Reginald Bosworth Smith (1839–1908) was an English academic, schoolmaster,
man of letters
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
and author.
Background and early life
Born on 28 June 1839 at
West Stafford
West Stafford is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in the River Frome, Dorset, Frome valley east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census the par ...
rectory,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
, he was the second son in the large family of
Reginald Southwell Smith (1809–1896); his mother was Emily Genevieve Simpson, daughter of Henry Hanson Simpson of Bitterne Manor House, Hampshire, and 12 Camden Place, Bath.
His was an invalid suffering from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
. Bosworth Smith was brought up mostly by his mother, in a rectory family of 12 children, most of whom were infected by tuberculosis with some dying young.
From
Milton Abbas
Milton Abbas is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, lying around southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 755.
This planned community was built after the old Town was demolished in the 17 ...
school, near
Blandford
Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and i ...
, Bosworth Smith went on in August 1855 to
Marlborough College
Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English Independent school (United Kingdom), independent boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. Founded in 1843 for the sons of Church ...
, where he was head boy under successive headmasters—
George Edward Lynch Cotton
George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta (29 October 1813 – 6 October 1866) was an English educator and clergyman, known for his connections with British India and the public school system.
Life in England
He was born at Chester, a gra ...
, and
George Granville Bradley
George Granville Bradley (11 December 1821 – 13 March 1903) was an English divine, scholar, and schoolteacher, who was Dean of Westminster (1881–1902).
Life
George Bradley's father, Charles Bradley, was vicar of Glasbury, Brecon, mid Wales ...
.
Oxford and Harrow
At Michaelmas 1858 Bosworth Smith matriculated with an open classical scholarship at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...
, and he graduated B.A. in 1862 with first-class honours both in classical moderations and in the final classical school. In the same year he was president of the
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...
. In 1863 he was elected to a classical fellowship at
Trinity College, Oxford
(That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody)
, named_for = The Holy Trinity
, established =
, sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge
, president = Dame Hilary Boulding
, location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH
, coordinates ...
, and he was appointed tutor of the college, and lecturer both there and at Corpus Christi. He proceeded M.A. in 1865.
On 16 September 1864 Bosworth Smith began work as a classical master at
Harrow School
(The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God)
, established = (Royal Charter)
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school
, religion = Church of E ...
, on the nomination of the headmaster
Henry Montagu Butler
Henry Montagu Butler (2 July 1833 – 14 January 1918) was an English academic and clergyman, who served as headmaster of Harrow School (1860–85), Dean of Gloucester (1885–86) and List of Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge, Master of Tr ...
. He married the following year, and from 1870 he was housemaster of The Knoll, which he built at his own expense, and where he designed the garden. For more than 30 years Bosworth Smith mainly devoted his time to his duties at Harrow. In his form teaching, he leavened the classical tradition with history, scripture, geography, and English literature, especially
John Milton
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...
.
Not being in
holy orders, he at that period was not considered eligible to become Harrow's headmaster.
The writer
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
was born near West Stafford, at Higher Bockhampton in the parish of
Stinsford
Stinsford is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, about east of Dorchester. The parish includes the settlements of Higher and Lower Bockhampton. The name Stinsford may derive from , Old English for a limited area of pasture. ...
. During the mid-1870s he became established as a family friend with the Smiths: he knew Bosworth Smith's father as "Canon Smith", and his mother, whose urbanity impressed him, as Geneviève. Bosworth Smith himself became a personal friend.
This was despite a socially awkward moment at dinner in the rectory in 1874: the Smiths were entertaining with the help of James Pole, John Floyer's butler. Hardy and Cassie Pole, James Pole's daughter, had been walking out some years earlier, before breaking up, and the butler was unwilling to serve Hardy.
Later life and death
Bosworth Smith travelled frequently in his vacations. In 1895 he purchased an old manor house at
Bingham's Melcombe, Dorset, and there he resided on his retirement from Harrow in 1901. He was J.P. for Dorsetshire, a member of the education committee of the county council, vice-president of the Dorset Field Club, to which he lectured more than once, a member of the Salisbury Diocesan Synod, and a member of the house of laymen in the representative church council at Westminster. After a long illness he died at Bingham's Melcombe on 18 October 1908, and was buried beside his parents and brothers in the churchyard of West Stafford.
A portrait of Bosworth Smith was painted by
Hugh Goldwin Rivière
Hugh Goldwin Rivière (1869–1956) was a noted British portraitist. He was one of seven children of Briton Rivière and was of Huguenot descent.
