Donald Mackenzie Smeaton CSI (9 September 1848 – 19 April 1910) was a Scottish colonial administrator in India and Burma and politician who was the Liberal MP for Stirlingshire from January 1906 until January 1910.
Life
Born the son of David James Smeaton, Donald was educated at the Abbey Park Institution, St. Andrew's, a boarding school run by his father, at which not less than 80 young men were boarded and educated. He then attended the University of St Andrews, where he graduated with an M.A. degree. Joining the Indian Civil Service in 1865 via open competition, he arrived in India in 1867, Smeaton held minor appointments in the North-Western Provinces.
On 5 September 1873, Smeaton married Annette Louisa Lushington, daughter of Sir Henry Lushington (1826-1898), 4th Bt. and Elizabeth Cheape.
In 1879, he went to Burma, where he served as Chief Secretary in 1887, officiated as Chief Commissioner in 1892 and 1896 and was a member of the Legislative Council of Burma from 1898 and Burma member on the Central Legislative Council from 1898–9 until 1901–2. He had hoped to succeed Sir Frederick Fryer as Lieutenant-Governor of Burma; but Lord Curzon deliberately asked Fryer to stay another year, so that Smeaton, who reached his mandatory retirement age during the interval, could not succeed Fryer. Smeaton engaged in a letter-writing campaign against Fryer and Curzon, which caused much embarrassment.
He was made Companion of the Order of the Star of India in 1895, was awarded the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal in 1900 and retired in 1902. Smeaton published editions of the North-Western Provinces Revenue Act, The Currency of India and The Karens of Burma.
Death
He died in April 1910 aged 61, three months after retiring from Parliament.
References
- ^ "The House of Commons Constituencies Beginning with 'S'". Leighrayment.com. Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
- Westwood's Parochial Directory for the Counties of Fife and Kinross, containing the names and addresses of Gentry, and of Persons in Business, &c. (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1862) http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Extras/St_A_education_1861.html
- ^ Dictionary of Indian Biography (1906), Haskell House Publishers, New York.
- Lushington baronets
- ^ Pryor, Katherine. "Smeaton, Donald Mackenzie". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/36124. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
External links
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Donald Mackenzie Smeaton
- Photo of Smeaton Family at St. Andrews, c.1860
- Read The Karens of Burma at Project Gutenberg Australia
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byJames McKillop | Member of Parliament for Stirlingshire 1906 – January 1910 |
Succeeded byWilliam Allan Chapple |
- 1848 births
- 1910 deaths
- Companions of the Order of the Star of India
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
- Members of the Legislative Council of Burma
- Administrators in British Burma
- UK MPs 1906–1910
- Scottish Liberal Party MPs
- Alumni of the University of St Andrews
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Stirling constituencies
- Recipients of the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal
- Indian Civil Service (British India) officers