Nickname Bob Smith Name Robert Smith Ethnicity Creole | Nationality British Subject, Language English Role Medical doctor | |
Born Robert Smith
30 June 1840
Freetown, Sierra Leone ( 1840-06-30 ) Occupation Assistant Colonial Surgeon Spouse daughter of Governor Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine Died June 9, 1885, Freetown, Sierra Leone Education Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield | ||
Robert Smith FRCSE (1840 – June, 1885), also known as Bob Smith, was a Sierra Leonean medical doctor who served as Assistant Colonial Surgeon of Sierra Leone during the late nineteenth century. Smith was the first African to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh after completing his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh.
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Early life
Smith was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone to William Smith Jr., (1816-1895) and Charlotte Smith (née Macaulay). William Smith was born in Cape Coast, to a Fante princess and William Smith Sr., a Yorkshireman who served as judge of the Mixed Commissary Court in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Charlotte Macaulay was a Liberated African and the daughter of Kenneth Macaulay, a second cousin of Zachary Macaulay and uncle of Lord Macaulay. Robert Smith was the second son of seven children born to William Smith from his first marriage to Charlotte Macaulay.
Education
Robert Smith briefly attended the Church Missionary Society Grammar School, but after a short spell there was educated at the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield in Yorkshire, England. After completing his secondary education, Smith commenced his medical studies for the LFPS at the University of Glasgow and won many academic prizes. After completing his studies at the University of Glasgow, Smith then gained the MRCS in England before returning to Sierra Leone.
Career
Following his education in Britain, Smith returned to Sierra Leone where he was appointed the deputy inspector of Health and Shipping Department. After serving as deputy inspector in Sierra Leone, Smith returned to Scotland and undertook his medical studies at the University of Edinburgh. Smith completed his studies at Edinburgh and became the first West African to become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh in 1871. Smith returned to Sierra Leone and commenced what would be a successful and storied medical career. Smith was a popular doctor in Freetown and highly sought after by the ageing Settler and Maroon community in the Settler Town and Maroon Town area. Smith's warmth and skills as doctor led to promotion and he was eventually appointed Assistant Colonial Surgeon. Smith also lectured in anatomy and physiology for five years at Fourah Bay College and taught a number of brilliant Sierra Leonean medical doctors including Dr. John Farrell Easmon.
Family
Smith married to the daughter of Governor Benjamin Chilley Campbell Pine. The couple lived at Smith's family house at Charlotte Street and had at least two children, Chilley Smith and a daughter who married Mr. E.G. Roper.
Smith was the brother of Francis 'Frans' Smith, (1847-1912), the second Sierra Leonean to qualify as a barrister at the Middle Temple. Francis Smith was the maternal grandfather of Frances Wright, the first Sierra Leonean female to qualify as a barrister. Smith' sister, Mary Smith, married Dr. William Broughton Davies (1831-1906), a Sierra Leonean physician of Yoruba Liberated African stock.
Through his father's second marriage to Ann Spilsbury, the granddaughter of Dr. George Green Spilsbury, a colonial physician, Robert Smith was the half brother of Adelaide Casely-Hayford, a well known Sierra Leonean educationalist and writer. Smith was also the brother-in law of Dr. William Awoonor-Renner, a Sierra Leonean physician and Peter Awoonor-Renner, a Sierra Leonean barrister. Smith had inherited property from his paternal grandfather, Kenneth Macaulay, and owned a house at Gloucester Street. Following his death in 1885, Chilley Smith inherited his father's property and provided accommodation to his aunts, Adelaide Casely-Hayford and Emma Smith.
Death and legacy
Smith died unexpectedly aged 45 in June. Smith was a popular figure among the elite in Sierra Leone, and he served as vice-president and president of the Sierra Leone Eccentric Club. Smith lent £100 to a friend, John Henry Thomas who later became a successful and prosperous merchant. Described as a "dandy", Smith was known for his warmth and his humorous stories of his experiences of studying in Britain.
It was widely believed that Smith would eventually be promoted to Colonial Surgeon and only his death was the barrier to his promotion to this position. Following his death, the Sierra Leone Krio would lose favor with the colonial government and save for Dr. William Jarvis Awoonor-Renner and Dr. Albert Whiggs Easmon, few Sierra Leoneans would have the opportunity to serve the colonial government in so high a position as Smith.