Examples of his work are held in a very wide variety of public collections, including the Victoria ...
, presented by old pupils at Harrow and engraved by the
Fine Arts Society
Fine may refer to:
Characters
* Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny''
* Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano
Legal terms
* Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...
. He was commemorated by tablets in Harrow school chapel and in the church at Bingham's Melcombe, and in his memory were erected a portion of the
reredos
A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images.
The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...
in the church at West Stafford and (by friends and pupils) a stone balustrade in the terrace gardens at Harrow.
Works
Bosworth Smith is now mainly remembered for ''Mohammed and Mohammedanism: Lectures Delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain in February and March 1874'' (1874). The book excited controversy, and ran to several editions. It was translated into Arabic.
Smith's views on
Christianity and Islam
Christianity and Islam are the two largest religions in the world, with 2.8 billion and 1.9 billion adherents, respectively. Both religions are considered as Abrahamic, and are monotheistic, originating in the Middle East.
Christianity deve ...
drew on
Heinrich Barth
Johann Heinrich Barth (; ; 16 February 1821 – 25 November 1865) was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.
Barth is thought to be one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and wri ...
,
Theodor Waitz
Theodor Waitz (17 March 182121 May 1864) was a German psychologist and anthropologist. His research in psychology brought him into touch with anthropology, and he will be best remembered by his monumental work in six volumes, ''Die Anthropolog ...
and
John Pope Hennessy
Sir John Pope Hennessy (; 8 August 1834 – 7 October 1891), was an Irish and British politician and colonial administrator who served as the eighth Governor of Hong Kong and the fifteenth Governor of Mauritius.
Early life
John Pope Henness ...
.
They can be placed in a "conciliatory" tradition represented by the ''Mahometanism Unveiled'' (1829) of Charles Forster (1787–1871), and ''The Religions of the World'' (1846) of
F. D. Maurice
John Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–1872), known as F. D. Maurice, was an English Anglican theologian, a prolific author, and one of the founders of Christian socialism. Since the Second World War, interest in Maurice has expanded."Fre ...
.
They were later supported by
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832 – 7 February 1912) was a Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician who was primarily active in West Africa. Born in the Danish West Indies, he joined the waves of black immigrants from the ...
, a Liberian Christian missionary who argued that Islam had brought clear advantages to Africans. Blyden and Bosworth Smith met, through
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, (13 December 1815 – 18 July 1881), known as Dean Stanley, was an English Anglican priest and ecclesiastical historian. He was Dean of Westminster from 1864 to 1881. His position was that of a Broad Churchman and he wa ...
, became friends, exchanged visits, and corresponded at length.
Smith's deprecation of Christian missionary efforts in Africa was already in
Winwood Reade
William Winwood Reade (26 December 1838 – 24 April 1875) was a British historian, explorer, novelist and philosopher. His two best-known books, the universal history ''The Martyrdom of Man'' (1872) and the novel ''The Outcast'' (1875), were i ...
's ''Savage Africa''. The contrasting adversarial stance against Islam, of
William Muir
Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Provinces of British India.
Life
He was born at Gl ...
's ''Life of Mahomet'' and ''The Coran'', and followed by
John Drew Bate
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
and
William St. Clair Tisdall
William St. Clair Tisdall (1859–1928) was a British Anglican priest, linguist, historian and philologist who served as the Secretary of the Church of England's Missionary Society in Isfahan, Persia.
Career
Tisdall was the principal at the T ...
, drew on oriental studies and established missionary views on conversion as an imperative.
Bosworth Smith's conciliatory approach also had the support of
Sayyid Ahmad Khan
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan KCSI (17 October 1817 – 27 March 1898; also Sayyid Ahmad Khan) was an Indian Muslim reformer, philosopher, and educationist in nineteenth-century British India. Though initially espousing Hindu-Muslim unity, he ...
. The work of
W. Montgomery Watt in the 20th century has been compared to Smith's.
In a controversy arising towards the end of 1887,
Isaac Taylor
Isaac Taylor (17 August 1787 – 28 June 1865) was an English philosophical and historical writer, artist, and inventor.
Life
He was the eldest surviving son of Isaac Taylor of Ongar. He was born at Lavenham, Suffolk, on 17 August 1787, and m ...
went further in attacking existing Christian missionary activity, and in particular its commercial links. Smith allied himself with the
Church Missionary Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
, rebutting Taylor's propositions, and raising the question of plagiarism, since they were not novel. He found himself in rough consensus with
Thomas Patrick Hughes
Thomas Patrick Hughes, (26 March 1838 - 8 August 1911) was a British Anglican missionary who served under the auspices of the Church Mission Society (CMS) in Peshawar in British India (now Pakistan) for 20 years. Noted for his facility with lang ...
