Jeremiah Smith (1771–1854) was an English cleric, known for his time as High Master of

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

Life

The son of Jeremiah and Ann Smith, he was born at

Brewood Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton c ...

, Staffordshire, on 22 July 1771, and was educated under Dr. George Croft at Brewood school. He entered

Hertford College, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The col ...

, in 1790, and graduated B.A. in 1794, M.A. in 1797, B.D. in 1810, and D.D. in 1811. Smith was ordained in 1794 to the curacy of

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family a ...

, Birmingham, which he soon exchanged for that of St. Mary's, Moseley. He was also assistant, and then second master, in

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent day school for boys in the British public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Bir ...

; and on 6 May 1807 was appointed High Master of Manchester Grammar School, a position he held for thirty years. While at Manchester, Smith held successively the curacies of St. Mark's, Cheetham Hill, St. George's, Carrington, and Sacred Trinity, Salford, and the incumbency of St. Peter's, Manchester (1813–25), and the rectory of St. Ann's in the same town (1822–1837). He also held the small vicarage of Great Wilbraham, near Cambridge, from 1832 to 1847, and was from 1824 one of the four "king's preachers" for Lancashire, a sinecure office which was abolished in 1845. Smith died at Brewood on 21 December 1854. His sole publication was a sermon preached before the North Worcester volunteers in 1805. He was a Tory belonging to the Manchester Pitt Club, an opponent of

Catholic emancipation Catholic emancipation or Catholic relief was a process in the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, and later the combined United Kingdom in the late 18th century and early 19th century, that involved reducing and removing many of the restricti ...

and the

Great Reform Bill The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

Family

Smith married, at

King's Norton Kings Norton, alternatively King's Norton, is an area of Birmingham, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Worcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Council ward (politics), ward within the Government of Birmingham, Engl ...

, Worcestershire, on 27 July 1811, Felicia, daughter of William Anderton of Moseley Wake Green. They had eight children, including: *Jeremiah Finch Smith (1815–1895), the eldest son, rector of

Aldridge Aldridge is an industrial town in the Walsall borough, West Midlands, England. It is historically a village that was part of Staffordshire until 1974. The town is from Brownhills, from Walsall, from Sutton Coldfield and from Lichfield. ...

, Staffordshire, from 1849, rural dean of Walsall from 1862, and prebendary of Lichfield Cathedral. He published sermons and tracts, and edited ''Admission Register of the Manchester School'', 3 vols., 1866–1874, and ''Notes on the Parish of Aldridge, Staffordshire'', 1884–9, 2 pts. *James Hicks Smith (1822–1881), third son, barrister-at-law, author of: 1. ''Brewood, a Résumé, Historical and Topographical'', 1867. 2. ''Reminiscences of Thirty Years, by an Hereditary High Churchman'', 1868. 3. ''Brewood Church, the Tombs of the Giffards'', 1870. 4. ''The Parish in History, and in Church and State'', 1871. 5. ''Collegiate and other Ancient Manchester'', 1877. *Isaac Gregory Smith (b. 1827), fourth son, prebendary of Hereford Cathedral *John George Smith (b. 1829), fifth son, barrister-at-law.

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;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Jeremiah 1771 births 1854 deaths 19th-century English Anglican priests High Masters of Manchester Grammar School Clergy from Staffordshire People from South Staffordshire District Schoolteachers from Staffordshire