Everything about James Smithson totally explained
» For related terms, see Smithsonian (disambiguation).
James Smithson, F.R.S.,
M.A. (
1765 –
June 27,
1829) was a
British mineralogist and
chemist noted for having left a
bequest in his will to the
United States of America, which was used to initially fund the
Smithsonian Institution.
Biography
Not much detail is known about the life of James Smithson, as a fire which destroyed the
Smithsonian Institution Building in 1865 took with it Smithson's scientific collections, notebooks, diaries and correspondence. Only the 213 volumes comprising his personal library and some personal writings survived. What is known is that Smithson was an
illegitimate and unacknowledged son of the English landowner, the highly regarded and accomplished Sir Hugh Smithson, 4th
Bt. of
Stanwick, north Yorkshire, who later changed his name to Hugh Percy, and became the
1st Duke of Northumberland,
K.G., by a mistress, Elizabeth Hungerford Keate. He was born in 1765 in
Paris,
France.
Elizabeth Keate was the daughter of John Keate, an uncle of George Keate (1729–1797), who was elected to the
Royal Society in 1766. Elizabeth was the widow of John Macie of
Weston, near
Bath, Somerset, and so the young Smithson was originally known as "Jacques Louis Macie". His mother later married John Marshe Dickinson, a troubled son of a former
Lord Mayor of the City of London and
Member of Parliament. During this marriage she'd another son; however, the 1st Duke of Northumberland rather than Dickinson is also thought to have been the father of this second son.
Smithson commenced undergraduate studies at
Pembroke College,
University of Oxford, in 1782 and received a
Master of Arts (M.A.) degree in 1786 (he matriculated as "Jacobus Ludovicus Macie").
French geologist Barthélemy Faujas de Saint-Fond described him as a diligent young student, dedicated to scientific research, who had even risked drowning to gather geological observations on a tour of the
Hebrides Islands.
On
19 April 1787, at the age of just 22 years, he was elected (under the name "James Lewis Macie") the youngest fellow of the
Royal Society.
Smithson died on
27 June 1829 in the
Italian city of
Genoa, and his body was interred in the English cemetery of San Benigno there. His sarcophagus incorrectly states his age at his death – it says 75; he was in fact only 64.
Scientific career
Smithson dedicated his life to investigating the natural world, and visited
Florence, Paris,
Saxony, and the
Swiss Alps to find
crystals and
minerals on which he could perform
experiments – including diluting, grinding, igniting, and even chewing and sniffing them – to discover and classify their
elemental properties. One,
zinc spar (Zn
CO3), a type of
zinc ore, was renamed
smithsonite posthumously in Smithson's honour in 1832 by a French scientist.
The Smithsonian connection
A shrewd investor, Smithson amassed a fortune in his lifetime.
The nephew, Henry Hungerford (the
soi disant Baron Eunice de la Batut), died without heirs in 1835, and Smithson's bequest was accepted in 1836 by the
United States Congress. A lawsuit (in Britain) contesting the will was decided in favour of the U.S. in 1838 and 11 boxes containing 104,960
gold sovereigns
Ancestors
Some of Smithson's ancestors>
| James Louis Macie Smithson |
Father:
Sir Hugh Smithson (Percy),1st Duke of Northumberland |
Paternal Grandfather:
Langdale Smithson |
Sir Hugh Smithson,3rd Bart., of Stanwick, (1657-1733) |
Hon. Elizabeth Langdale |
Paternal Grandmother:
Philadelphia Reveley |
William Reveley of Newby Wiske(1662-1725) |
Margery Willey |
Mother:
Elizabeth Hungerford Keate (1728-1800) |
Maternal Grandfather:
Lt. John Keate (1709-c1755) |
John Keate |
Frances Hungerford |
Maternal Grandmother:
Penelope Fleming (c1711-1764) |
Henry Fleming, DD, (1659-1728), Rector of Grasmere |
Mary Fletcher |
Further Information
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