Sir William Wright Smith FRS

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 ...

FLS

VMH The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...

LLD (2 February 1875

Lochmaben Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...

Dumfriesshire Dumfriesshire or the County of Dumfries or Shire of Dumfries (''Siorrachd Dhùn Phris'' in Gaelic) is a historic county and registration county in southern Scotland. The Dumfries lieutenancy area covers a similar area to the historic county. I ...

– 15 December 1956) was a Scottish botanist and horticulturalist.

Life

He was born at Parkend farm near

, the son of James T. Smith, a farmer. He was educated at

Dumfries Academy Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

and then studied at

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 ...

where he graduated MA around 1895. He then undertook postgraduate studies at the

University of Toulouse The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. He rose to become from 1922 to 1956 the Queen's Botanist in Scotland, the 10th

Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal status of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is intrinsically linked to the issue of a Royal Warrant to the first Intendant of the Gardens in 1699. Since that date, the appointment of each new Director of RBGE has required the as ...

Regius Professor A Regius Professor is a university Professor (highest academic rank), professor who has, or originally had, Monarchy of the United Kingdom, royal patronage or appointment. They are a unique feature of academia in the United Kingdom and Republic ...

of Botany at the University of Edinburgh. Aberdeen University granted him an honorary doctorate (LLD). He was elected President of the

Botanical Society of Edinburgh The Botanical Society of Scotland (BSS) is the national learned society for botanists of Scotland. The Society's aims are to advance knowledge and appreciation of flowering and cryptogamic plants, algae and fungi. The Society's activities includ ...

for 1922–25 and 1935–36. He was elected a Fellow of the

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 ...

in 1919, his proposers being Sir

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...

James Hartley Ashworth James Hartley Ashworth FRS FRSE DSc SZS (2 May 1874 – 4 February 1936) was a British marine zoologist. Life See He was born on 2, May 1874, in Accrington in Lancashire, the only son of James Ashworth. He spent most of his early life in Bu ...

and Donald Cameron McIntosh. He served as secretary to the society 1923–28, vice-president 1928–31, president 1944-49 and won the society's

Makdougall-Brisbane Prize 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 ...

for 1940–42. He was knighted by King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

in 1932 and elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1945.

Research

From 1907 until 1910, Smith went travelling in northern India with his nephew and ward, Roland Edgar Cooper

, collecting samples in

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

and

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

. Cooper later took over from Smith in his role of Head Curator of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

. Smith is known for his research on: *'' Beesia'' *''

Photinia loriformis ''Photinia loriformis'' is a species in the family Rosaceae. They grow to a height of approximately 3 meters. They are common in China. References

Photinia, loriformis {{maleae-stub ...

'' *'' Platanthera oreophila'' *''

Primula alpicola ''Primula alpicola'', the moonlight primrose, is a species of ''Primula'' native to Bhutan and southeastern Tibet, where it grows in vast numbers along the Tsangpo valley alongside '' Primula florindae''. Their habitats hardly ever overlap; ''P. ...

''Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 15: 85. 1926.

Family

He was married to Emma Wiedhofft. In 1905 they took guardianship of their nephew, Roland Edgar Cooper. They went on to have children of their own, three daughters named Lesley, Alison and Peggy

References

1875 births 1956 deaths People from Dumfries and Galloway Academics of the University of Edinburgh Scottish botanists Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Veitch Memorial Medal recipients Victoria Medal of Honour (Horticulture) recipients Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scottish horticulturists Botanists with author abbreviations {{UK-botanist-stub