William Saumarez Smith (known as Saumarez; K. J. Cable,
Smith, William Saumarez (1836 - 1909)
, ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

'', Vol. 11, MUP, 1988, pp 675-677. 14 January 1836 – 18 April 1909) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

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 ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

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Life

Smith was born in

Saint Helier St Helier (; Jèrriais: ; ) is the Capital city, capital of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. It is the most populous of the twelve parishes of Jersey, with a population of 35,822, over one-third of the island' ...

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

the eldest twin son of the Lieutenant Richard Snowden Smith (later a clergyman) and his wife Anne, ''née'' Robin. Smith was educated at

Windlesham House School Windlesham House School is an independent boarding and day school for boys and girls aged 4 to 13 on the South Downs, in Pulborough, West Sussex, England. It was founded in 1837 by Charles Robert Malden and was the first boys' preparatory sc ...

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, where he graduated B.A. with first-class honours in

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 ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

in 1858. He was Crosse theological scholar in 1859, Tyrwhitt Hebrew scholar in 1860, and on two occasions won the Seatonian prize for poetry. He graduated M.A. in 1862, B.D. in 1871, D.D. in 1889, and was a fellow of Trinity College, 1860-70. Smith 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 ...

on 19 June 1859 and priest on 3 Jun 1860; he was vicar of

Trumpington Trumpington is a village in Cambridgeshire, England, mostly located in Cambridge, with a small southern area of the village extending into the South Cambridgeshire district. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the village had ...

, 1867–69, and principal of St Aidan's Theological College, 1869-90. He was consecrated bishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia at

St Paul's Cathedral, London St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

, on 24 June 1890, and became archbishop in 1897. At Sydney his episcopate was notable mainly for a great increase in missionary work, and the home mission fund was also established. There was some advance in education;

Moore Theological College Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The Anglican Archbishop of Sydney holds ''ex officio'' the presidency of t ...

was reopened, and the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

Grammar School A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

For Girls was established in his period. Smith was always accessible to his clergy and always glad to keep in touch with his parishes. Though an extreme evangelical he was broadminded and an advocate for the union of the churches; and though essentially a man of peace, he spoke strongly against gambling and other evils. Smith had a dislike of ceremonial, a passion for accuracy, and was a fine scholar and linguist, interested also in

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

. Smith died of cerebral haemorrhage at Sydney on 18 April 1909; he married in 1870 Florence, daughter of the Rev. Lewis Deedes, who died in 1890, and was survived by a son and seven daughters. Smith was the author of ''The Bible, its Construction, Character and Claims'' (1865), 'Capernaum, A Seatonian Poem' (1865), ''Obstacles to Missionary Success'' (1868), 'The Disciples, a Seatonian Poem' (1869), ''Christian Faith, Five Sermons'' (1869), ''Lessons on Genesis'' (1879), ''The Blood of the New Testament'' (1889). In 1911 his verses were collected and published posthumously under the title, ''Capernaum and Other Poems''.

References

External links

''Capernaum and Other Poems''
a digitized copy of the first edition from

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Saumarez 1836 births 1909 deaths Anglican archbishops of Sydney Primates of the Anglican Church of Australia Jersey academics Jersey Anglicans Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Anglican bishops of Sydney People from Saint Helier Jersey emigrants to Australia People educated at Windlesham House School People educated at Marlborough College