Del (Derek) Arthur Smith 1948 - 2021

Del Smith died on 2 August 2021 aged 73 after a long battle with prostate cancer. In line with his wishes, Del died at home in Aberdeenshire where he had lived with his wife Gaynor since 2006. Del grew up in Harold Hill where he lived with Gaynor and continued his trade as a carpenter. Del and Gaynor had met in 1969 and married the following year at a Brentwood registry office, and the couple went on to have three children, Cher Rosa, Che and Keir, all named after socialist revolutionaries. Del was an active politician and councillor in Havering, and worked hard to help residents whenever they were in need. In the late 1990s when Labour lost its stronghold in the borough, he broke away from the local Labour party following disagreements with the branch leadership and formed a new Rainbow Alliance, a coalition council with him serving as mayor from 1997 to 1998. He was known as an exceptional and effective mayor who was dedicated to trying to make the world a better place. Del loved cricket and he was a lifelong Essex County Cricket Club fan and a member for a few years. He also played for many years for the Havering and Brentwood Labour Party Cricket Club.

Del had a lifelong interest in wildlife; he was a keen birder but then an enthusiast of flies (Diptera) in which he became an expert on almost every family in this very large group of invertebrates, with over 5,500 species in Britain. Del was the county‘s long standing county recorder for flies, a role which then became split with Roger Payne for hoverflies and with Neil Harvey for the Larger Brachycera. Del continued the role after he left Essex and would always help everyone with their fly identification, something he continued to do on the Club‘s Facebook page long after he became ill. Del was a model county recorder who maintained the Essex Diptera records in MapMate so that they could be regularly transferred to the Club‘s website database and the results seen on the species pages of the website.

After his move with Gaynor to Aberdeenshire, Del continued his entomology and fieldwork, was involved with local recording groups and volunteered at a local museum, continuing his commitment to making the world a better place. He was also incredibly well organised and ensured that his beautifully curated and important collection of Diptera came to the Club at the Green Centre in Wat Tyler Country Park in 2019, as well as leaving instructions that his books and other wildlife resources should come to the Club. Del undertook a Common Bird Census of Dagnam Park in 1972 with detailed drawings of territories, and these form an important historical record which enables comparison with the modern day. He was a founding member and first chairman of the Friends of Dagnam Park and continued an active role in supporting the group until prevented by ill health. Del was the Club‘s long-time former membership secretary, a past President, Diptera county recorder and a lot more. Del worked tirelessly for the Club and took over as membership secretary in 2002 and continued the role after he moved to Aberdeenshire in late 2006, until the end of 2020, when Michael Pannell took over. Del was very active on Council and started the Club‘s newsletter in 1991 as a replacement for the Bulletin as a result of a review and consultation with the membership. The second newsletter started with an editorial where he lamented that conservationists in Essex seem to be doomed to fight an endless battle against the motorway and of plans to have the tunnel link re-routed and coming through, over or under the Rainham Marshes SSSI, this in the same period that MCA were proposing to develop a theme park at Rainham Marshes, which fortunately ultimately failed, resulting in the eventual RSPB Rainham Marshes reserve. Del‘s experience in local government and of the importance for transparency meant he was the right person to validate grant applications made to the Essex Recorders partnership, a role he was happy to fulfil for the steering group.

Del left his Diptera collection to the Essex Field Club.  It consists of 20 trays of specimens, which can be seen by appointment at the Green Centre.  The spreadsheet here is searchable.