>Henkle at 03:40, 20 April 2021

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'''Evelyn Arthur Smythies''', [[Order of the Indian Empire|CIE]] (19 March 1885<ref name=bate>Bateman, Robert. ''Stamp collectors' who's who''. London: [[Stanley Gibbons]], 1960, p. 81.</ref> – 10 January 1975<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=H.G.C.|date=1975|title=Evelyn Arthur Smythies, C.I.E.|journal=The Commonwealth Forestry Review|volume=54|issue=2 (160)|pages=101–103|issn=0010-3381|jstor=42604409}}</ref>), was a distinguished [[forester]] and [[philatelist]], born of British parents in India.<ref>With respect to Smythies' given name, [[John Evelyn]] was the author of [[Sylva, or A Discourse of Forest-Trees and the Propagation of Timber]] (1664), widely recognised as one of the most influential texts on [[forestry]] ever published.</ref> 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.

== Forestry ==
Born in [[Dehradun]], [[India]], on 19 March 1885 to forestry conservator Arthur Smythies (1847- 1934) and his wife Gertrude (formerly Gertrude Aston),<ref>James Phillips-Evans, ''The Longcrofts: 500 Years of a British Family'', CreateSpace, 2012, p. 237.</ref> Evelyn Arthur Smythies was educated at [[Cheltenham College]],<ref name="abps.org.uk">{{cite web |title=Who Was Who in Philately |publisher=[[Association of British Philatelic Societies]] |date=2021 |url=https://www.abps.org.uk/who-was-who-in-philately/#glossary-s |access-date=19 April 2021 }}</ref> and received his degree in geology and a diploma in [[forestry]] from [[Oxford]] in 1908, then served in the [[Indian Forest Service]]<ref>Benjamin Weil, "Conservation, Exploitation, and Cultural Change in the Indian Forest Service, 1875–1927", ''Environmental History'' v. 11 no. 2 (April 2006).</ref> from 1908 until 1940, based in [[Nainital]]. He was Chief Conservator of the Forest of Nepal from 1940 through 1947.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/Handlist_S.htm#SMYTHIES |title="Nepal under the Ranas," Notes written in 1967. |access-date=13 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061202171057/http://www.s-asian.cam.ac.uk/Handlist_S.htm#SMYTHIES |archive-date=2 December 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Smythies' ''The Forest Wealth of India'' appeared in 1924. That same year, with C. G. Trevor, he authored ''Practical Forestry Management.''<ref>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)</ref>

Smythies and [[Jim Corbett]] proposed that an area around [[Ramnagar, Nainital|Ramnagar]] 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 parks of India|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]].

== Philately ==
''The Half Anna Lithographed Stamps of India,'' a monograph by Smythies and [[Denys R. Martin]] 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;<ref>Smythies, L. E. Dawson and [[H. D. S. Haverbeck]] ''The Postage Stamps of Nepal'' Collectors Club (1952)</ref> and on [[Jammu]] and [[Kashmir]], written with L. E. Dawson.<ref>[http://www.kashmirstamps.com/DawsonContents.html E. A. Smythies and L. E. Dawson, ''The Postage Stamps of Jammu & Kashmir Simplified'' Philatelic Society of India, The Mall, Lahore (1937)]</ref>

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]].<ref>[http://data4.collectionscanada.ca/netacgi/nph-brs?s3=&s4=&s5=&s7=&s8=&s9=&s1=&s2=&s6=162218&s10=&s11=&l=20&Sect4=AND&Sect1=IMAGE&Sect2=THESOFF&Sect5=MKDOPEN&Sect6=HITOFF&d=MIKA&p=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.collectionscanada.ca%2F02%2F02012302_e.html&r=1&f=G Canadian Postal Archives (National Archives of Canada) Accession 1989-565.]</ref>

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 honoured as a [[Order of the Indian Empire|Companion of the Indian Empire]].

== Family ==

Smythies was the elder brother of Bernard 'Bunny' Smythies (father of [[Yorick Smythies]]) and of Enid Smythies ([[Richard Dawkins]]' paternal grandmother).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://cdn.waterstones.com/special/pdf/9780593070895.pdf|title=An Appetite For Wonder: The Making of a Scientist : A Memoir|last=Dawkins|first=Richard|year=2014|isbn=9780552779050|location=London|pages=11–12 [and family tree in front matter]|oclc=870425057}}</ref> His wife, Olive Muriel ''née'' Cripps<ref name=":1" /> was the author of ''The Tiger Lady''.<ref name=":0" /> Their elder son, [[Bertram E. Smythies]], was known for his work in forestry and the study of birds in [[Burma]], [[Borneo]] and [[Sarawak]]. Their younger son, [[John Raymond Smythies]], was a distinguished neuropsychiatrist and neurophilosopher and author of 14 books in these subjects.

== Publications ==
* E. A. Smythies and A. [C. G.] Trevor, ''[[iarchive:practicalforestm00trevuoft|Practical Forestry Management: a handbook with special reference to the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh]],'' Allahabad, Government Press, United Provinces (1923) [At [[Internet Archive]]]
* 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. Martin]] 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. Dawson|L.E. Dawson]], ''The Postage Stamps of Jammu & Kashmir Simplified'' Philatelic Society of India, The Mall, Lahore (1937) [http://www.kashmirstamps.com/DawsonContents.html 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 India]] (1947) {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030214100458/http://www.geocities.com/~rgh14/bc/page6.html |date=14 February 2003 |title=On line excerpts }}
* E. A. Smythies and [[H. D. S. Haverbeck]] 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. (1973).
* 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)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smythies, Evelyn Arthur}}
[[Category:People educated at Clifton College]]
[[Category:British philatelists]]
[[Category:People from Nainital]]
[[Category:1885 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:Imperial Forestry Service officers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Philatelic Society London]]
[[Category:Philately of India]]
[[Category:Forestry in India]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:British foresters]]
[[Category:Forestry in Nepal]]

E. A. Smythies - Revision history

>Henkle at 03:40, 20 April 2021