Background
Wyatt-Smith was born in Minchinhampton on 3 April 1887 the son of Review WH Smith and Susannah (née Rice).
Wyatt-Smith was born in Minchinhampton on 3 April 1887 the son of Review WH Smith and Susannah (née Rice).
He was educated at Bedford Modern School and King"s College London.
In 1907 Wyatt-Smith entered the Consular Service in China. He was a student interpreter in Peking (1907-1909), Shanghai (1913-1914) and Swatow (1914-1917). He was then made acting Consul at Tsinan (1917-1918) and later at Wuchow (1918-1920).
Wyatt-Smith was Vice-Consul at Hankow (1921), Shanghai (1922-1923), Senior District Officer at Wei-hai-wei (1923-1925), Consul at Chinkiang (1926-1927) and Tengyeuh (1927-1931).
The American journalist Edgar Snow stayed with Wyatt-Smith in Tengyeuh as relayed in Robert Farnsworth"s book about Snow"s time in Asia: "Stanley Wyatt-Smith, the British consul, was a congenial and well-informed host". Lady Diana Cooper described him as,"..delightful..His confidence and poise far exceeded any English Consuls I have seen".
After Tengyeuh, Wyatt-Smith was Consul at Changsha (1931-1932), Newchang (1933), Tsinan (1933), Foochow (1934-1936) and Swatow (1937-1938). In 1938 Smith was promoted to Consul-General of Manila (1938-1942) until he was interned at Santo Tomas Internment Camp by the Japanese military authorities on the occupation of Manila and repatriated in 1942.
In 1943 he was made Consul-General of Honolulu until his retirement in 1945.