Bertram Evelyn (Bill) Smythies (11 July 1912 (

Nainital Nainital (Kumaoni language, Kumaoni: ''Naintāl''; ) is a town and headquarters of Nainital district of Kumaon division, Uttarakhand, India. It is the judicial capital of Uttarakhand, the Uttarakhand High Court, High Court of the state being ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

) – 27 June 1999 (Redhill,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

)) was a British forester and

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

Life

Bertram 'Bill' Smythies, the elder brother of

John Raymond Smythies John Raymond Smythies (30 November 1922 – 28 January 2019) was a British neuropsychiatrist, neuroscientist and neurophilosopher. He had a long academic career at institutions such as the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the University o ...

, was born in

in 1912. His father E. A. Smythies, was

silviculturist Silviculture is the practice of controlling the growth, composition/structure, as well as quality of forests to meet values and needs, specifically timber production. The name comes from the Latin ('forest') and ('growing'). The study of forests ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

(and, in the 1940s, Chief Conservator of Forest of

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

). His mother, Olive Smythies, ''née'' Cripps, was the author of ''The Tiger Lady''. After school in the UK, Bill read

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

. Bill's grandfather Arthur Smythies (1847- 1934) came to India in 1873 to join the

Indian Forest Service The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is the premier forest service of India. .The IFS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) & the Indian Police Service (IPS). It was constituted in the year 1966 un ...

and served until 1902 around

Dehra Dun Dehradun (), also known as Dehra Doon, is the winter capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, ...

. Bill's father Evelyn (Arthur's son) had degrees in forestry and geology from Oxford and served in the Indian Forest Service from 1908 to 1940. Evelyn was based in

, where Bill was born in 1912. He wrote: ''... "started hill trekking at the age of six months, camping in tents in the hills of Kumaon... brought up within sight of Nanda Devi and Trisul - who could fail to have a love of mountains and natural history?"'' Bill Smythies' father took up a contract post of Forest Advisor to the Maharaja of Nepal and moved to

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

after 1940 and stayed on till 1947. During this time Bill used to visit his father in Nepal and had access to places that were normally out of bounds for foreigners. Bill Smythies joined the Burma Forest Service in 1934. During this time he explored the botany and ornithology of these Burmese regions with his Kachin guide and friend Sumdu Mai. He spoke fluent Burmese, Jingpo, Malay and

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language The Iban language () is spoken by the Iban, one of the Dayak ethnic groups who live in Brunei, the Indonesian provinc ...

. He was a great fan of the British

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and explorer

Kingdon-Ward Francis Kingdon-Ward, born Francis Kingdon Ward OBE, (6 November 1885 in Manchester – 8 April 1958) was an English botanist, explorer, plant collector and author. He published most of his books as Frank Kingdon-Ward and this hyphenated form ...

. In January 1949 Bill was appointed to the Colonial Forest Service in

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

where he spent 15 years. At the age of 52, the day he left Sarawak. in 1964 he married Florence Mary (Jill) Rogers a noted botanical artist. The next fifteen years were spent in the Spanish Sierras, the mountains of Britain, the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

before moving to England. In 1986, Bill Smythies endowed the Jill Smythies Award in honour of his wife whose career as a botanical artist had been cut short by an accident to her right hand. It has been given annually since 1988 by the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

"to a botanical artist in recognition of excellence in published illustrations, such as drawings or paintings, in aid of plant identification, with the emphasis on botanical accuracy and the accurate portrayal of diagnostic characteristics". The entry criteria specifies that the award is for botanical art that it 'an aid to identification and a portrayal of diagnostic characteristics' and excludes "flower paintings that are merely artistic" and "illustrations of cultivars of garden origin." Jill Smythies died in 1994. She was survived by Bill who would die in 1999.

Works

Bill Smythies wrote several major books and papers including: *''The Birds of Burma'' (first published 1940) *''Birds of Borneo'' *''Common Sarawak Trees'' *''Flowers of South-West Europe'' (with

Oleg Polunin Oleg Vladimirovitch Polunin (November 1914 – July 1985) was an English botanist, teacher and traveller. He was one of three sons to the artists Vladimir (born in the Russian Empire) and Elizabeth Polunin. All three sons were interested in the n ...

and Jill Smythies) *''Flowers of Greece'' *''Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands. Englera 3: 1 – 88 (1984)''

References

General References

*Davison, G.W.H. (1999). B.E. Smythies. (In: Smythies, B.E.; & Davison, G.W.H. The Birds of Borneo. 4th edition. Natural History Publications (Borneo): Kota Kinabalu). * Wright, Belinda.(1999). Obituary: Bertram 'Bill' Smythies. OBC Bulletin 30 (Nov 1999): 7–8.

External links

Birds of Burma (2nd edition)

B.E. (Bill) Smythies, 1912-1999
E.F. Bruenig, ASSOCIATION NEWS'', The International Forestry Review,'' Vol.1, No.3, ''SPECIAL ISSUE: PLANTATIONS'' (1999), pp. 203–204 https://www.jstor.org/stable/42609204 (also in ''Borneo Research Bulletin'' (1999
Volume 30
pp. 7–1

from th
Borneo Research Council

BERTRAM EVELYN SMYTHIES (1912-1999)
obituary by S. L. JURY for the (former) BSBI journal '' Watsonia'' 23: 370-371 (2000)
Jill Smythies - An account and history by Dr. Stephen L. Jury
at the University of Reading Herbarium website. *"The H. H. Bloomer Awardbr>Mr Bertram Evelyn Smythies
''THE LINNEAN'', (1986 pp. 23 – 24) {{DEFAULTSORT:Smythies British foresters Colonial Forest Service officers Imperial Forestry Service officers 1912 births 1999 deaths British ornithologists Indian foresters Forestry in Myanmar Forestry in Malaysia British people in colonial India People from British Malaya People from Nainital 20th-century British botanists 20th-century British zoologists