Sir Charles Euan-Smith (1842-1910) was the father of Hilda Carlyon Euan-Smith (c.1879-1954), who married Frederick Charles Belson in 1914. She seems to have been his only daughter, although there is an intriguing reference to his son-in-law" Edward Shield in his will (F1/6/1W/1). A Mr and Mrs Shield were present at his funeral (F1/6/7MS/1, fol. 94).
The following information is taken from the entry in the "Dictionary of National Biography". Sir Charles Euan-Smith was appointed as an Ensign in the Madras Infantry in 1859 and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1861, Captain in 1870, Major in 1879, Lieutenant-
Colonel in 1881 and Colonel in 1885; he retired in 1889. He served in the expedition to Abyssinia in 1867 and was present at the capture of Madgala. In 1870-1 he was Secretary to Sir Frederick Goldsmid during his special mission to Persia to settle various frontier questions. Euan-Smith accompanied Sir Bartle Frere in his special anti-slave trade mission to Zanzibar and Muscat in
1872 as Military Attache. He was created a Companion of the Order of the Star of India in 1872. From June to September 1875, Euan-Smith was in charge of the Consulate-General at Zanzibar. He was First Assistant Resident at Hyderabad in 1876 and was appointed Consul at Muscat in July 1879. During the Afghan War of 1879-1880, he was on special duty as Chief Political Officer on the staff of Lieutenant-General Sir Donald Stewart and subsequently took part in Lord Robert's expedition for the relief of Kandahar. He later held political appointments in Mewar, Bansnara, Bhartpur and Karauli. In December 1887, he was appointed as British Consul-General at Zanzibar. In June 1890 Euan-Smith "obtained the consent of the Sultan to an agreement by which the latter placed himself under the protection of Great Britain, thus paving the way to the conclusion of agreements by the British Government with France and Germany, and greatly facilitated an ultimate settlement... Euan-Smith was created a Companion of
the Order of the Bath in 1889 and was advanced to Knight Commander of the Bath in 1890 for his work in obtaining this agreement. In March 1891 he was appointed British Envoy in Morocco. In 1892 he was sent on a mission to Morocco to negotiate a commercial treaty. Unfortunately, he failed and .. the effect of the negotiations and the episodes connected with them was
seriously prejudicial to Euan-Smith's influence as British representative, and he ceased to hold the appointment in July 1893..." Subsequently he became chairman or director of a number of companies (listed in F1/7/N/1). He married Edith Alexander in 1877. Papers relating to her are catalogued in section F1/7 below.
The documents described here are arranged according to stages in Sir Charles Euan-Smith's career; for example, there are separate sections on his career in India, Zanzibar and Morocco. There is also a general section, containing correspondence not obviously connected with a particular stage in his career, documents relating to his military commissions and honours, and other miscellaneous material.
Abbreviations:
C E-S = Sir Charles Euan-Smith