| Birth Date: | 1847 3, df=y |
| Death Place: | Kircaldy, South Australia |
| Resting Place: | North Road Cemetery, Nailsworth, South Australia |
| Mother: | Hannah Mitchell |
| Children: | 4 |
| Relatives: | George Goyder (uncle) |
Edwin Mitchell Smith (18 March 1847 – 21 April 1929) was Surveyor General of South Australia from 1911 to 1917.
Smith was born at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, eldest son of Edwin Smith (died March 1907) and his wife Hannah Smith, née Mitchell, and left England with his parents and sister aboard the ship Bolivar for South Australia, arriving in late January 1850. They lived at Medindie, where his father, who served for several years as chairman of Walkerville Council, developed a reputation as rose-grower.He was educated at private schools,[1] and joined the Survey Department as a field assistant or chainman[2] on 1 June 1862, and in his first years was attached to a team doing survey work in the Mount Gambier area, followed by the Anlaby estate, Hill River and Bungaree regions. He was promoted to cadet surveyor the following year, working in the Clare district, and expected to take charge of the party when the supervisor was absent. He was appointed junior surveyor in June 1866, and put in charge of a survey party, initially under supervision of W. C. Gosse.In 1869 he was a member of his uncle, Goyder's expedition to the Northern Territory, which surveyed the land for the settlement of Port Darwin, returning by the Gulnare in September 1869.In 1874 he was appointed draftsman, and in February 1882 he was appointed Steward and Surveyor of Educational Lands.In January 1886 he was appointed Chief Clerk in charge of the Public Lands Office and remained there for nine years.Following Goyder's resignation and the accession of William Strawbridge, Smith was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General in July, 1894.[3] He acted as Surveyor-General for a total of around three years before being appointed to the office on 1 July 1911. He retired voluntarily on 31 March 1917.
He died at Beach Cottage, Kirkcaldy. His remains were buried at the North Road Cemetery.
While holding the office he occupied a number of other positions, including chairmanship of
He was a member of
He was awarded the Imperial Service Order in 1916.[5]
Smith married Frances Lettice Porter (c. 1845 – 6 September 1920) of Parkside on 1 June 1870. Their children included:
They had a home on The Avenue, Medindie, South Australia, later on Arthur Street in the same suburb.