,
Harry Johnston
Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927), known as Harry Johnston, was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely in Africa and spoke many African languages. He publishe ...
,
Joseph Thomson Joseph or Joe Thomson is the name of:
*J. J. Thomson (1856–1940), physicist
* Joseph Thomson (cricketer) (1877-1953), Australian cricketer
*Joseph Thomson (explorer) (1858–1895), African explorer
* Joseph Angus Thomson (1856–1943), Australian ...
: on the positive contributions in Africa of Islam, and negative points; and on the value and prospects of Christian missionary work. This debate was concurrent with one on an atrocity in Bosnia-Herzegovina reported by
Henry Liddon
Henry Parry Liddon (1829–1890), also known as H. P. Liddon, was an English theologian. From 1870 to 1882, he was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford.
Biography
The son of a naval capta ...
and
Malcolm MacColl from a steamer journey on the
Sava
The Sava (; , ; sr-cyr, Сава, hu, Száva) is a river in Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. It flows through Slovenia, Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally th ...
.
Andrew Walls
Andrew Finlay Walls (21 April 192812 August 2021) was a British historian of missions, best known for his pioneering studies of the history of the African church and a pioneer in the academic field of World Christianity.
Biography
Walls was b ...
called ''Mohammed and Mohammedanism'' "strangely influential", the work of "one of nature's amateurs" who knew no Arabic. He saw Smith as influenced by F. D. Maurice and the nascent study of
comparative religion
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...
as represented by
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born philologist and Orientalist, who lived and studied in Britain for most of his life. He was one of the founders of the western academic disciplines of Indian ...
, with a "cheerful evolutionism". Smith's overall theme was "responsibilities attaching to British imperial and military power."
Other books were:
*''Carthage and the Carthaginians'' (1878 abridged edit. 1881, ''Rome and Carthage''), seven lectures also delivered before the
Royal Institution
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (often the Royal Institution, Ri or RI) is an organisation for scientific education and research, based in the City of Westminster. It was founded in 1799 by the leading British scientists of the age, inc ...
.
*''Life of Lord Lawrence'' (1883, two vols.) This was an official biography of
John Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence
John Laird Mair Lawrence, 1st Baron Lawrence, (4 March 1811 – 27 June 1879), known as Sir John Lawrence, Baronet, Bt., between 1858 and 1869, was an English-born Ulsterman who became a prominent British Imperial statesman who served as ...
, Viceroy of India, and ran to seven editions. He declined other work of similar kind.
Controversialist
Bosworth Smith intervened in political, religious, and debates, mainly through letters to ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' or articles in the reviews. During the
Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 ( tr, 93 Harbi, lit=War of ’93, named for the year 1293 in the Islamic calendar; russian: Русско-турецкая война, Russko-turetskaya voyna, "Russian–Turkish war") was a conflict between th ...
he defended the Turkish character, and insisted on the danger to India of Russia's
forward policy A Forward Policy is a set of foreign policy doctrines applicable to territorial ambitions and disputes in which emphasis is placed on securing control of targeted territories by invasion and annexation or by the political creation of compliant buff ...
. In 1885 he urged the permanent British occupation of the Sudan, and in 1892 he protested against the evacuation of Uganda, which was not carried out. On 20 October 1892, speaking for a deputation of the
British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
to
Lord Rosebery
Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery, 1st Earl of Midlothian, (7 May 1847 – 21 May 1929) was a British Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from March 1894 to June 1895. Between the death of ...
, then Foreign Secretary, he pleaded for "the continuity of the moral policy of England." His letters were reprinted as a pamphlet.
In the autumn of 1885 he defended the Church of England against
W. E. Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...
's and
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the Cons ...
's menaces of disestablishment. To an early evangelical background he added a liberal tolerance, but his loyalty as churchman was intense. Gladstone replied vaguely to his appeal for some reassuring message to liberal churchmen. Smith's letters were published by the
Church Defence Institution
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
as a pamphlet ''Reasons of a Layman and a Liberal for opposing Disestablishment''.
Ornithology
* ''Birds of Marlborough'', (1863)
* ''Bird Life and Bird Lore'', (1905, new edit. 1909), based on articles in the ''
Nineteenth Century
The 19th (nineteenth) century began on 1 January 1801 ( MDCCCI), and ended on 31 December 1900 ( MCM). The 19th century was the ninth century of the 2nd millennium.
