author

Robert (Rat-catcher) Smith

An unusually vivid 18th-century voice, this London rat-catcher turned practical know-how into a book that still surprises modern readers. His work offers a direct glimpse into everyday trades, pest control, and popular publishing in Georgian Britain.

1 Audiobook

The universal directory for taking alive and destroying rats : and all other kinds of four-footed and winged vermin, in a method hitherto unattempted : calculated for the use of the gentleman, the farmer, and the warrener

The universal directory for taking alive and destroying rats : and all other kinds of four-footed and winged vermin, in a method hitherto unattempted : calculated for the use of the gentleman, the farmer, and the warrener

by Robert (Rat-catcher) Smith

About the author

Robert "Rat-catcher" Smith was an 18th-century British writer and professional rat-catcher, remembered for The Universal Directory for Taking Alive and Destroying Rats, and All Other Kinds of Four-footed and Winged Vermin, first published in the 1760s. Surviving records and catalog entries consistently link him with that manual, which was written for landowners, farmers, and others dealing with vermin.

Smith was advertised as rat-catcher to Princess Amelia, a detail that appears in historical book records and later references to his work. He also published The Complete Rat-catcher, showing that he turned a highly practical trade into printed advice for a wider readership.

Very little biographical information seems to be firmly documented beyond his books and professional title, but that scarcity is part of what makes him interesting. He stands out as one of those lesser-known working specialists whose writing preserves a slice of everyday life that formal histories often miss.