Samuel Smiles
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Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904) was a
British 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, ...
author and government reformer. Although he campaigned on a Chartist platform, he promoted the idea that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His primary work, ''
Self-Help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
'' (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
'' government. It has been called "the bible of mid- Victorian liberalism" and had lasting effects on
British 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, ...
political thought.


Early life and education

Born in
Haddington, East Lothian The Royal Burgh of Haddington ( sco, Haidintoun, gd, Baile Adainn) is a town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is the main administrative, cultural and geographical centre for East Lothian. It lies about east of Edinburgh. The name Haddington is ...
, Scotland, Smiles was the son of Janet Wilson of
Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...
and Samuel Smiles of Haddington. He was one of eleven surviving children. While his family members were strict Reformed Presbyterians, he did not practice. He studied at a local school, leaving at the age of 14. He apprenticed to be a doctor under Dr. Robert Lewins. This arrangement enabled Smiles to study medicine at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
in 1829. There he furthered his interest in politics, and became a strong supporter of
Joseph Hume Joseph Hume FRS (22 January 1777 – 20 February 1855) was a Scottish surgeon and Radical MP.Ronald K. Huch, Paul R. Ziegler 1985 Joseph Hume, the People's M.P.: DIANE Publishing. Early life He was born the son of a shipmaster James Hume ...
. His father died in the 1832 cholera epidemic, but Smiles was enabled to continue with his studies because he was supported by his mother. She ran the small family general store firm in the belief that the "Lord will provide". Her example of working ceaselessly to support herself and his nine younger siblings strongly influenced Smiles's future life, but he developed a benign and tolerant outlook that was sometimes at odds with that of his Reformed Presbyterian forebears. In 1838 Smiles was offered the editorship of the reformist paper, the ''Leeds Times''. He spent the next twenty years in the city, moving to live on Woodhouse Cliff in 1847.


Career as a campaigner

In 1837, he wrote articles for the ''Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle'' and the
Leeds Times The ''Leeds Times'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1833, and published at the office in Briggate, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its w ...
, campaigning for parliamentary reform. In November 1838, Smiles was invited to become the editor of the ''Leeds Times'', a position he accepted and filled until 1842. In May 1840, Smiles became secretary to the Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association, an organisation that held to the six objectives of
Chartism Chartism was a working-class movement for political reform in the United Kingdom that erupted from 1838 to 1857 and was strongest in 1839, 1842 and 1848. It took its name from the People's Charter of 1838 and was a national protest movement, w ...
:
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
for all men over the age of 21; equal-sized electoral districts; voting by
secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...
; an end to the need of MPs to qualify for
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, other than by winning an election; pay for MPs; and annual Parliaments. As editor of the ''Leeds Times'', he advocated radical causes ranging from women's suffrage to
free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
and parliamentary reform. By the late 1840s, however, Smiles became concerned about the advocation of physical force by Chartists
Feargus O'Connor Feargus Edward O'Connor (18 July 1796 – 30 August 1855) was an Irish Chartist leader and advocate of the Land Plan, which sought to provide smallholdings for the labouring classes. A highly charismatic figure, O'Connor was admired for his ...
and
George Julian Harney George Julian Harney (17 February 1817 – 9 December 1897) was a British political activist, journalist, and Chartist leader. He was also associated with Marxism, socialism, and universal suffrage. Early life George Julian Harney, the son ...
, although he seems to have agreed with them that the movement's current tactics were not effective, saying that "mere political reform will not cure the manifold evils which now afflict society". On 7 December 1843, Samuel married Sarah Ann Holmes Dixon in Leeds. They had three daughters and two sons. In 1845, he left the ''Leeds Times'' and became a secretary for the newly formed
Leeds & Thirsk Railway The Leeds Northern Railway (LNR), originally the Leeds and Thirsk Railway, was an English railway company that built and opened a line from Leeds to Stockton via Harrogate and Thirsk. In 1845 the Leeds and Thirsk Railway received permission for ...
. After nine years, he worked for the South Eastern Railway. In the 1850s, Smiles abandoned his interest in parliament and decided that
self-help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
was the most important place of reform. In 1859, he published his book '' Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct''. Smiles wrote articles for the ''Quarterly''. In an article on railways, he argued that the railways should be nationalised and that third-class passengers should be encouraged. In 1861 Smiles published an article from the ''Quarterly'', renamed ''Workers Earnings, Savings, and Strikes''. He claimed poverty in many instances was caused by habitual improvidence: In 1866, Smiles became president of the
National Provident Institution National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
but left in 1871, after suffering a debilitating stroke.


