Sir Peter Henry Berry Otway Smithers (9 December 1913 – 8 June 2006) was a

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament for

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

for 14 years, and a junior Minister in the early 1960s. He also served as Secretary General of the Council of Europe from 1964 to 1969.

Life

He was educated at Hawtreys,

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

and

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

. He received a First Class Honours Degree in

modern history The modern era or the modern period is considered the current historical period of human history. It was originally applied to the history of Europe and Western history for events that came after the Middle Ages, often from around the year 1500, ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

from the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1936. Smithers became an officer in the

Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Roya ...

in 1937 and by 1958 he retired as a lieutenant commander. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was associated with intelligence work, being a friend and colleague of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

, who arranged for Smithers' diplomatic career. Smithers' ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' obituary suggests he was the model for Fleming's most famous character, Commander

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

. Other possibilities are discussed in Inspirations for James Bond. He received a number of diplomatic postings, being Assistant Naval Attaché at

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and Acting Naval Attaché at

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

(also covering part of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

). Smithers served as a councillor on Winchester Rural District Council (later amalgamated into Winchester City Council) 1946–50. He was elected as MP for

at the 1950 general election and sat until he resigned in January 1964 on his appointment to the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

post. He had previously been a British delegate to the council. He was Parliamentary Private Secretary to a number of Ministers before becoming Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

1962–1964. Smithers was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

in the 1970 New Year Honours. Smithers was enthusiastic about plants from childhood. By the end of his life, he recorded that he had tried to grow over 32,000 species. He created gardens in houses where he lived in Winchester (England), Cuernavaca (Mexico), Strasbourg (France) and Vico Morcote (Switzerland). He introduced several plant varieties to horticulture duch as

Lilium ''Lilium'' ( ) is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large and often prominent flowers. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in much of the world ...

'Vico Queen',

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

x wieseneri 'William Watson', Nerine 'Dreams' and Paeonia 'Dojean' He was part of a plant collecting trip to Nepal in 1970 that brought back seedlings of ''

Daphne bholua ''Daphne bholua'', the Nepalese paper plant, is a species of flowering shrub in the genus ''Daphne'' of the family (biology), family Thymelaeaceae. It grows at altitudes of in the Himalayas and neighbouring mountain ranges, from Nepal to souther ...

''. A distinctive variety raised from seeds of these plants was later named ''D. bholua'' 'Peter Smithers '. He was awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal in 1993 and the Schulthess Garden prize in 2001 for his plant and horticultural activities. At the end of his life, he was a Swiss citizen. He died on 8 June 2006 in Vico Morcote,

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, at the age of 92.

Publications

As well as writing needed for his professional career, Smithers wrote several books for the general public. These included: * Adventures of a Gardener (1995) The Harvill Press pp 211 ISBN 978-1860460593

References

* ''Who's Who of British Members of Parliament: Volume IV 1945-1979'', edited by M. Stenton and S. Lees (The Harvester Press 1981)

External links

*
Daily Telegraph obituary

Official Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smithers, Peter 1913 births 2006 deaths Royal Navy officers People educated at Harrow School Council of Europe Secretaries-General Councillors in Hampshire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Knights Bachelor Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford UK MPs 1950–1951 UK MPs 1951–1955 UK MPs 1955–1959 UK MPs 1959–1964 Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Military personnel from Yorkshire World War II spies for the United Kingdom British expatriates in the United States Ministers in the Macmillan and Douglas-Home governments, 1957–1964 Naturalised citizens of Switzerland Victoria Medal of Honour recipients