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John Smith (1799 – 3 March 1870) was the Rector (ecclesiastical), Rector of Church of St Mary the Virgin, Baldock, St Mary's church in Baldock in Hertfordshire and is noted for being the first person to transcribe the Samuel Pepys#The diary, Diary of Samuel Pepys.
Smith was the first to decipher the complete text of the Samuel Pepys#The diary, Diary of Samuel Pepys while a student at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where the Diary is kept'The Diary of Samuel Pepys: Daily entries from the 17th century London'
/ref> (others had previously deciphered sections of it). Smith laboured on the Diaries for three years, from 1819 to 1822, and had assumed that they were written in code. He broke the code by comparing the section in the Diary concerning the escape of Charles II of England, Charles II from Worcester Castle with the longhand version of the same event Pepys published later. Later Smith was told that the diary was actually written in a shorthand system devised by Thomas Shelton (stenographer), Thomas Skelton and that the textbook Pepys learnt it from was on the bookshelf above Smith's head. Smith's transcription, which is kept in the Pepys Library, was the basis for the first published edition of the diary, edited by Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke, Lord Braybrooke, released in two volumes in 1825. Smith also worked on other material by Pepys, transcribing the so-called ''Tangier Diary'' of 1683 in the Bodleian Library.
John Smith (1799 – 3 March 1870) was the Rector (ecclesiastical), Rector of Church of St Mary the Virgin, Baldock, St Mary's church in Baldock in Hertfordshire and is noted for being the first person to transcribe the Samuel Pepys#The diary, Diary of Samuel Pepys.
Smith was the first to decipher the complete text of the Samuel Pepys#The diary, Diary of Samuel Pepys while a student at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where the Diary is kept/ref> (others had previously deciphered sections of it). Smith laboured on the Diaries for three years, from 1819 to 1822, and had assumed that they were written in code. He broke the code by comparing the section in the Diary concerning the escape of Charles II of England, Charles II from Worcester Castle with the longhand version of the same event Pepys published later. Later Smith was told that the diary was actually written in a shorthand system devised by Thomas Shelton (stenographer), Thomas Skelton and that the textbook Pepys learnt it from was on the bookshelf above Smith's head. Smith's transcription, which is kept in the Pepys Library, was the basis for the first published edition of the diary, edited by Richard Griffin, 3rd Baron Braybrooke, Lord Braybrooke, released in two volumes in 1825. Smith also worked on other material by Pepys, transcribing the so-called ''Tangier Diary'' of 1683 in the Bodleian Library.
Personal life
Smith married Elizabeth Frances Smith (c1795-1864) and with her had a son, Josiah William Smith QC (1816-1887), Judge of County Courts. Smith was Rector at St Mary's in Baldock from 1832 to 1870 and is buried beside his wife and son in the churchyard.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John 1799 births 1870 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Burials in Hertfordshire People from Baldock 19th-century English Anglican priests