout was a visiting professor at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

from 1991; and he has lectured in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Smout has written extensively on demographic history and many aspects of economic history. Since the mid-1990s, he has developed the new discipline of environmental history in Scotland, giving the Ford Lectures in Oxford in 1999, published under the title of ''Nature Contested, Environmental History in Scotland and Northern England since 1600.'' ''A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920'', written with Alan R. MacDonald & Fiona Watson is the first modern history of Scottish woodlands. It examines the relationship between people and woodlands. His most recent publications in this field have been in woodland history and an environmental history of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

. His focus extends beyond the purely academic. For example, Smout has argued that conservationists should judge species based on whether or not they are pests, ignoring their origins. Smout used his position to argue in favour of reviving the title "

Princess Lyon Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

". He suggested that the Princess Royal should be known by this title when she is in Scotland, much in the same way her brother, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and

Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a ro ...

is traditionally identified as the

Duke of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( ; gd, Diùc Baile Bhòid; sco, Duik o Rothesay) is a dynastic title of the heir apparent to the British throne, currently William, Prince of Wales. William's wife Catherine, Princess of Wales, is the current Duchess of R ...

, Earl of Carrick and

Lord of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...

when he is in Scotland. Smout has also interested himself in small local issues.

Public service commitments

St Andrews Centre for Advanced Historical Studies ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

, 1992–97, Director. *

Institute for Environmental History An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

, 1992–2001, Director. * Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), 1991–97, Deputy chairman. *

National Museums of Scotland National Museums Scotland (NMS; gd, Taighean-tasgaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. It runs the national museums of Scotland. NMS is one of the country's National Collections, ...

, Trustee. * Scottish Coastal Archaeology and the Problem of Erosion Trust (SCAPE), Chairman. * Institute of Scottish Historical Research, 2007.

Royal appointments

* Historiographer Royal of Scotland, 1993. *

Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

. *

Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts The Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts (widely known as the Historical Manuscripts Commission, and abbreviated as the HMC to distinguish it from the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England), was a United Kingdom Royal Com ...

, 2002–5.

Selected works

* . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . *. * . * . * . * . * . * . * . * . Smout TC, MacDonald Alan R & Watson Fiona. A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500 - 1920. Edinburgh 2005

Honours

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, Commander, 1994. *

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, honorary doctorate, 1999. *

, honorary doctorate, 1996. *

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, honorary doctorate, 2001. * University of Stirling, honorary doctorate, 2002. *

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

, fellow. *

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

, fellow. * Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, fellow

Notes

References

* Devine, Thomas Martin and Paddy Logue, (2002)
''Being Scottish: Personal Reflections on Scottish Identity Today.''
Edinburgh:

Edinburgh University Press Edinburgh University Press is a scholarly publisher of academic books and journals, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. History Edinburgh University Press was founded in the 1940s and became a wholly owned subsidiary of the University of Edinburgh ...

External links

* University of Edinburgh
"Debating the Union of 1707."
10 January 2007—streaming audio {{DEFAULTSORT:Smout, Christopher 1933 births Living people Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of St Andrews 20th-century Scottish historians Environmental historians Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh People educated at The Leys School Alumni of Clare College, Cambridge Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 21st-century Scottish historians