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Tom Elder Barr Smith

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Tom Elder Barr Smith
Born(1863-12-08)8 December 1863
Died26 November 1941(1941-11-26) (aged 77)
SpouseMary Isabel Mitchell
Parent(s)Robert Barr Smith and Joanna Lang Barr Smith, (née Elder)

Thomas Elder Barr Smith (8 December 1863 – 26 November 1941)[1] was a South Australian pastoralist and philanthropist,

Smith was born in Woodville, South Australia, the son of Robert Barr Smith,[2] and his wife Joanna Lang, née Elder.[1]

On 5 May 1886 he married Mary Isabel Mitchell, at St. Andrew's Church, Walkerville.

In 1917 Smith's estate was subdivided to form the Adelaide suburb of Torrens Park.


In 1928 he gave £30,000 to the University of Adelaide to enable the building of the Barr Smith Library.[3]

His interests included competing in car rallies, and a steam locomotive was named after him in 1926.[4]

There is a plaque in his honour on the Jubilee 150 Walkway.

Family

  • Father: Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915)[5]
  • Mother: Joanna Elder - sister of Sir Thomas Elder
  • Uncles: Sir Thomas Elder (1818–1897),[6] William Elder (1813–1882), Alexander Lang Elder (1815–1885) and George Elder (1816–1897)
  • Daughter: Joanna Lang Barr Smith, Lady Gosse (1886–1965) married Sir James Hay Gosse (1876–1952)[7] on 29 April 1908, at St.Andrew's, Walkerville, South Australia.
  • Son: Sir Tom Elder Barr Smith (1904–1968)[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Linn, R. W. "Smith, Tom Elder Barr (1863–1941)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
  2. ^ Serle, Percival (1949). "Barr Smith, Robert". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
  3. ^ Burn, Margy (1982), The Barr Smith Library: its early days, University of Adelaide Library, hdl:2440/15901.
  4. ^ No.504 "TOM BARR-SMITH", National Railway Museum - 500B-class 4-8-4 steam locomotive - retrieved 1 Feb 2009.
  5. ^ van Dissel, Dirk (1976). 'Smith, Robert Barr (1824-1915)'. Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, Melbourne University Press, pp 153-154. Retrieved on 9 July 2009.
  6. ^ Gosse, Fayette (1972) 'Elder, Sir Thomas (1818-1897)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, Melbourne University Press, pp 133-134. Retrieved on 9 July 2009.
  7. ^ Gosse, Fayette (1996) 'Gosse, Sir James Hay (1876–1952)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 14, (MUP). Retrieved on 4 September 2011.
  8. ^ Shanahan, Martin. (2002).'Smith, Sir Tom Elder Barr (1904-1968)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 16, Melbourne University Press, pp 274-275. Retrieved on 11 July 2009.