{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{EngvarB|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox person |name = Francis Jagoe Smith |image = Francis Jagoe Smith in 1951.jpg |image_size = |caption = Smith in 1951 |birth_name = |birth_date = {{Birth date|1873|09|09|df=y}} |birth_place = Barnet, Hertfordshire, England |death_date = {{Death date and age|1969|04|01|1873|09|09|df=y}} |death_place = Wimbledon, London, England |body_discovered = |death_cause = |resting_place = |resting_place_coordinates = |education = Merchant Taylors' School, Oxford University |alma_mater = |occupation = public servant |known_for = Postmaster General of Ceylon |title = |term = 1913–1923 |predecessor = Arthur Sampson Pagden |successor = Maurice Salvador Sreshta |spouse = Eleanor Margaret née Booth |partner = |children = Norman Jagoe |parents = |relations = |signature = |website = |footnotes = }}
'''Francis Jagoe Smith''' CMG (9 September 1873 – 1 April 1969) was the Postmaster General of Ceylon and Director of Telegraphs, serving in the position from 1913 to 1923.
Francis Jagoe Smith was born on the 9th of September 1873 in Barnet, Hertfordshire, the son of Henry Francis Smith.<ref>{{cite book|title=Oxford Men, 1880-1892, with a Record of Their Schools, Honours and Degrees|author=Foster, Joseph|publisher=J. Parker|date=1893|pages=561–562}}</ref> He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and went on to study at Oxford University, where he obtained a Master of Arts.<ref>{{cite book|title=Merchant Taylors' School Register, 1851-1920|author=Merchant Taylors' School|author-link=Merchant Taylors' School, Northwood|publisher=Merchant Taylors Company|date=1923|page=200|editor=Hart, E. P.}}</ref><ref name=20C>{{cite book|title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources|editor=Wright, Arnold|publisher=Asian Educational Services|date=1999|page=106|isbn=9788120613355}}</ref>
Smith traveled to Ceylon in 1896, to take up a position as a cadet in the Ceylon Civil Service.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/Edinburgh/issue/10821/page/954|title=The Edinburgh Gazette|issue=10821 |date=9 October 1896 |pages=954 }}</ref><ref>Ceylon :{{London Gazette |issue=26783 |date=9 October 1896 |pages=5489 |supp=y |nolink=yes}}</ref> In 1905 he was appointed as the second assistant Colonial Secretary.<ref name=20C/> In 1907 Smith, in conjunction with Hermann Albert Loos, compiled a publication containing all the enacted legislation applying to Ceylon, ''A Revised Edition of the Legislative Enactments of Ceylon''.
In 1913 he was appointed as the Postmaster General of Ceylon and Director of Telegraphs, succeeding Arthur Sampson Pagden, CMG. During his tenure, May 1920, the first post and telegraph museum was established in the telegraph school at Central Telegraph Office, with the exhibits contained in a large wardrobe, including morse circuits and telecommunication instruments and equipment collected from post offices around the island.
In 1925 he was appointed as the Government Agent of the Northern Province and in 1927 he served as the acting Colonial Treasurer.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Ceylon Blue Book|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|date=1927|page=3}}</ref>
As part of the 1929 New Year Honours Smith was appointed as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George, for his services as acting Controller of Revenue in Ceylon.<ref>United Kingdom and British Empire: {{London Gazette |issue=33472 |supp=y |pages=1435–20 |date= 26 February 1929}}</ref>
He married Eleanor Margaret Booth at the Holy Trinity Church, Nuwara Eliya in 1913 and their son, Norman Jagoe (1915-1941), was a pilot with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (611 Squadron) who died in action during World War II.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aircrewremembered.com/RunnymedeDatabase/?q=smith&o=DateofDeath&d=asc|title=Runnymede Memorial Database|publisher=AirCrewRemembered.com|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref> Smith died on 1 April 1969, at the age of 95, in Wimbledon, London.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44829/page/4085/data.pdf|newspaper=The London Gazette|title=Name of Deceased|date=17 April 1969|page=4085|access-date=3 November 2020}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|title=A Revised Edition of the Legislative Enactments of Ceylon|author1=Loos, Hermann Albert|author2=Smith, Francis Jagoe|place=Colombo, Ceylon|editor=Cottle, H. C.|publisher=Government Printer|date=1907|isbn=9781279218747}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.slpost.gov.lk Sri Lanka Post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219102729/http://www.slpost.gov.lk/ |date=19 December 2018 }}
{{s-start}} {{s-gov}} {{s-bef|before={{nowrap|Arthur Sampson Pagden}}}} {{s-ttl|title=Postmaster General of Ceylon|years=1913–1923}} {{s-aft|after={{nowrap|Maurice Salvador Sreshta}}}} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}}
{{Postmaster General of Sri Lanka}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Francis Jagoe}} Category:1873 births Category:1969 deaths Category:Postmasters general of Sri Lanka Category:British expatriates in British Ceylon