Sidney Maynard Smith CB

KStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British British monarchy ...

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, in ...

(20 September 1875 – 18 March 1928) was a British surgeon and freemason. Smith was the son of W. H. Smith, a civil engineer attached to the Admiralty (not to be confused with the

W. H. Smith WHSmith (also written WH Smith, and known colloquially as Smith's and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son) is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and ...

who was

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

). He was educated at

Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a boys' school to provide support for poor members of the medical profession such as pensioners and orp ...

and

St Mary's Hospital Medical School St Mary's is the youngest of the constituent schools of Imperial College London, founded in 1854 as part of the new hospital in Paddington. During its existence in the 1980s and 1990s, it was the most popular medical school in the country, wit ...

, as was his older brother Percy Montague Smith (1871-1961), who was also a doctor and became FRCS. He served during the

Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

as a surgeon. For service during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, he served in the

Royal Army Medical Corps The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all Army personnel and their families, in war and in peace. The RAMC, the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps ...

and was awarded the CB by Britain and the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

by France; he was thrice

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

. He was appointed consulting surgeon to the

British Fifth Army The Fifth Army was a field army of the British Army during World War I that formed part of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. The army originated as the Reserve Corps during the preparations for the Brit ...

in 1916, and later consulting surgeon to the

British Second Army The British Second Army was a field army active during the First and Second World Wars. During the First World War the army was active on the Western Front throughout most of the war and later active in Italy. During the Second World War the army ...

. For his service during the war, he was appointed Knight of Grace of the Order of St John on 1 December 1916 and Companion of The Order of the Bath (Military Division) on 1 January 1918 (recommended 23 September 1917). He became Senior Surgeon at

St Mary's Hospital, London St Mary's Hospital is an NHS hospital in Paddington, in the City of Westminster, London, founded in 1845. Since the UK's first academic health science centre was created in 2008, it has been operated by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust ...

in 1922 following the retirement of Ernest Lane. As a freemason he was Grand Deacon of the

Grand Lodge of England The United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE) is the governing Masonic lodge for the majority of freemasons in England, Wales and the Commonwealth of Nations. Claiming descent from the Masonic grand lodge formed 24 June 1717 at the Goose & Gridiron T ...

. In 1917, he married Isabel Mary Pitman, daughter of Frederick I. Pitman. They had a daughter Isabel Valentine Maynard Smith (born 1919), and a son, the biologist

John Maynard Smith John Maynard Smith (6 January 1920 – 19 April 2004) was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics ...

(1920-2004). In later life John Maynard Smith described his father as being "a poor boy made good" who married into "

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, t ...

", and recalled of their relationship prior to Sidney's death when John was eight years old "I hardly knew him; we saw him sort of

Sunday lunch A Sunday roast or roast dinner is a traditional meal of British and Irish origin. Although it can be consumed throughout the week, it is traditionally consumed on Sunday. It consists of roasted meat, roasted potatoes and accompaniments ...

- literally".Interview
of

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biologist and author. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford and was Professor for Public Understanding of Science in the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008. An at ...

: "Early childhood and a passion for natural history"

Web of Stories Web of Stories is an online collection of thousands of autobiographical video-stories. Web of Stories, originally known as Science Archive, was set up to record the life stories of scientists. When it expanded to include the lives of authors, mov ...

April 1997 He and his family lived at No. 49

Wimpole Street Wimpole Street is a street in Marylebone, central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is associated with private medical practice and medical associations. No. 1 Wimpole Street is an example of Edwardian baroque architecture, comple ...

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

Ladies' Who's Who - Page 598 books.google.com/books?id=zu4WAQAAIAAJ

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maynard Smith, Sidney 1875 births 1928 deaths British surgeons People educated at Epsom College Companions of the Order of the Bath Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England Knights of Grace of the Order of St John Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England Recipients of the Croix de Guerre 1914–1918 (France) Royal Army Medical Corps officers