E. A. Smythies
Encyclopedia
Evelyn Arthur Smythies, CIE
(1885-1975), was a distinguished forester
and philatelist, born of British parents in India. Smythies was an expert on the ecology
of Uttarakhand
and Nepal
. His careful studies of the earliest postage stamps of India
, Jammu
and Kashmir
, Nepal
, and Canada
produced groundbreaking handbooks on which philatelists rely, even today.
, and received his degree in geology
and a diploma in forestry
from Oxford
in 1908, then served in the Indian Forest Service
from 1908 until 1940, based in Nainital. He was Chief Conservator of the Forest of Nepal from 1940 through 1947.
Smythies' The Forest Wealth of India appeared in 1924. That same year, with C. G. Trevor he authored Practical Forestry Management.
Smythies and Major Edward James (Jim) Corbett
proposed that an area around Ramnagar, Uttarakhand
be made a "National Park
" to protect the threatened tigers and other living things. These include the tiger, elephant, chital, sambar, nilgai, gharial, King Cobra, Indian muntjac, wild boar, hedgehog, common musk shrew, flying fox, Indian Pangolin, and nearly 600 species of birds. In 1936, the Hailey National Park came into being as India's first National Park
. It was renamed the Ramganga National Park after India's Independence, but later it was renamed the Jim Corbett National Park
in today's Uttarakhand
.
appeared in 1927. Martin and Smythies also produced a pioneering study of the 1854 Four Annas, which won the 1932 Crawford Medal of the Royal Philatelic Society London. Other Smythies monographs appeared on the stamps of Nepal
, written with L. E. Dawson and H. D. S. Haverbeck; and on Jammu
and Kashmir
, written with L. E. Dawson.
In 1956 Smythies' interest shifted to Canadian stamps and postal history. He focused on British North America but also included Canadian cancels, duplex cancel
s, registered stamps, precancels, rollers, secret dates, Admirals and perforations. Forgers held a special interest for Smythies: these include Jean de Sperati
, Angelo Panelli and Philip Spiro
Smythies was active in the philatelic community. He was a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London and the Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain. He was also a leading member of the Philatelic Society of India
, the editor of their journal in 1947, and permanent Vice-President.
Smythies was honored as a Companion of the Indian Empire
. Smythies' wife, Olive, was the author of The Tiger Lady. Their elder son, Bertram E. Smythies
, was known for his ecological work and study of birds in Burma, Borneo
and Sarawak
. Their younger son, John Raymond Smythies
is a distinguished neuropsychiatrist and neurophilosopher and author of 14 books in these subjects.
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
(1885-1975), was a distinguished forester
Forester
250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...
and philatelist, born of British parents in India. Smythies was an expert on the ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
of Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
and Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. His careful studies of the earliest postage stamps of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
produced groundbreaking handbooks on which philatelists rely, even today.
Forestry
Smythies was educated at Clifton CollegeClifton College
Clifton College is a co-educational independent school in Clifton, Bristol, England, founded in 1862. In its early years it was notable for emphasising science in the curriculum, and for being less concerned with social elitism, e.g. by admitting day-boys on equal terms and providing a dedicated...
, and received his degree in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and a diploma in forestry
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
from Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
in 1908, then served in the Indian Forest Service
Indian Forest Service
The Indian Forest Service is the Forestry service of India. It is one of the three All India Services of the Indian government, along with the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service; its employees are recruited by the national government but serve under the state governments or...
from 1908 until 1940, based in Nainital. He was Chief Conservator of the Forest of Nepal from 1940 through 1947.
Smythies' The Forest Wealth of India appeared in 1924. That same year, with C. G. Trevor he authored Practical Forestry Management.
Smythies and Major Edward James (Jim) Corbett
Jim Corbett (hunter)
Edward James "Jim" Corbett was a British hunter, conservationist, author and naturalist, famous for slaying a large number of man-eating tigers and leopards in India....
proposed that an area around Ramnagar, Uttarakhand
Ramnagar, Uttarakhand
Ramnagar is a small town and municipal board in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand, India. It is located approximately from Nainital, the headquarters of the district....
be made a "National Park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
" to protect the threatened tigers and other living things. These include the tiger, elephant, chital, sambar, nilgai, gharial, King Cobra, Indian muntjac, wild boar, hedgehog, common musk shrew, flying fox, Indian Pangolin, and nearly 600 species of birds. In 1936, the Hailey National Park came into being as India's first National Park
National parks of India
This is a list of all national parks of India. India's first national park was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park, now known as Jim Corbett National Park. By 1970, India only had five national parks...
. It was renamed the Ramganga National Park after India's Independence, but later it was renamed the Jim Corbett National Park
Jim Corbett National Park
Jim Corbett National Park—named for the hunter and conservationist Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment—is the oldest national park in India. The park was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park...
in today's Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand
Uttarakhand , formerly Uttaranchal, is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the Land of Gods due to the many holy Hindu temples and cities found throughout the state, some of which are among Hinduism's most spiritual and auspicious places of pilgrimage and worship...
.
Philately
The Half Anna Lithographed Stamps of India, a monograph by Smythies and Denys R. MartinDenys R. Martin
Colonel Denys Richard Martin . ranks among the most distinguished philatelists of the Twentieth century. As a systematic scholar and prolific writer, Martin illuminated some of the most difficult topics and set a high standard for the study of the postage stamps and postal history of India and...
appeared in 1927. Martin and Smythies also produced a pioneering study of the 1854 Four Annas, which won the 1932 Crawford Medal of the Royal Philatelic Society London. Other Smythies monographs appeared on the stamps of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
, written with L. E. Dawson and H. D. S. Haverbeck; and on Jammu
Jammu
Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...
and Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, written with L. E. Dawson.
