] Duncan J. D. Smith (born 1 December 1960) is a British travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer.

Life and career

Smith was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1960. Both his parents were librarians. His maternal grandfather was P.G.M. Dickinson, former Archivist of the County and Borough of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

. Dickinson rediscovered the town charters of Huntingdon in 1941. Smith’s Scottish great grandfather was Alexander James Smith, who was instrumental in establishing

Chivas Regal Chivas Regal () is a blended Scotch whisky manufactured by Chivas Brothers, which is part of Pernod Ricard. It was founded in 1786, with its home being in the Strathisla distillery at Keith, Moray in Speyside, Scotland, and is the oldest contin ...

as a global brand in the early twentieth century. Smith’s great great grandfather was Henry Doman, the nineteenth century Lymington poet and friend of

Coventry Patmore Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore (23 July 1823 – 26 November 1896) was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry ''The Angel in the House'', a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage. A ...

. His great great great grandfather was Professor Charles Spooner of the

Royal Veterinary College , mottoeng = Confront disease at onset , established = (became a constituent part of University of London in 1949) , endowment = £10.5 million (2021) , budget = £106.0 million (20 ...

. Educated in Sheffield, Smith simultaneously ran his own private museum. He then attended Birmingham University and studied Ancient History and Archaeology. Between 1985 and 2003 Smith worked in the publishing industry, during which time he wrote five local history books about Sheffield and Yorkshire, four of them with his late father Trevor Smith. His book ''Yorkshire: A Portrait in Colour'' (1995) published by The Dovecote Press remained in print for over fifteen years. Since 2003 Smith has worked as a travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer. He favours travelling off the beaten track in search of unusual places and people. His European findings are being self-published in an original series of books called ''Only In Guides'' under his The Urban Explorer imprint. Volumes include Berlin, Boston, Budapest, Cologne, Edinburgh, Hamburg, Krakow, London, Munich, Paris, Prague, Seville, Vienna and Zurich. Smith has also written for magazines such as Timeless Travels and Hidden Europe. Smith’s travels also encompass parts of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

(including

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

), the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

(including

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

), and

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

(

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

). In 2010 Smith was made a Fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. Smith has been described as “the thinking man’s exploratory investigator”.Duncan J. D. Smith
at mikaelstrandberg.com

Bibliography

''South & West Yorkshire Curiosities'' (with Trevor Smith) (1992)
''North & East Yorkshire Curiosities'' (with Trevor Smith) (1993)
''Yorkshire – A Portrait in Colour'' (1995)
''Sheffield Curiosities'' (with Trevor Smith) (1999)
''More Sheffield Curiosities'' (with Trevor Smith) (2000)
''Only in Vienna'' (2005)
''Only in Budapest'' (2006)
''Only in Prague'' (2008)
''Only in Berlin'' (2008)
''Only in Munich'' (2009)
''Only in Hamburg'' (2010)
''Only in Cologne'' (2011)
''Only in Zurich'' (2012)
''Only in Paris'' (2013)
''Only in London'' (2015)
''Only in Edinburgh'' (2016)
''Only in Boston'' (2018)
''Only in Krakow'' (2019)
''Only in Seville'' (2021)
''Only in Dubrovnik'' (2022)

References

External links

Official Duncan JD Smith website
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Official Only in Guides website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Duncan J.D. 1960 births Living people Writers from Sheffield English travel writers Photographers from Yorkshire English historians Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society