Robert Payne Smith (7 November 1818 – 31 March 1895) was Regius Professor of Divinity at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

and Canon of Christ Church from 1865 until 1870, when he was appointed Dean of Canterbury by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

on the advice of

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Early life and education

Payne Smith was born in

Chipping Campden Chipping Campden is a market town in the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England. It is notable for its terraced High Street, dating from the 14th to the 17th centuries. A wool trading centre in the Middle Ages, Chipp ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

, on 7 November 1818, the only son and second of four children of Robert Smith, a land agent, and his wife, Esther Argles Payne, of Leggsheath,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. He attended Chipping Campden Grammar School and was taught Hebrew by his eldest sister, Esther. In 1837 he obtained an exhibition at Pembroke College, Oxford to study

classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. In 1841 he graduated with second-class honours. Payne Smith won the

Boden Sanskrit scholarship The Boden Scholarship at the University of Oxford was established in 1833 to support students learning Sanskrit. History and scholars Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Boden, after whom the scholarship is named, served in the Bombay Native Infantry of th ...

in 1840 and the Pusey and Ellerton Hebrew scholarship in 1843.

Career

In 1843, he became a fellow of Pembroke College and was ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

, and became a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

a year later. He gave the 1869 Bampton Lectures at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

and he was a member of the Old Testament Revision Committee from 1870 until 1885, the whole duration of the committee's existence. He provided the chapter on Genesis in

Charles Ellicott Charles John Ellicott (25 April 1819 – 15 October 1905) was an English Christian theologian, academic and churchman. He briefly served as Dean of Exeter, then Bishop of the united Episcopal see, see of Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, Glou ...

's ''A Bible Commentary for English Readers'' (1877-84) and the chapter on Zechariah in ''The Bible Educator''; (1870-74). He preached a series of sermons at Oxford beginning in 1858 which he later compiled into a commentary on Isaiah entitled ''The Authenticity and Messianic Interpretation of the Prophecies of Isaiah'' (1862). His greatest work, however, was his editorship for the Oxford University Press of the great of Syriac-Latin

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

, the ''Thesaurus Syriacus'' (1868–1901), on which he worked from its conception until his death when the editorship of the ''Thesaurus'' passed to his daughter, Jessie Payne Margoliouth, who abridged it into a Syriac-English dictionary, ''A Compendious Syriac Dictionary'' (1903), and who late in life published the ''Supplement to the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith'' (1927). He died at his deanery on 31 March 1895 and was buried on 3 April in St Martin's churchyard,

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Family

Robert and Catherine had six children: * Robert Payne Smith, ( -1917) cleric. * William Henry Payne Smith, assistant master at Rugby School. * Catherine Elizabeth Payne Smith (1854-1944), married Alfred Mellor Watkin. * Mary Payne Smith (1858-1927) * Jessie Payne Smith (1856-1933), British Syriac scholar and campaigner for women's suffrage, married David Samuel Margoliouth. * Esther Payne Smith (1861-1939), benefactor, educator and missionary at Pietermaritzburg.

References

External links

Dukhrana online searchable version of Payne Smith's ''Thesaurus Syriacus''
* 1818 births 1895 deaths Alumni of Pembroke College, Oxford Syriacists Linguists from the United Kingdom Deans of Canterbury People from Chipping Campden Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford) {{UK-linguist-stub

Early life and education

Career

Family

References

Further reading

External links