Charles Smith-Ryland
Sir Charles Mortimer Tollemache Smith-Ryland KCVO (May 24, 1927 – 1989) was Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire from 1968 to 1989.
Career
[edit]The son of Captain Charles Ivor Phipson Smith-Ryland, he was educated at Eton College and married Jeryl Marcia Sarah Gurdon, daughter of Robert Brampton Gurdon and sister of the third Baron Cranworth, in 1952.
He was a member of Warwickshire County Council from 1949, being Vice-Chairman in 1963 and Chairman from 1964 to 1967.
Appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1954 and High Sheriff of Warwickshire for 1967–68, he became Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1968.
He was a landowner and farmer, a member of the Royal Agricultural Society, and was, for some time, chairman of the Warwickshire and Coventry Police Authority.
Hunting
[edit]Smith-Ryland was an avid hunter who defended fox hunting and field sports.[1] He was chairman of the Warwickshire Hunt. In 1970, this caused controversy because he was also president of the South and East Warwickshire branch of the RSPCA. An anti-blood sports campaigner Vera Sheppard led a protest against Smith-Ryland to be expelled without success.[1] Sheppard commented that the RSPCA's council was "totally hypocritical" for electing Smith-Ryland twice as president whilst ignoring the fact he was involved in the cruelty of blood sports. An RSPCA spokesperson responded that the Society was opposed to all forms of hunting for sport but accepted fox hunting as a method of control and it could not interfere with an appointment that did not contravene that policy.[1] The national headquarters of the RSPCA released an official statement that there was nothing wrong with electing Smith-Ryland as president of the South and East Warwickshire branch. The RSPCA re-affirmed their opposition to hunting for sport but accepted fox hunting as a method of control.[2]
In 1971, the RSPCA Reform Group led by Hilda Owen staged a protest demonstration in Leamington contesting the re-election of Smith-Ryland as president.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "RSPCA Supports President Who Hunts". Leamington Spa Courier. 15 May 1970. p. 3. (subscription required)
- ^ "Election of RSPCA president stands". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 9 May 1970. p. 12. (subscription required)
- ^ "Demo over likely RSPCA appointment". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 24 April 1971. p. 11. (subscription required)
Further reading
[edit]- The Birmingham Post Year Book and Who's Who 1973-74, Birmingham Post and Mail Ltd., July 1973
- Whitaker's Almanack, various editions, Joseph Whitaker & Sons
- Rootsweb - http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/RYLAND/2001-06/0992304536