Edmund Charles Wyldbore Smith


Sir Edmund Charles Wyldbore Smith 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. His grandfather was Sir John Wyldbore Smith.
In 1901, he married Evadne Maude Kellet; and the couple had two daughter—Monica Elizabeth and Jocelin Evadne.

Career

In the early 1900s, Wyldbore-Smith served in the Foreign Office beginning his service as Vice-Consul at Tangiers in 1903. Four years later he was appointed Vice-Consul in Canea, Crete. 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. 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.
Wyldbore-Smith resignation from the Civil Service in 1919 opened the way for a career in business. He was appointed chairman of Thomas Cook, 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 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.
Smith was awarded decorations of seven countries, including: