John Smith (1659–1715) was an English cleric, known for his edition of the ''

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum The ''Ecclesiastical History of the English People'' ( la, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum), written by Bede in about AD 731, is a history of the Christian Churches in England, and of England generally; its main focus is on the conflict be ...

'' of

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

Life

Son of William Smith, who married in 1657 Elizabeth, daughter of Giles Wetherall of Stockton, he was born at Lowther, Westmorland on 10 November 1659, one of 11 brothers, who included

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. When he was 24, Smith published the Book of Mormon. By the time of his death, 14 years later, he ...

and others well known in their time. He was educated by his father at

Bradford, Yorkshire Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 c ...

, under Christopher Ness, and then at

Appleby grammar school Appleby Grammar School is a mixed secondary school and sixth form in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria for students aged 11 to 18. Since 2011, it has been an Academy. Until 2013, the school was a registered charity. History The origins of Ap ...

. Smith was admitted to

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corpo ...

on 12 June 1674 as a

sizar At Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Cambridge, a sizar is an undergraduate who receives some form of assistance such as meals, lower fees or lodging during his or her period of study, in some cases in return for doing a defined jo ...

, graduating B.A. 1677, and M.A. 1681. On leaving he was ordained deacon and priest of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

by Archbishop Richard Sterne; in July 1682 he was admitted a minor canon of

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

, was shortly afterwards collated to the curacy of

Croxdale Croxdale is a village in the civil parish of Croxdale and Hett, situated about south of Durham City, in County Durham , England and on the A167 road, formerly part of the Great North Road. It is on the route of the East Coast Main Line and at on ...

, and on 1 July 1684 to that of

Witton Gilbert Witton Gilbert is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. Geography Witton Gilbert is situated about to the north-west of Durham. River Browney passes to the south of the village, while Dene Burn, one of its tributaries, runs thr ...

. From 1686 to 1689 he acted as chaplain to Lord Lansdown, the English ambassador at Madrid. In 1694 he was appointed domestic chaplain to

Nathaniel Crew Nathaniel Crew, 3rd Baron Crew (31 January 163318 September 1721) was Bishop of Oxford from 1671 to 1674, then Bishop of Durham from 1674 to 1721. As such he was one of the longest-serving bishops of the Church of England. Crew was the son of Joh ...

, who in the following year collated him to the rectory and hospital of

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

, and on 25 September 1695 to the seventh prebendal stall in Durham Cathedral. In 1696 Smith was created D.D. at Cambridge, and three years later was made treasurer of Durham, to which the bishop added in July 1704 the rectory of

Bishop-Wearmouth Bishopwearmouth is a former village and parish which now constitutes the west side of Sunderland City Centre, merging with the settlement as it expanded outwards in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is home to the Sunderland Minster church, which ...

. Here he rebuilt the rectory and restored the chancel of the church, but In 1713 his health began to fail, and he died at Cambridge on 30 July 1715. He was buried in the chapel of St John's College, where a monument was erected, with an inscription by his friend Thomas Baker.

Works

Smith undertook his major work, an edition of Bede's ''Historia'', under the influence of

Thomas Gale Thomas Gale (1635/1636?7 or 8 April 1702) was an English classical scholar, antiquarian and cleric. Life Gale was born at Scruton, Yorkshire. He was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow ...

, encouraged by

Ralph Thoresby Ralph Thoresby (16 August 1658 – 16 October 1725) was an antiquarian, who was born in Leeds and is widely credited with being the first historian of that city. Besides being a merchant, he was a nonconformist, fellow of the Royal Society, diar ...

, and with assistance of

Humfrey Wanley Humfrey Wanley (21 March 1672 – 6 July 1726) was an English librarian, palaeographer and scholar of Old English, employed by manuscript collectors such as Robert and Edward Harley. He was the first keeper of the Harleian Library, now the Har ...

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

. He spent the majority of his time residing in Cambridge, and working on it, but did not live to complete the preparation. His son George brought out in 1722 the ''Historiæ Ecclesiasticæ Gentis Anglorum Libri Quinque, auctore Venerabili Bæda … cura et studio Johannis Smith, S. T. P.'', Cambridge University Press. This edition is described by

David C. Douglas David Charles Douglas (1898–1982) was a historian of the Norman period at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford.Douglas, ''The Norman Episcopate before the Norman Conquest'', Cambridge Historical Journal, Vol. 13, No. 2. (1957), p. ...

as "an enormous advance" on previous ones, adding that textual criticism of Bede hardly then changed until 1896, when the

Charles Plummer Charles Plummer, FBA (1851–1927) was an English historian and cleric, best known as the editor of Sir John Fortescue's ''The Governance of England'', and for coining the term "bastard feudalism". He was the fifth son of Matthew Plummer of St ...

edition appeared. He also calls Smith one of "the founders of English medieval scholarship". It contains also the preface to ''

The Reckoning of Time ''The Reckoning of Time'' ( la, De temporum ratione) is an Anglo-Saxon era treatise written in Medieval Latin by the Northumbrian monk Bede in 725. The treatise includes an introduction to the traditional ancient and medieval view of the cosmo ...

'', and a world-chronicle. It also had the

version of the ''Historia ecclesiastica''. Smith also furnished materials for

Edmund Gibson Edmund Gibson (16696 September 1748) was a British divine who served as Bishop of Lincoln and Bishop of London, jurist, and antiquary. Early life and career He was born in Bampton, Westmorland. In 1686 he was entered a scholar at Queen's Coll ...

's edition of

William Camden William Camden (2 May 1551 – 9 November 1623) was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and herald, best known as author of ''Britannia'', the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ''Annal ...

, and to

James Anderson James Anderson may refer to: Arts *James Anderson (American actor) (1921–1969), American actor *James Anderson (author) (1936–2007), British mystery writer *James Anderson (English actor) (born 1980), British actor * James Anderson (filmmaker) ...

for his ''Historical Essay'' in 1705.

Family

Smith married in 1692 Mary, eldest daughter of William Cooper of

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, su ...

, who gave his daughter a portion of £4,500; they had, with four other sons, George Smith the nonjuror.

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1659 births 1715 deaths 17th-century English Anglican priests 18th-century English Anglican priests Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge English antiquarians English book editors