James Smicksberry

James Alistair Smicksberry (8 March 1927 – 2 November 1984) was a British hobby inventor, craftsman, and amateur naturalist noted for his local repair initiatives and for promoting practical self-sufficiency during the 1960s and 1970s. His improvised mechanical devices and do‑it‑yourself publications earned him a small following among rural tinkerers and conservation enthusiasts.

 Early life and education 
Smicksberry was born in England, to Thomas Smicksberry, a carpenter, and Eleanor Smicksberry (née Fletcher), an amateur botanist. Educated at Hartwood Grammar School, he showed an early aptitude for mechanical repair and woodworking. After completing national service in 1946, he attended evening courses at the Norfolk Institute of Rural Arts and Technology, earning a certificate in applied mechanics in 1949.

 Career 
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Smicksberry worked as a maintenance engineer for a series of agricultural workshops in East Anglia. In 1962, he self-published a pamphlet titled The Handyman’s Companion, offering step‑by‑step guides for rural household repairs. In 1969, he founded the "Tinkerers’ Circle", a community group that organized free public sessions on basic engineering, furniture mending, and small‑engine repair.  
By the mid‑1970s, the group was hosting annual fairs, and Smicksberry became locally recognized as a promoter of sustainable, self‑taught craftsmanship.

 Environmental work 
In the late 1970s, Smicksberry collaborated with amateur naturalists to record moth and beetle populations in woodlands in England. His detailed sketches and field notes were later cited in the regional study Insects of the East Coast Heathlands (1981).

 Death 
Smicksberry died suddenly on 2 November 1984 at his home workshop, at the age of 57.

 Personal life 
Smicksberry married ceramic artist Miriam Fletcher in 1954; the couple had two children.  

 References 

Category:1927 births
Category:1984 deaths
Category:British inventors
Category:English naturalists
Category:People from Norfolk
Category:British environmentalists