Elizabeth Smith (translator)
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Elizabeth Smith (December 1776 – 7 August 1806) was an English translator, linguist, and Biblical and Oriental scholar.


Early life and education

Smith, the second child and eldest daughter of George and Juliet Smith, was born at Burn Hall, a family property near
Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...
, in December 1776. A clever and bookish child, she was never at school, and was chiefly educated by her mother. At the beginning of 1782 the family moved to
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
, to be near a blind relative, who died in 1784. They moved back to Burn Hall till June 1785, when the father, who was partner in a
West Country The West Country is a loosely defined area within southwest England, usually taken to include the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Bristol, with some considering it to extend to all or parts of Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and ...
banking firm, took
Piercefield Park Piercefield House is a largely ruined neo-classical country house near St Arvans, Monmouthshire, Wales, about north of the centre of Chepstow. The central block of the house was designed in the very late 18th century, by, or to the designs of ...
, near
Chepstow Chepstow () is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western end of the ...
,
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
. By this time Elizabeth had made good progress in music. For three years from the spring of 1786 she was under a governess, who taught her French and a little Italian. All her other linguistic attainments were of her own acquiring. The family had a good library, and she read with avidity, especially the poets. Devoting some hours before breakfast each morning to study, she improved her Italian, and by 1793 could read Spanish without difficulty. The declaration of war by France in February 1793 produced a financial crisis which proved fatal to several banks, her father's among the number. In March he gave up Piercefield, and in 1794 took a commission in the army, serving for some years in Ireland. Elizabeth spent seven or eight months at the fashionable spa resort
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
, where her friend Mary Hunt encouraged her to study German and botany. At the end of the year she began Arabic and Persian. She began Latin in November 1794, and by February 1795 had "read Cæsar's Commentaries,
Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...
, and some volumes of
Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...
", and was "very impatient to begin
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...
". After she and her mother joined her father at
Sligo Sligo ( ; , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of 20,608 in 2022, it is the county's largest urban centre (constituting 2 ...
, she picked up an Irish grammar at
Armagh Armagh ( ; , , " Macha's height") is a city and the county town of County Armagh, in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Primates of All ...
, and at once began to study it. She must have begun
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
soon after returning to Bath in October 1796, as she was translating from the
Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...
in 1797. In 1799 she found at Shirley a Syriac New Testament, printed in Hebrew characters, and could "read it very well". Buxtorf's ''Florilegium'' she carried always in her pocket. In the summer of 1799 the family settled at
Ballitore Ballitore () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, sometimes spelt as Ballytore. It is noted for its historical Quaker associations. It was the first planned Quaker village in either England or Ireland - and remains the only one in Europe. ...
,
County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...
, moving in May 1801 to Coniston (then in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
, now in
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
), where Smith spent the rest of her life. In May 1802 she met the writer Elizabeth Hamilton (1758–1816), who thought that "with a little of the Scotch frankness … she would be one of the most perfect of human beings."


Death

After a year's decline of health, Smith died at Coniston on 7 August 1806. She was buried at
Hawkshead Hawkshead is a village and civil parish in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, England. It lies within the Lake District National Park and was historically part of Lancashire. The parish includes the hamlets of Hawkshead Hill, to the north west, ...
, where there is a tablet to her memory in the
parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...
.


Works

Smith's powers of memory and of divination must have been remarkable, for she rarely consulted a dictionary. Translation from Hebrew was her "Sunday work". Along with her intellectual accomplishments, Smith also excelled at cooking, needlework, and equestrianism. Among her
philological Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
collections were lists of words in Welsh, Chinese, and African dialects, with some Icelandic studies. The following were published from her papers: *''Fragments, in Prose and Verse … with some Account of her Life, by H. M. Bowdler'', &c. 1808, 8vo (portrait); contains translations of Jonah ii. and Habakkuk iii. *''Memoirs of Frederick and Margaret Klopstock, translated from the German'', &c. 1808, 8vo (from materials supplied by Dr. Mumssen of Altona); in many issues this is treated as a second volume of No. 1. *''The
Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...
, translated'', &c., 1810, 8vo, edited by Francis Randolph, himself no great
hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...
, on the recommendation of
Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...
William Magee, who read the manuscript, and thought it the best version of Job he knew; dedicated (18 January 1810) to Thomas Burgess, by then
Bishop of St David's The Bishop of St Davids is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of St Davids. The succession of bishops stretches back to Saint David who in the 6th century established his seat in what is today the city of St Davids in ...
*''A Vocabulary, Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian'', &c. 1814, 8vo; edited, with ''Praxis on the Arabic Alphabet'', by John Frederick Usko, vicar of
Orsett Orsett is a village, Ward (electoral subdivision), ward, former civil parish and ecclesiastical parish located within Thurrock unitary district in Essex, England, it is north-east of Grays, Essex, Grays. In 2011 the ward had a population of 6,1 ...
,
Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, who notes that she was the first to systematically collate the three languages; prefixed is a letter (1 July 1814) by Bishop Burgess. Selections from the author's didactic writings also appeared in ''The Lady's Monitor'' (1828). Smith was the first person to introduce the work of
Meta Klopstock Margareta Klopstock or Meta Klopstock (; 16 March 1728 – 28 November 1758) was a German writer. Her letters, particularly those to Samuel Richardson, and the story of her life were popular in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She was ma ...
to readers in English, through her 1808 translation.


Notes


References

*A somewhat confused ''Life'' by
Henrietta Maria Bowdler Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750–1830), commonly called Mrs. Harriet Bowdler, was an English religious author and literary expurgator, notably of the works of William Shakespeare. Family Bowdler was born in Conington, Huntingdonshire, the daught ...
, a personal friend from 1789 * William Jones, ''Christian Biography'', 1829, pp 385 sq. *De Quincey's ''Works'', ed. Masson, ii. 404 *''Notes and Queries'', 25 January 1868, p. 76. ;Attribution


External links

*
Henrietta Maria Bowdler Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750–1830), commonly called Mrs. Harriet Bowdler, was an English religious author and literary expurgator, notably of the works of William Shakespeare. Family Bowdler was born in Conington, Huntingdonshire, the daught ...

''Fragments, in prose and verse''
1810 by Elizabeth Smith {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Elizabeth 1776 births 1806 deaths 18th-century English translators British orientalists Linguists from the United Kingdom British women linguists People from Coniston, Cumbria People from Brandon, County Durham