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Winifred Boys-Smith

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Winifred Smith.

Winifred Boys-Smith
Photo of Winifred Boys-Smith from the Otago Witness in March 1911
Born
Winifred Lily Boys-Smith

(1865-11-07)7 November 1865
Corsham, Wiltshire, England
Died1 January 1939(1939-01-01) (aged 73)
EducationGirton College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Scientist, Professor
Illustration from Textbook of Elementary Botany

Winifred Lily Boys-Smith (7 November 1865 – 1 January 1939) was an English botanical illustrator and school principal, and then a university professor in New Zealand. She founded the department of home science at the University of Otago.

Early life and education

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Boys-Smith was born in Corsham, Wiltshire, England on 7 November 1865. Her father was an Anglican clergyman.[1] She attended Tunbridge Wells High School, and then studied at Girton College, Cambridge, between 1891 and 1895. She took the full honours course for natural sciences tripos; however, she was only given a certificate as women were not granted degrees at the time.[2] During her studies, Boys-Smith developed her botanical illustration skills, and when Flowering Plants was published in 1903, a review in Nature called the illustrations "unusually good".[3]

She taught at Cheltenham Ladies College from 1896 to 1906,[1] when she was awarded a Frances Mary Buss Memorial Travelling Scholarship, which she used to study science education in the United States.[1] Boys-Smith then took up a position as the founding chair of home science and domestic arts at the University of Otago in 1911.[1] She successfully grew the department from an initial five full-time students to more than 70 by 1920, at which point she retired.[1]

After her retirement Boys-Smith helped establish Amberley House Girls' Collegiate School in Canterbury, before returning to England in 1921. Boys-Smith died on 1 January 1939 in Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire.[1]

Legacy

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One nephew, John Sandwith Boys Smith, was Master of St John's College, Cambridge[4] and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge from 1963 to 1965.[5] Another nephew was Humphry Boys Smith DSO and bar DSC RNR, "one of the most successful Merchant Navy officers serving in the RNR during the Second World War."

Boys-Smith features as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's "150 women in 150 words" project in 2017, celebrating the contribution of women to knowledge in New Zealand.[6]

Books illustrated

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  • Laurie, Charlotte (1903). Flowering Plants: Their Structure And Habitat. Allman and Sons.
  • Laurie, Charlotte (1905). A text-book of elementary botany. Allman and Sons.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f McDonald, Heath. "Winifred Lily Boys-Smith". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
  2. ^ Taonga, New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu. "Boys-Smith, Winifred Lily". Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Flowering Plants: their Structure and Habitat". Nature. 68 (1774): 621. 1903. Bibcode:1903Natur..68R.621.. doi:10.1038/068621d0. ISSN 1476-4687.
  4. ^ "Correspondence and papers of John Sandwith Boys Smith (1901–1991), theologian, Master of St John's 1959–1969 | St John's College, Cambridge". www.joh.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  5. ^ Weglowska, Magdalena (23 February 2015). "History of the Vice-Chancellorship". www.v-c.admin.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  6. ^ "150 Women in 150 Words". Royal Society Te Apārangi. Retrieved 18 August 2019.
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