In 1956 Smythies' interest shifted to Canadian stamps and postal history. He focused on British North America but also included Canadian cancels, duplex cancel
Duplex cancel
A duplex cancel was a hand stamp used to cancel postage stamps and imprint a dated postmark applied simultaneously with the one device. The device had a steel die, generally circular, which printed the location of the cancel, together with the time and date of cancel...
s, registered stamps, precancels, rollers, secret dates, Admirals and perforations. Forgers held a special interest for Smythies: these include Jean de Sperati
Jean de Sperati
Jean de Sperati was among the most noted stamp forgers of the world. Even professional stamp authenticators of his time attested to the genuineness of his stamps...
, Angelo Panelli and Philip Spiro
Smythies was active in the philatelic community. He was a Fellow of the Royal Philatelic Society London and the Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain. He was also a leading member of the Philatelic Society of India
Philatelic Society of India
The Philatelic Society of India was formed in 1897 by a group of, mainly, expatriate Englishmen resident in the country as the first all-India philatelic society...
, the editor of their journal in 1947, and permanent Vice-President.
Smythies was honored as a Companion of the Indian Empire
Order of the Indian Empire
The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1878. The Order includes members of three classes:#Knight Grand Commander #Knight Commander #Companion...
. Smythies' wife, Olive, was the author of The Tiger Lady. Their elder son, Bertram E. Smythies
Bertram E. Smythies
Bertram Evelyn Smythies was a British forester and ornithologist.Smythies was born in India, to E. A. Smythies, silviculturist of Uttar Pradesh and, in the 1940s, Chief Conservator of Forest of Nepal, and his wife, Olive, well-known author of The Tiger Lady...
, was known for his ecological work and study of birds in Burma, Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
and Sarawak
Sarawak
Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...
. Their younger son, John Raymond Smythies
John Raymond Smythies
John Smythies M.D. F.R.C.P. is a neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and neurophilosopher . He has made extensive contributions to knowledge in a number of fields including the neurochemistry of schizophrenia and the neuropharmacology of psychedelic drugs ; the functional neuroanatomy of synapses...
is a distinguished neuropsychiatrist and neurophilosopher and author of 14 books in these subjects.
Works
- E. A. Smythies and A. [C. G.] Trevor, Practical Forestry Management: a handbook with special reference to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, Allahabad, Government Press, United Provinces (1923)
- E. A. Smythies, India’s Forest Wealth. India of today 4:1-137. London, Humphrey Milford Oxford University Press (1924); Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Oxford University Press (1925)
- Denys R. MartinDenys R. MartinColonel Denys Richard Martin . ranks among the most distinguished philatelists of the Twentieth century. As a systematic scholar and prolific writer, Martin illuminated some of the most difficult topics and set a high standard for the study of the postage stamps and postal history of India and...
and E. A. Smythies, Half Anna Lithographed Stamps of India (1928) - D. R. Martin and E. A. Smythies, The Four Annas Lithographed Stamps of India, 1854-55 London, Philatelic Society of India and Stanley Gibbons Ltd. (1930)
- E. A. Smythies, Notes on the Government of India Stamp Collection at New Delhi. Delhi. 1933
- E. A. Smythies and L.E. DawsonL. E. DawsonLionel Edward Dawson was a philatelist who won the Crawford Medal from the Royal Philatelic Society London for his work on the One Anna and Two Annas Postage Stamps of India, 1854-55...
, The Postage Stamps of Jammu & Kashmir Simplified Philatelic Society of India, The Mall, Lahore (1937) On line excerpts - E. A. Smythies, Big game shooting in Nepal: With leaves from the Maharaja's sporting diary Calcutta, Thacker, Spink (1942)
- Col. G. L. Roberts and E. A. Smythies, The Japanese Occupation Stamps of Burma. Philatelic Society of IndiaPhilatelic Society of IndiaThe Philatelic Society of India was formed in 1897 by a group of, mainly, expatriate Englishmen resident in the country as the first all-India philatelic society...
(1947) On line excerpts - E. A. Smythies and H. D. S. HaverbeckH. D. S. HaverbeckHarrison Donald Seaman Haverbeck or H.D.S. Haverbeck, FRPSL, RDP , was a noted philatelist and philatelic journalist, whose interests centered on India and Indian states, Tibet and Nepal....
and L.E. Dawson, The Postage Stamps of Nepal The Collectors Club (1952) - E. A. Smythies and K. M. Day, Canadian Fancy Cancellations of the 19th Century, British North America Philatelic Society handbook (1962). 2nd ed. (1981).
- E. A. Smythies, Canadian duplex cancellations of the Victorian era 1860-1902 2nd ed. Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain (1963)
- E. A. Smythies and A. F. Smith, Canadian Registered Letter Stamps and Cancellations-1875-1902 Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain
- E. A. Smythies, Canadian roller cancellations, 1894-1930 Canadian Philatelic Society of Great Britain (1965)
- E. A. Smythies B.N.A. fakes and forgeries, British North America Philatelic Society handbook. J. F. Webb (1971)