| Honorific Prefix: | Lieutenant |
| Thomas Dorrien-Smith | |
| Honorific Suffix: | JP, DL |
| Birth Name: | Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien |
| Birth Date: | 7 February 1846 |
| Birth Place: | Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom |
| Death Date: | 6 August 1918 |
| Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly | |
| Term: | 1872 - 1918 |
| Predecessor: | Augustus Smith |
| Successor: | Arthur Dorrien-Smith |
| Children: | 7 (Including Arthur Dorrien-Smith) |
| Parents: | Robert Smith-Dorrien,Mary Drever |
| Relatives: | Horace Smith-Dorrien (brother),Augustus Smith (uncle) |
Lieutenant Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith (7 February 1846 – 6 August 1918) was Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly from 1872 until his death in 1918.[1]
Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith was born on 7 February 1846 at Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire. He was the son of Robert Algernon Smith-Dorrien (died 8 October 1879) and Mary Ann Drever.[2] He was given the name of Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien at birth. In 1872 he changed his name by Royal Licence to Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith. His younger brother was Horace Smith-Dorrien. He married Edith Anna Maria Tower (died 17 Jan 1892), daughter of Christopher Theron Tower and Lady Sophia Frances Cust, on 8 April 1875 and they had seven children:
He was educated at Harrow School. From 1864 to 1874 he served in the 10th Royal Hussars achieving the rank of Lieutenant.
He succeeded his uncle, Augustus Smith, as Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly in 1872, and continued the development of the Tresco Abbey Gardens. He designed St Nicholas's Church, which was built between 1877 and 1879. He is considered to be the person who saw the potential for the export of flowers from the Islands,[6] a trade which continues to this day. A week after his marriage, the was wrecked in the Isles of Scilly. William I, German Emperor, awarded him the Order of the Red Eagle and his wife a gold bracelet for their work with survivors.
He was a Justice of the Peace, and later Deputy Lieutenant of Cornwall. He was elected a Member of the British Ornithologists' Union in 1904.[7] A friend, Edward Rodd, in his annual report to the Royal Institution of Cornwall records the number of birds shot by Lt Smith-Dorrien-Smith during the Isles of Scilly shooting season. These were 545 common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), 415 Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) and 42 jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus). Rodd also received an immature purple heron (Ardea purpurea) and a wood sandpiper (Tringa glareola) for his collection.[8]