{{Use British English|date=January 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} Dr '''James Cameron Smail''' FRSE FRSGS PRSSA CBE LLD<ref name="thepeerage.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.thepeerage.com/p37191.htm|title=Person Page|website=thepeerage.com|accessdate=31 July 2017}}</ref> (1880–1970) was a Scottish university Principal. Heriot Watt University library is named the '''Cameron Smail Library''' in his honour. He wrote extensively on printing and the history of printing.
==Life== He was born in 1880, the son of Adam Smail, a bookseller and stationer in Bruntsfield, living at 18 Spittal Street in Tollcross, Edinburgh.<ref>Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1886-7</ref> He was privately educated at Daniel Stewart's College in Edinburgh. From 1902 until 1911 he was a school inspector in Ireland. In 1911 he appears to live at 31 Brighton Road in Rathmines on the outskirts of Dublin.<ref>Children of the Rising, by Joe Duffy</ref> From 1911 to 1928 he worked for London County Council.
In 1928 he became Principal of Heriot-Watt College and started a major expansion programme.<ref>{{cite web |title=Heriot-Watt College |publisher=Heriot-Watt University |date=2017 |url=https://www.hw.ac.uk/services/heritage-information-governance/history/edinburgh/heriot-watt-college.htm |accessdate=31 July 2017 }}</ref> In 1929 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. His proposers were Sir James Alfred Ewing, Richard Stanfield, Francis Gibson Baily and Alfred Archibald Boon. He was a regular attender of meetings.<ref>{{cite book |title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002 |date=July 2006 |publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh |isbn=0-902-198-84-X |url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |access-date=30 July 2017 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He retired in 1950. In 1951 he was made a member of the Royal Fine Art Commission for Scotland.<ref>London Gazette 7 August 1951</ref> He died on 26 April 1970.
==Family==
In 1908 he married Louisa Florence Davidson. His daughter was Elizabeth Margaret Cameron Smail.<ref name="thepeerage.com"/>
==Artistic recognition==
His portrait by Mary Remington is held at Heriot-Watt University.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/james-cameron-smail-18801970-obe-principal-of-the-heriot-watt-college-183827|title=James Cameron Smail (1880–1970), OBE, Principal of the Heriot-Watt College - Art UK|website=artuk.org|accessdate=31 July 2017}}</ref>
==Publications== See<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nb2003018698/|title=James Watt and the Heriot-Watt College : an address delivered to the Watt Club at Edinburgh on 29th January 1949 /|website=worldcat.org|accessdate=31 July 2017}}</ref>
*''Some Aspects of Education for the Printing Trade'' (1937) *''Technical Education'' (1946) *''Scottish Enterprise Printing'' (1947) *''James Watt and the Heriot Watt College'' (1949) *''Education and Training of Printers'' (1951) *''Printing in Scotland 1507-1947'' (1963) *''The Phrenological Museum, Edinburgh'' (1963)
==References== {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Smail, James Cameron}} Category:1880 births Category:1970 deaths Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Academics of Heriot-Watt University Category:Scottish non-fiction writers Category:Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire
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