William Henry Smith
William Henry Smith was a 19th-century English writer born in January 1808 in Hammersmith, London. He was the son of a barrister and received a religiously influenced education, initially tutored by a clergyman and later attending Radley School and Glasgow University. Despite training as a lawyer, he chose to pursue a literary career, supported by an inheritance that allowed him to write independently. Smith became connected with notable literary figures, such as John Stuart Mill, which helped him establish himself in the literary community.
His work spanned essays, philosophical romances, and plays, with significant contributions to Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine. Smith’s notable publications include "Ernesto: A Philosophical Romance," "Thorndale: Or, The Conflict of Opinions," and "Gravenhurst: Or, Thoughts on Good and Evil." He married Lucy Caroline Cumming in 1861, and his health declined in the years following. Smith passed away on March 28, 1872, in Brighton, and his contributions to literature were largely preserved through his extensive writings in journals and magazines, despite being more recognized for his poetry and drama during his lifetime.
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William Henry Smith
- Born: January 1, 1808
- Birthplace: North End, Hammersmith, London, England
- Died: January 17, 1872
- Place of death: Brighton, England
Biography
Born at North End, Hammersmith, London, England, in January, 1808, William Henry Smith was the son of Richard Smith, a barrister. One of his elder brothers, Theyre Townsend Smith, became a well-known clergyman. Religion and law exerted a great influence on Smith’s life and career. His formal education began with a private tutor who was a clergyman. In 1818, he attended the Radley School near Abingdon, run by Dissenters. A high point while he was a student there was discovering the poetry George Gordon, Lord Byron.
Smith entered Glasgow University in 1821, where he roomed with his brother. While he was a student there, he met the writer John Sterling. Smith’s father died during his second year in Glasgow, and he returned to London. For five years, until 1828, he served a law apprenticeship with Sharon Turner, but he felt that the law was not his vocational calling, so he declined to enter law practice. Since he inherited some money, he was able to live independently and pursue writing books and reviews. He had the good fortune to have several literary figures as friends, notably John Stuart Mill, Frederick Denison Maurice, and John Sterling, providing him easier entry into the world of letters.
Smith’s early essays, published in 1928 in Athenaeum, addressed such topics as freedom of speech and mysticism, anticipating concerns of his first piece of long fiction, Ernesto: A Philosophical Romance. Prior to this, he had published two poems. In 1836, the Quarterly Review published an essay on law studies. In 1839, Smith had his first association with Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine; in addition to publishing numerous essays on various topics, he would write reviews for the magazine for some thirty years. In addition to essays and philosophical romances, Smith also produced a play, Athelwold, a Tragedy in Five Acts at Drury Lane in 1843 and wrote a play about events during the reign of James II in Scotland, Sir William Crichton.
In the fall of 1843, Smith attended lectures at the Sorbonne in Paris, after which he traveled in Switzerland; Brussels, Belgium; and Italy. Returning to England, he visited the Lake District for the first time and decided to settle in Keswick. In 1851, he declined an invitation to teach moral philosophy at Edinburgh, opting to work on his philosophical novel Thorndale: Or, The Conflict of Opinions. Smith married Lucy Caroline Cumming on May 5, 1861.
In 1862, Smith published Gravenhurst: Or, Thoughts on Good and Evil. While this book addressed issues similar to those of the well-received Thorndale, it was poorly received by comparison, possibly because he attempted in the book to prove that evil is a necessity in the world. By 1869, he was in declining health, and he died in Brighton on March 28, 1872. Two years later, Mrs. Smith published a memoir of her late husband, Knowing and Feeling: A Contribution to Psychology, for private circulation. Although during his lifetime, Smith was known largely for his poetry, drama, and philosophical romances, it was his writing for journals and magazines that preserved his name in literature.