Writings

In 1875, his book ''Thrift'' was published. In it, he said that "riches do not constitute any claim to distinction. It is only the vulgar who admire riches as riches". He claimed that the
Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The ''Poor Law Amendment Act 1834'' (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig government of Earl Grey. It completely replaced earlier legislation based on the ''Poor Relie ...
was "one of the most valuable that has been placed on the statute-book in modern times". He also criticised ''
laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups. ...
'': In 1871, he edited the letters written by his son, Samuel Smiles Jr (Born 1852), and sent home during his teenage sea voyage (taken for his health), as well as the log he kept of his journey to Australia and the United States between February 1869 and March 1871, and published them in London in book form, under the title ''A Boy's Voyage Round the World''. In 1881 he claimed:


''Self-Help''

Smiles was not very successful in his careers as a doctor and journalist. He joined several cooperative ventures, but they failed for lack of capital. Disillusioned, he turned away from middle-class utopianism. He finally found intellectual refuge and national fame in the isolation of self-help. The origins of his most famous book, ''
Self-Help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
'', lay in a speech he gave in March 1845 in response to a request by a Mutual Improvement Society, published as, ''The Education of the Working Classes''. In it Smiles said: The newly founded
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...
publishing house rejected publishing ''Self-Help'' in 1855. Twenty years later Smiles was seated next to
George Routledge George Routledge (23 September 1812 – 13 December 1888) was a British book publisher and the founder of the publishing house Routledge. Early life He was born in Brampton, Cumberland on 23 September 1812. Career Routledge gained his early e ...
at a dinner, and he said to him, "And when, Dr. Smiles, are we to have the honour of publishing one of your books?"; Smiles replied that Mr. Routledge already had the honour of rejecting ''Self-Help''.Smiles, p. 88. Although John Murray was willing to publish ''Self-Help'' on a half-profits system, Smiles rejected this as he did not want the book to lose its anecdotes. In 1859, Smiles self-published the book, retaining the copyright, while he paid John Murray a ten percent commission. It sold 20,000 copies within one year of its publication. By the time of Smiles' death in 1904 it had sold over a quarter of a million copies.Sinnema, p. vii. ''Self-Help'' brought milesto celebrity status: almost overnight, he became a leading pundit and much-consulted guru". Smiles "suddenly became the fashion and he was deluged with requests that he should lay foundation stones, sit for his portrait, present prizes to orphan children, make speeches from platforms. The simple fellow was pleased with these invitations, but naturally he could not accept. He had his work to do ... his duty did not lie on any public platform ... It lay in his office with his Work".


''Conduct'' manuscript

Smiles intended to publish a book titled ''Conduct'', in 1896. He submitted it to his publisher, but John Murray declined to publish the book. In 1898, publication was denied again. After the death of Smiles in 1904, the
manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...
of ''Conduct'' was found in his desk and, on the advice of John Murray, was destroyed. No copy is known to exist.


Later life, death and descendants

Sir George Reid was commissioned to paint Smiles's portrait, completed in 1877 and now in the collection of the
National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
. Copies of his handwriting can be found in the archives of East Lothian Council. When, in 1892, William Gladstone returned to power and, as prime minister, introduced his
Second Irish Home Rule Bill The Government of Ireland Bill 1893 (known generally as the Second Home Rule Bill) was the second attempt made by Liberal Party leader William Ewart Gladstone, as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, to enact a system of home rule for Ireland. ...
, Smiles wrote to his son in
Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
: "Don't you rebel. Keep quiet, though I see your name among the agitators ... Your letter is frightfully alarming ... Gladstone has come into power and we are threatened with Civil War. This cannot be the result of good statesmanship. Yet there are Liberal members to cheer on the maniac. Alas, alas for Liberalism! ... Must I give you six months notice to withdraw my loans to the B.R. Co., for I want to keep the little money I have for wife and bairns, not for arming the Ulstermen". Smiles wrote to Lucy Smiles in 1893, "This Home Rule Bill is horrid  ... I am quite appalled at that wretched hound, miscalled statesman, throwing the country into a state of turmoil. I cannot understand how so many persons in this part of Britain follow that maniac, just like a flock of sheep. He is simply bursting with self-conceit. Alas! Alas for Liberalism!" On 16 April 1904, Samuel Smiles died in
Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
in his 92nd year, London and was buried in
Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is a London cemetery, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries. Estab ...
. Shortly before his death, he was reportedly offered a knighthood, which he declined to accept. Smiles's grandchildren include Sir Walter Smiles, an
Ulster Unionist Party The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) is a unionist political party in Northern Ireland. The party was founded in 1905, emerging from the Irish Unionist Alliance in Ulster. Under Edward Carson, it led unionist opposition to the Irish Home Rule movem ...
MP. Through that branch of the family, Smiles is also the great-great-grandfather of Bear Grylls, a well-known adventurer.


