Drawing of the Headless Statue of Little St Hugh, Smart Lethieullier, Lincoln Cathedral

Smart Lethieullier (3 November 1701 – 27 August 1760) was an English

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

Early life and education

Lethieullier was born on 3 November 1701 at Aldersbrook Manor House,

Little Ilford Little Ilford is a district of London, England in the London Borough of Newham and the name of a ward in that borough. Little Ilford is now usually referred to as Manor Park.'Little Ilford', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 6, ed. W ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. His family was of Spanish Netherlands

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

origin, and had come to London as refugees in 1605. His grandfather, Sir John Lethieullier (1632/3–1719), had succeeded in trade, and had risen to become

Sheriff of London Two sheriffs are elected annually for the City of London by the Liverymen of the City livery company, livery companies. Today's sheriffs have only nominal duties, but the historical officeholders had important judicial responsibilities. They have ...

in 1674–5, and owner of the Aldersbrook estate (purchased 1693). Sir John's son, also named John (d. 1737), married Elizabeth Smart, and Smart was their second son. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and

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 ...

, from where he graduated MA in 1723.

Antiquarian interests

Lethieullier subsequently travelled in France, Italy, Germany, and throughout Britain, and developed a passion for the study and collection of antiquities and fossils. He was elected a fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

(1724), the Society of Antiquaries (1725), and a member of the

Spalding Gentlemen's Society The Spalding Gentlemen's Society is a learned society based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England, concerned with cultural, scientific and antiquarian subjects. It is Britain's oldest such provincial body, founded in 1710 by Maurice Johnson (1688 ...

(1733). He developed a wide network of antiquarian and scientific friends and contacts, including

Francesco Ficoroni Francesco (de') Ficoroni (1664–1747) was an Italian connoisseur and antiquarian in Rome closely involved with the antiquities trade. He was the author of numerous publications on ancient Roman sculpture and antiquities, guides to the monuments of ...

Bernard de Montfaucon Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, O.S.B. (; 13 January 1655 – 21 December 1741) was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He was an astute scholar who founded the discipline of palaeography, as well as being an editor of works ...

Richard Pococke Richard Pococke (19 November 1704 – 25 September 1765)''Notes and Queries'', p. 129. was an English-born churchman, inveterate traveller and travel writer. He was the Bishop of Ossory (1756–65) and Meath (1765), both dioceses of the Church ...

Andrew Ducarel Andrew Coltée Ducarel (9 June 1713 – 29 May 1785), was an English antiquary, librarian, and archivist. He was also a lawyer practising civil law (a "civilian"), and a member of the College of Civilians. Early life and education Ducarel was ...

, Francis Wise,

Martin Folkes Martin Folkes PRS FRS (29 October 1690 – 28 June 1754), was an English antiquary, numismatist, mathematician, and astronomer. Life Folkes was born in Westminster on 29 October 1690, the eldest son of Martin Folkes, councillor at Law.Albe ...

Samuel Gale Samuel Gale (17 December 1682 – 10 January 1754) was an English antiquary, and a founder of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Early life Samiel Gale was born in the parish of St Faith's, London, on 17 December 1682, the youngest son of Th ...

Richard Mead Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

and Peter Collinson. He wrote numerous letters and papers on antiquarian topics. None were published in his lifetime, but a number appeared posthumously in ''Archaeologia'' (journal of the Society of Antiquaries) and elsewhere. His subjects included Roman remains (including those in the grounds of

Wanstead House Wanstead House was a mansion built to replace the earlier Wanstead Hall. It was commissioned in 1715, completed in 1722 and demolished in 1825. Its gardens now form the municipal Wanstead Park in the London Borough of Redbridge. History Construct ...

and neighbouring

Aldersbrook Manor Aldersbrook Manor or the Manor of Aldersbrook was a feudal manor in the parish of Little Ilford, now part of the London Borough of Newham. It was named after the Alders Brook which flowed through it and the manor's lands mostly now mostly fall ...

), the Ambresbury Banks hillfort, the shrine of St Hugh in

Lincoln Cathedral Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Minster, or the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln and sometimes St Mary's Cathedral, in Lincoln, England, is a Grade I listed cathedral and is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Lincoln. Constructio ...

, and techniques for the dating of

English church monuments A church monument is an architectural or sculptural memorial to a deceased person or persons, located within a Christian church. It can take various forms ranging from a simple commemorative plaque or mural tablet affixed to a wall, to a large and ...

. In 1732–33, when he was living in Paris, he wrote the first detailed account in English of the Bayeux Tapestry: it was eventually published in 1767 as an appendix to

's ''Anglo-Norman Antiquities''. In 1737, on his father's death, Lethieullier inherited Aldersbrook and began to improve the grounds, including the building of a hermitage in which to house his collections.

Public service

Lethieullier served as

High Sheriff of Essex The High Sheriff of Essex was an ancient sheriff title originating in the time of the Angles, not long after the invasion of the Kingdom of England, which was in existence for around a thousand years. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the ...

in 1758.

Death and burial

Lethieullier died on 27 August 1760 at Aldersbrook, and was buried in St Mary's Church, Little Ilford.

Personal life

Lethieullier married Margaret Sloper in February 1726. She died in 1753: there were no children of the marriage. His estates were inherited by his niece Mary, daughter of his younger brother Charles.

References

Sources

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External links

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Entry for Smart Lethieullier at the Royal Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lethieullier, Smart 1701 births 1760 deaths 18th-century antiquarians Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford English antiquarians English people of French descent Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London High Sheriffs of Essex Huguenots People educated at Eton College