The 19th century was characterized by vast social upheaval. Slavery was abolish ...
'', with other chapters descriptive of Dorset life.
Family
On 9 August 1865 Bosworth Smith married Flora, fourth daughter of the Rev. Edward Dawe Wickham, rector of Holmwood, Surrey (1851–1893), and sister of
Archdale Palmer Wickham; the fifth daughter, Alice Bertha, was wife of Bosworth's elder brother, Henry John Smith (1838–1879). Bosworth Smith's own handwriting was all but illegible, and Flora copied out what he wrote for publication, and most of his important private letters. She survived him, and died in 1927.
Their children included:
* Gerald Hugh Bosworth Smith (born 1868), married 1893 Olive Yates, daughter of Charles Yates of Florida. He was educated at Marlborough College, and became a farmer in Cuba.
* Alan Wyldbore Bosworth Smith (born 1870), lieutenant R.N., second son, lost his life at sea when in command of
HMS ''Cobra'' (18 September 1901). He went down on the bridge of the vessel.
* Reginald Montagu Bosworth Smith (born 1871), third son. Basuto Police, married 1905 Agnes Val Davies.
*
Bertrand Nigel Bosworth Smith (1873–1947), Indian Civil Service.
* Mervyn Henry Bosworth-Smith, fifth son, (1878–1950).
In 1905 he founded a trading post at
Malealea, now in
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
. He married, firstly in 1914, Sophie Warmington, daughter of John Warmington.
* Nevil Digby Bosworth Smith (born 1886).
Educated at Harrow School and
Pembroke College, Cambridge
Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...
, he became an education inspector in 1911. As Nevil D. B. Smith, he married in 1913 Gladys Wood.
* Ellinor, eldest daughter, married firstly
Harry Langhorne Thompson
Sir Harry Langhorne Thompson (6 February 1857 – 28 April 1902) was a British colonial administrator in Cyprus and the West Indies.
Early life
Thompson was born in London in 1857, the eldest son of Sir Ralph Wood Thompson, KCB (1830-1902), w ...
in 1894, and secondly in 1907
Sir Edward Grogan, 2nd Baronet
Colonel Sir Edward Ion Beresford Grogan, 2nd Baronet, (29 November 1873 – 11 July 1927) was a British Army officer.
Military career
The son of the politician Sir Edward Grogan, 1st Baronet, and his wife Catherine (née MacMahon), daughter ...
.
* Emily Winifred (Frida) (1875–1919), second daughter, married in 1907
August Heisler (1881–1953), a German physician with from 1910 a practice in the
Black Forest
The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is t ...
.
* Lorna, third daughter, married in 1906
Edwin Goldmann
Edwin Goldmann (12 November 1862 – 13 August 1913) was a biomedical researcher and surgeon most famous for his contributions in first characterizing the blood–brain barrier.
Discovery of the blood–brain barrier
Goldmann's mentor, Paul ...
.
The wedding was attended by Thomas Hardy and his wife
Emma Gifford
Emma Lavinia Gifford (24 November 1840 – 27 November 1912) was an English writer and suffragist, who was the first wife of the novelist and poet Thomas Hardy.
Early life
Emma Gifford was born in Plymouth, Devon, on 24 November 1840 The secon ...
. Lorna died in 1919, after her husband, leaving a daughter Lorna (born 1908) who became a ward of Goldmann's brother
Sydney Goldman
Major Charles Sydney Goldman (28 April 1868 – 7 April 1958) was a British businessman, author, and journalist who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1910 until 1918.
Background
In early life, he used the family name in the spelling G ...
, and in 1927 married
Stewart Gore-Browne
Lieutenant Colonel Sir Stewart Gore-Browne (3 May 1883 – 4 August 1967), called Chipembele by Zambians, was a soldier, pioneer white settler, builder, politician and supporter of independence in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia).
Early life
...
. Hardy wrote one of his final poems, "Lorna the Second", informed by Gore-Browne's earlier interest in her mother, who had turned him down for Goldmann. Gore-Browne met Lorna II at the funeral of Bosworth Smith's wife Flora.
* Bertha Joan. She married firstly, Charles Sinclair Shephard, an army officer, in 1911 as his second wife. As Bertha J. B. Shephard, she married secondly, in 1939, Reuben Cochrane.
Notes
External links
;Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Reginald Bosworth
1839 births
1908 deaths
English schoolteachers
English writers
People educated at Marlborough College
Fellows of Trinity College, Oxford