BARR-SMITH, Tom Elder
| Service Number: | S11561 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 October 1941 |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 48 Field Battery |
| Born: | Glen Osmond, South Australia, 28 April 1904 |
| Home Town: | Nairne, Mount Barker, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | The Motor Cycle Club of SA Honour Roll |
World War 2 Service
| 1 Oct 1941: | Involvement Captain, S11561 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1941: | Enlisted Woodside, SA | |
| 1 Oct 1941: | Enlisted Captain, S11561, 48 Field Battery | |
| 1 Oct 1941: | Enlisted S11561 | |
| 28 Feb 1942: | Discharged | |
| 28 Feb 1942: | Discharged Captain, S11561, 48 Field Battery |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ant McLean
Sir Tom Elder Barr Smith
(1904-1968)
Born on 28 April 1904 at Glen Osmond, Adelaide, fifth of six children of Tom Elder Barr Smith, a South Australian-born pastoralist, and his wife Mary Isobel, née Mitchell, who came from Scotland.
His grandfather was Robert Barr Smith; his great-uncle was Sir Thomas Elder.
The dynasty into which young Tom was born shaped both his education and subsequent career. He was sent to Queen's School, Adelaide, then to Geelong Church of England Grammar School, Victoria, and in 1924 to Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He did not graduate.
Having undertaken a business course in the United States of America, he returned to South Australia and became involved in the family's pastoral and financial concerns.
Commissioned lieutenant, Australian Field Artillery, 13th Field Regiment, 48 Field Battery, Militia, in 1930, Barr Smith (as he styled his surname) attained rank of captain while serving (1931-1942) and served as aide-de-camp to Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven, governor of South Australia.
On 3 March 1936 at St John's Church of England, Toorak, Melbourne, he married Nancy Leland Greene (d.1960). They lived in the family mansion, Birksgate, at Glen Osmond and were to have four children.
Following his father's death in 1941, he became chairman of several family firms, among them the Mutooroo, Beltana and Milo pastoral companies, Lake Victoria Proprietors, Auchendarroch Pty Ltd and Mundabullangana Ltd.
Barr Smith was a board-member (from 1941) of Elder, Smith & Co. Ltd. After it merged (1962) with Goldsbrough Mort & Co. Ltd, he continued as a director until 1968.
At various stages he chaired Cellulose Australia Ltd, Elder's Trustee & Executor Co. Ltd and the Stockowners' Cooperative Shearing Co. Ltd, and sat on the Adelaide board of the Commercial Union Assurance Co. of Australasia Ltd.
He was also deputy-chairman (1960-68) of the Adelaide Steamship Co. Ltd and a director (1960-68) of Lensworth Finance Ltd.
A member (1944-49) of the Adelaide City Council, Barr Smith served (1945-56) on the committee of the South Australian division of the Australian Red Cross Society, presided over Toc H and chaired the livestock section of the Food for Britain appeal.
He was a member (from 1922) and benefactor of the Adelaide Club, and sometime president of the Queen's School Old Boys' Association.
Keen on sport, he sat (1942-54) on the committee of the South Australian Jockey Club, belonged to the Royal South Australian Yacht Squadron, and enjoyed playing golf.
A friendly and generous man, he was noted for his philanthropy, much of which went undisclosed.
He endowed the University of Adelaide with a scholarship (1953), in memory of his father, to study agriculture at the University of Cambridge, and with a cancer-research scholarship (1962), named after his wife.
In 1959 he was knighted.
From 1948 Barr Smith had been consul for Sweden in South Australia.
In 1960 he was appointed to the Royal Order of Vasa.
Suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis, he died of emphysema on 5 March 1968 at Victor Harbor and was cremated.
Sir Tom's son and three daughters survived him.