Gilbert Smithson Adair, 21 September 1896 - 22 June 1979

Gilbert Smithson Adair was born in Whitehaven of Quaker parents, Harold and Anna Mary Adair (née Jackson). The Adair side of the family hailed from Scotland, several members coming south to settle in Cumberland after the 1745 rebellion in which they had been involved. Harold Adair was manager of an iron ore mine in West Cumberland and one of his brothers was also involved in mining in South Africa. Anna Adair, who came from Garstang, was very influential in the education of both Gilbert and his one younger sister, Lucy, to whom Gilbert was devoted throughout his life. Both children were taught privately at home by a governess in their early years. From both parents as well as from his grandfather, Joseph Adair, Gilbert inherited a lasting love of all forms of natural history, particularly botany. Joint expeditions with his father must have been frequent for they amassed considerable collections of both pressed flowers and grasses which are in the museums of Carlisle and York respectively, where they are ultimately to be joined by his relevant notebooks. From his father, Gilbert also inherited a lasting interest in geology.