Herbert Guthrie-Smith

William Herbert Guthrie-Smith FRSNZ (13 March 1862 – 4 July 1940) was a New Zealand farmer, author and conservationist.

Herbert Guthrie-Smith FRSNZ
Guthrie-Smith c. 1912
Born
William Herbert Smith

(1862-03-13)13 March 1862
Helensburgh, Scotland
Died4 July 1940(1940-07-04) (aged 78)
Tutira, New Zealand
OccupationNew Zealand farmer, author and conservationist
Notable work
Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station
Spouse(s)Georgina Meta Dennistoun Brown (married 1901)
AwardsFellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (FRSNZ)

Life

William Herbert Smith was born in Helensburgh, Scotland in 1862. His father was an insurance broker.[1][2]

In 1880 he emigrated to New Zealand. In September 1882 he leased Tutira, a sheep station in central Hawke's Bay, which was his home for the rest of his life. In 1901 Guthrie-Smith married Georgina Meta Dennistoun Brown in Scotland. Their daughter, Barbara, was born in 1903.[2]

After the First World War he met Beatrix Dobie who was exhibiting her work at the Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery. They formed the connection that would lead to her providing the illustrations for his book Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station.[3]

His books and photography, especially Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station, graphically document the impacts of human activity on New Zealand's unique environment.[4]

Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station' was published in 1921 (and reprinted in 1926 with a new preface, map and index). It documented the impact of humans on New Zealand's environment in an easy reading, non-scientific yet accurate manner. It is an internationally acclaimed classic of ecological writing and was New Zealand's first significant environmentalist publication.[5][6] In 2003 Michael King wrote:

“Our first ecological book, and still our best example of this genre. The transformation of New Zealand from bushlands to grasslands farming is anatomised in this close examination of the effects of plant and animal introductions on one piece of Hawke’s Bay.”[7]

Before his death in 1940 he revised and added to Tutira. The revised edition was published in 1953.[2]

Tutira Homestead

Guthrie-Smith died on 4 July 1940 at Tutira.[8] He was buried at Tutira, and his obituary appears in Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand 1868–1961 (Vol 70 1940–41).[9]

Awards and honours

William Herbert Guthrie-Smith was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (known as the New Zealand Institute before 1933) in 1924 (listed under S, rather than G on the Royal Society website).[10][11][12][13]

Bibliography

Books:

  • Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station[14][15]
  • Birds of the Water, Wood and Waste[16][17]
  • Mutton Birds and Other Birds[18]
  • Bird Life on Island and Shore[19]
  • Sorrows and Joys of a New Zealand Naturalist[20]

Journal papers:

  • Bird-Life on a Run[21]
  • The Grasses of Tutira[22]

Guthrie-Smith Trust

The Guthrie-Smith Trust was founded in 1942 after Barbara Absolom, daughter of Herbert Guthrie-Smith, donated 800 hectares of land to it to administer for the benefit of the people of New Zealand educational and recreational purposes.[23] The remaining 90 hectares now includes a 20,000 tree arboretum,[24] which opened to the public in 2013,[25][26] and an education centre.

See also

References
  1. McLintoc, A. H. (1966). "GUTHRIE-SMITH, William Herbert, from An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand". www.teara.govt.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  2. Cooper, Ronda. "Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1996". teara.govt.nz. Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  3. Platts, Una. "Dobie, Beatrix (Mrs Vernon) 1887–c.1945". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  4. "New Zealand Birds, Environmental Hall of Fame – Herbert Guthrie-Smith". www.nzbirds.com. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  5. "Tutira | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  6. envirohistorynz (20 February 2011). "Tutira: desecration of God's earth dubbed as improvement?". envirohistory NZ. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  7. Steer, Philip (19 April 2017). "Bottom of the lake: How the setting for a classic book of New Zealand literature became a toxic swamp". The Spinoff. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  8. "Mr. W. H. Guthrie-Smith". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 5, 5 July 1940. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  9. "Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 70, 1940–41". paperspast.natlib.govt.nz. pp. 171–172. Retrieved 23 February 2019.
  10. "Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute New Zealand Institute, 1924 [electronic resource]". rsnz.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  11. "Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand [electronic resource]". rsnz.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  12. "Royal Society Te Apārangi – S-U". royalsociety.org.nz. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  13. "Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute New Zealand Institute, 1924 [electronic resource]". rsnz.natlib.govt.nz. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
  14. Guthrie-Smith, H. (Herbert) (1921). Tutira : the story of a New Zealand sheep station. Robarts – University of Toronto. Edinburgh : Blackwood.
  15. Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert (1926). "Tutira: The Story of a New Zealand Sheep". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  16. Guthrie-Smith, H. (Herbert) (1910). Birds of the Water, Wood & Waste (1st ed.). Wellington, New Zealand: Whitcombe and Tombs Limited.
  17. Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert (1927). "Birds of the Water, Wood & Waste | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz (2nd ed.). Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  18. Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert (1914). "Mutton birds and other birds". University of California Libraries. Christchurch, N.Z. : Whitcombe and Tombs.
  19. Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert (1925). "Bird Life on Island and Shore | NZETC". nzetc.victoria.ac.nz. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  20. Guthrie-Smith, William Herbert (1936). "Sorrows and joys of a New Zealand naturalist". natlib-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  21. Guthrie-Smith, Herbert (1895). "Bird-Life on a Run". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 28: 367–375.
  22. Guthrie-Smith, Herbert (1907). "The Grasses of Tutira". Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute. 40: 506–519.
  23. "The Trust – Guthrie-Smith Trust – Tutira, Hawke's Bay". Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  24. Wednesday; November 2013, 13; Tutira, 3:06 pm Press Release: Guthrie-Smith. "Guthrie-Smith Tutira Arboretum opening on Sundays | Scoop News". www.scoop.co.nz. Retrieved 23 March 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. Gullery, Lawrence (18 April 2013). "Tree paradise opens in Bay". ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  26. "150 guests to celebrate opening of arboretum". 11 November 2013. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
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