Edmund Wyldbore-Smith

Sir Edmund Charles Wyldbore-Smith (15 January 1877 – 18 October 1938) was a British civil servant, diplomat, and businessman.

Biography

Smith was the son of Reverend Francis Smith, who was the fourth son of the second Smith-Marriott Baronet.^[1] His grandfather was Sir John Wyldbore Smith.^[2]

In 1901, he married Evadne Maude Kellet; and the couple had two daughters.

Career

In the early 1900s, Wyldbore-Smith served in the Foreign Office beginning his service as Vice-Consul at Tangiers in 1903.^[3] Four years later he was appointed Vice-Consul in Canea (modern Chania), Crete.^[4] In January 1910 he transferred to the Board of Trade where he was employed as Officer-in-Charge of Commercial Enquiries in its recently established Exhibitions Branch; in effect he acted as deputy to the Director of the Branch, Ulick Fitzgerald Wintour.^[5] During the First World War, Smith was Director of the British Executive Staff of the Commission Internationale de Ravitaillement, which was the international commission for the purchase of supplies for the Allies.^[6][7]

Wyldbore-Smith resignation from the Civil Service in 1919 opened the way for a career in business. He was appointed chairman of Thomas Cook (both the travel agency and the banking firm), succeeding Frank Cook, who was the grandson of the company's founder.

Wyldbore-Smith served as vice-president of the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (International Sleeping-Car Company) and vice-president of the Federation of British Industries. He also served as a director of the Suez Canal Company.

Honours

In 1906, he was elected to the Royal Statistical Society.^[3]

Smith was awarded decorations of seven countries, including:

• Knight Bachelor (United Kingdom)
• Légion d'Honneur (France)
• Order of Leopold (Belgium)
• Order of the Crown of Italy, 1918 (Italy).^[6]
• Order of George I, 1920 (Greece).^[8]
• Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1920 (Japan).^[9]
• Order of the Crown of Romania, 1921.^[10]

Notes

1. Burke, Edmund. (1839). "Marriages: November 22, 1838," in The Annual Register of World Events, p. 184.
2. Croslegh, Charles. (1904). Descent and alliances of Croslegh, p. 292.
3. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Vol. 75 (1912). p. 40.]
4. London Gazette, no. 28074, (30 October 1907), p. 7295
5. National Archives, BT13/49, Exhibitions Branch, Staffing and Salaries of Staff, Undated list [c. 1912]
6. London Gazette: 21 May 1918, p. 5990
7. Keith Neilson, 'Managing the war: Britain, Russia and ad hoc government', in Strategy and intelligence: British policy during the First World War, ed. by Michael Dockrill and David French (London: Hambledon Press, 1996), 96-118, p. 99.
8. London Gazette: 3 September 1920, p. 8970
9. London Gazette: 22 October 1920, p.10197 Archived August 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
10. _____. (1921). The Near East. Vol. 20. OCLC 12545683

References

• Burke, Edmund. (1839). The Annual Register of World Events: A Review of the Year, vol. 80. London: Longmans, Green. OCLC 4982221
• Croslegh, Charles. (1904). Descent and alliances of Croslegh: or Crossle, or Crossley, of Scaitcliffe; and Coddington of Oldbridge; and Evans, of Eyton hall. Priv. print., The De La More Press. OCLC 5341446
• Mosley, Charles. (1999). Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (106th ed.). Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd. OCLC 5215389