Legacy

''Self-Help'' has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism", and it raised Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight. The Liberal MP J. A. Roebuck in 1862 called Smiles' ''Workmen's Earnings, Strikes and Savings'' "a very remarkable book" and quoted passages from it in a speech.
George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, in his ''Fabian Essays in Socialism'' (1889), called Smiles "that modern
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
". American inspirational writer
Orison Swett Marden Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded ''SUCCESS'' magazine in 1897. His writings discuss common-sense principles and virtues that make for a well-rou ...
was inspired by Samuel Smiles as a result of having read ''Self-Help'' during his youth. Decades later, he wrote ''Pushing to the Front'' (1894) and became a professional author as a result of Smiles' influence. The late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century saw the rise of New Liberalism,
Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output an ...
, and socialism, which all viewed thrift unfavourably. The New Liberal economists
J. A. Hobson John Atkinson Hobson (6 July 1858 – 1 April 1940) was an English economist and social scientist. Hobson is best known for his writing on imperialism, which influenced Vladimir Lenin, and his theory of underconsumption. His principal and ea ...
and A. F. Mummery in their ''Physiology of Industry'' (1889), claimed that saving resulted in the underemployment of capital and labour during trade depressions. ''General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money'' (1936) by
John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...
, attempted to replace classical liberal economics. In 1905,
William Boyd Carpenter William Boyd Carpenter (26 March 1841, Liverpool – 26 October 1918, Westminster) was a Church of England cleric who became Bishop of Ripon and Royal Chaplain to Queen Victoria. Background William Boyd Carpenter was the second son of the Revd ...
,
Bishop of Ripon The Bishop of Ripon is an episcopal title which takes its name after the city of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. The bishop is one of the area bishops of the Diocese of Leeds in the Province of York. The area bishop of Ripon has oversight o ...
, praised Smiles: "The Bishop said he had noticed a little tendency in some quarters to disparage the homely energies of life which at one time were so highly thought of. He recalled the appearance of ''Self-Help'', by Samuel Smiles, who 40 or 50 years ago gave lectures at Leeds encouraging young men to engage in self-improvement. His books were read with extraordinary avidity, but there arose a school which taught the existence of the beautiful and to do nothing. That school disparaged thrift and did not pay much attention to character and, perhaps, not much attention to duty". The Labour MP
David Grenfell David Rhys Grenfell, (16 June 1881 – 21 November 1968), sometimes known as Dai Grenfell, was a Welsh Member of Parliament. He represented the Gower constituency for the Labour Party from 1922 to 1959. Early life Grenfell was born on 16 Jun ...
, in a debate on the Transitional Payments (Determination of Need) Bill, claimed that the 1932 bill "discriminated not against the unthrifty, the idler, and the waster, but against the industrious, thrifty person, who had to pay a heavy penalty. The Minister of Labour penalized self-help. He poured contempt on Samuel Smiles and all his works". The liberal
Ernest Benn Sir Ernest John Pickstone Benn, 2nd Baronet, (25 June 1875 – 17 January 1954) was a British publisher, writer and political publicist. His father, John Benn, was a politician, who had been made a baronet in 1914. He was an uncle of the Labou ...
invoked Smiles in 1949 when praising the virtues of self-help. In 1962, the director of the
British Institute of Management The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. The major membership classes are ''Member'', ''Fellow'' - for those with significant expertise - and ''Companion'' - the most sen ...
, John Marsh, said that young men who entered industry needed a sense of service and duty; they must be "men of character who know how to behave well as in phases of success"; they must possess self-discipline in thinking and behaviour: "There is something still to be said for Samuel Smiles's doctrine of self-help". The liberal economist
F. A. Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, Jurisprudence, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical lib ...
wrote in 1976 that: "It is probably a misfortune that, especially in the USA, popular writers like Samuel Smiles...have defended free enterprise on the ground that it regularly rewards the deserving, and it bodes ill for the future of the market order that this seems to have become the only defence of it which is understood by the general public. That it has largely become the basis of the self-esteem of the businessman often gives him an air of self-righteousness which does not make him more popular".F. A. Hayek, ''Law, Legislation and Liberty. Volume 2: The Mirage of Social Justice'' (London: Routledge, 1982), p. 74.


