CHAPTER VII - PRESIDENTS AND SECRETARIES OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, 1851 TO 1881

Summary

Admiral W. H. Smyth, c.b., who was President from 1849 to 1851, was the restorer of the prosperity of the Society. He was descended from Captain John Smith, whose valour and genius were so instrumental in the colonisation of Virginia. His father, Mr. Joseph Smyth, had estates in New Jersey, which were confiscated when the American Revolution succeeded, owing to his staunch loyalty to the old country. His only son, born on January 21st, 1788, entered the navy in 1805, and saw active war service in the China and Indian seas. In 1810 he was in command of a large gunboat in the defence of Cadiz, and was often engaged and under heavy fire from the French forts. As a reward for his excellent services at Cadiz, and for a valuable survey he had made of the Isla de Leon and adjacent coast, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in 1813, and was sent to command a flotilla employed in the defence of Sicily. He executed some most valuable surveys, entirely through his own resources, for which he was made Commander in 1815. His ‘Atlas of Sicily,’ with a memoir, was published soon afterwards. From this time he was, for several years, actively engaged on surveys in the Mediterranean and Adriatic, first in the Aid, and from 1821 in the Adventure.