Writings


Self-help topics

* ''
Self-Help Self-help or self-improvement is a self-guided improvement''APA Dictionary of Physicology'', 1st ed., Gary R. VandenBos, ed., Washington: American Psychological Association, 2007.—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a subst ...
'', 1859 * ''Character'', 1871 * ''Thrift'', 1875 * ''Duty'', 1880 * ''Life and Labour'', 1887


Biographical works

* ''The Life of
George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
'', 1857 * ''The Story of The Life of George Stephenson'', London, 1859 (abridgement of the above) * ''Brief biographies'', Boston, 1860 (articles reprinted from periodicals such as the ''Quarterly Review'') * '' Lives of the Engineers'', 5 vol, London 1862 **Vol 1, Early engineers –
James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century. Early life Born i ...
,
Sir Cornelius Vermuyden Sir Cornelius Vermuyden ( Sint-Maartensdijk, 1595 – London, 11 October 1677) was a Dutch engineer who introduced Dutch land reclamation methods to England. Vermuyden was commissioned by the Crown to drain Hatfield Chase in the Isle of Axholme ...
, Sir
Hugh Myddleton Sir Hugh Myddelton (or Middleton), 1st Baronet (1560 – 10 December 1631) was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine-owner, goldsmith, banker and self-taught engineer. The spelling of his name is inconsistently reproduced, but Myddelton appea ...
, Capt John Perry **Vol 2, Harbours, Lighthouses and Bridges –
John Smeaton John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...
and John Rennie (1761–1821) **Vol 3, History of Roads – John Metcalf and
Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
**Vol 4, The Steam Engine –
Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...
**Vol 5, The Locomotive –
George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
and
Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
* ''Industrial Biography'', 1863 :: Includes lives of
Andrew Yarranton Andrew Yarranton (1619–1684) was an important English engineer in the 17th century who was responsible for making several rivers into navigable waterways. Biography He was born at Astley, just south of the town of Stourport-on-Severn in Worce ...
,
Benjamin Huntsman Benjamin Huntsman (4 June 170420 June 1776) was an English inventor and manufacturer of cast or crucible steel. Biography Huntsman was born the fourth child of William and Mary (née Nainby) Huntsman, a Quaker farming couple, in Epworth, Li ...
,
Dud Dudley Dudd (Dud) Dudley (1600–1684) was an English metallurgist, who fought on the Royalist side in the English Civil War as a soldier, military engineer, and supplier of munitions. He was one of the first Englishmen to smelt iron ore using coke. B ...
,
Henry Maudslay Henry Maudslay ( pronunciation and spelling) (22 August 1771 – 14 February 1831) was an English machine tool innovator, tool and die maker, and inventor. He is considered a founding father of machine tool technology. His inventions were ...
,
Joseph Clement Joseph Clement (13 June 1779 – 28 February 1844) was a British engineer and industrialist, chiefly remembered as the maker of Charles Babbage's first difference engine, between 1824 and 1833. Biography Early life Joseph Clement was born on ...
, etc.. * Vol 4 ''
Boulton and Watt Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...
'', 1865 * ''The
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss politica ...
: Their Settlements, Churches and Industries in England and Ireland'', 1867 * ''The Huguenots in France''. 1870 * ''Lives of the Engineers'', new ed. in 5 vols, 1874 :: (includes the lives of Stephenson and Boulton and Watt) * ''Life of a Scotch Naturalist: Thomas Edward'', 1875 * '' George Moore, Merchant and Philanthropist'', 1878 * ''
Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good ...
, Baker of Thurso, Geologist and Botanist'', 1878 * ''Men of Invention and Industry'', 1884 ::
Phineas Pett Phineas Pett (1 November 1570 – August 1647) was a shipwright and First Resident Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard and a member of the Pett dynasty. Phineas left a memoir of his activities which is preserved in the British Library and was publi ...
,
Francis Pettit Smith Sir Francis Pettit Smith (9 February 1808 – 12 February 1874) was an English inventor and, along with John Ericsson, one of the inventors of the screw propeller. He was also the driving force behind the construction of the world's first scr ...
,
John Harrison John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was a self-educated English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the problem of calculating longitude while at sea. Harrison's solution revol ...
,
John Lombe John Lombe (1693 in Norwich – November 20, 1722 in Derby) was a silk spinner in the 18th century Derby, England. Biography Lombe was born in Norwich in approximately 1693, the son of a worsted weaver. He was a younger half-brother of Thoma ...
,
William Murdoch William Murdoch (sometimes spelled Murdock) (21 August 1754 – 15 November 1839) was a Scottish engineer and inventor. Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton & Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten yea ...
, Frederick Koenig, The Walter family of ''The Times'', William Clowes,
Charles Bianconi Charles Bianconi (24 September 1786 – 22 September 1875) was an Italo-Irish entrepreneur. Sometimes described as the "man who put Ireland on wheels", he developed a network of horse-drawn coaches that became Ireland's "first regular public trans ...
, and chapters on Industry in Ireland, Shipbuilding in Belfast, Astronomers and students in humble life * ''
James Nasmyth James Hall Nasmyth (sometimes spelled Naesmyth, Nasmith, or Nesmyth) (19 August 1808 – 7 May 1890) was a Scottish engineer, philosopher, artist and inventor famous for his development of the steam hammer. He was the co-founder of Nasmyth, ...
, engineer, an autobiography'', ed. Samuel Smiles, 1885 * ''A Publisher and his Friends. Memoir and Correspondence of the Late John Murray'', 1891 * '' Jasmin. Barber, poet, Philanthropist'', 1891 * ''
Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indust ...
, his Personal History'', 1894 * '' The Autobiography of Samuel Smiles, LLD'', ed. T. Mackay, 1905
New York edition
The growth of industrial archaeology and history in Britain from the 1960s caused a number of these titles to be reprinted, and a number are available on the Web from such sources as
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...
, noted below.


References

Notes Bibliography * * * Sinnema, Peter W.: 'Introduction', in Samuel Smiles, ''Self-Help'' (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). *


Further reading

*Christopher Clausen, "How to Join the Middle Classes with the Help of Dr. Smiles and Mrs. Beeton", ''American Scholar'', 62 (1993), pp. 403–18. *K. Fielden, "Samuel Smiles and self-help", ''Victorian Studies'', 12 (1968–69), pp. 155–76. *J. F. C. Harrison, "The Victorian gospel of success", ''Victorian Studies'', 1 (1957–58). *John Hunter, "The Spirit of Self-Help - a life of Samuel Smiles", (Shepheard Walwyn 2017). *Adrian Jarvis, ''Samuel Smiles and the Construction of Victorian Values'' (Sutton, 1997). *Thomas Mackay (ed.), ''The Autobiography of Samuel Smiles'' (John Murray, 1905). *R. J. Morris, "Samuel Smiles and the Genesis of Self-Help", ''Historical Journal'', 24 (1981), pp. 89–109. *Jeffrey Richards, "Spreading the Gospel of Self-Help: G. A. Henty and Samuel Smiles", ''Journal of Popular Culture'', 16 (1982), pp. 52–65. *Tim Travers, "Samuel Smiles and the Origins of 'Self-Help': Reform and the New Enlightenment", ''Albion'', 9 (1977), pp. 161–87. *Vladimir Trendafilov, "The Origins of Self-Help: Samuel Smiles and the Formative Influences on an Ex-Seminal Work", ''The Victorian'', 1 (2015). * Alexander Tyrrell, . “Class Consciousness in Early Victorian Britain: Samuel Smiles, Leeds Politics, and the Self-Help Creed.” ''Journal of British Studies,'' vol. 9, no. 2, 1970, pp. 102–125
online


External links

* * * * *



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Tom Butler-Bowdon Tom Butler-Bowdon (; born 1967) is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England. Early life Butler-Bowdon was born in Adelaide. He graduated from the University of Sydney (BA Hons, Government and History) and the London School of Economics (MSc ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smiles, Samuel 1812 births 1904 deaths New Thought writers Chartists Scottish biographers Burials at Brompton Cemetery People from Haddington, East Lothian Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Leeds Blue Plaques