Smyth, William Henry

People > Smyth, William Henry

The astronomer William Henry Smyth was born in London on the 21st January 1788. His father was an American loyalist who had lost all his lands during the American War of Independence. He was descended from Captain John Smith, the first coloniser of Virginia.

William joined the Navy, and saw active service in Indian, Chinese and Australian waters serving "his country in numerous engagements with conspicuous gallantry" (Illustrated London News, 30th September 1865) after which he retired to Bedford and constructed an astronomical observatory. As a naval officer he had been involved in cartographic and hydrographic surveys for the Admiralty and was already a skilled astronomer.

Smyth was a friend of Dr John Lee (1779-1859) a founder member of the Astronomical Society and the wealthy proprietor of estates in both Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. It is not clear how the two men met although Smyth was later to mention that when his friend was passing through Bedford to his Colmworth Estates to attend the assizes as a county magistrate he would sometimes stay as his guest.

Lee's seat was Hartwell House in Aylesbury where he erected an observatory furnished with the best materials. This became a focal point for local astronomers including Samuel Charles Whitbread of Cardington, Thomas Maclear, surgeon of Bedford and Biggleswade and many others. Lee paid for works compiled by Admiral Smyth including his descriptive catalogue of Roman brass medals (1834), Aedes Hartwellianae (1851) and Addenda (1864) and The Cycle of Celestial Objects (1860) commonly known as Speculum Hartwellianum.

"In his Cycle of Celestial Objects" with its Bedford Catalogue as Volume 2 Smyth laid out his wealth of experience in the hope that this book would inspire others to astronomy. It is all too easy for people today to be unaware how few books of guidance were available to the early Victorian astronomer...Smyth hoped to fill this need, and his Cycle must be considered as the first real book for the amateur" (Chapman, 1998, p79-80).

Smyth married Miss Anarella Warrington, daughter of the English Consul to the King of Naples in Sicily, after meeting her while serving with the British Squadron of the Kingdom of Sicily. They had a large family; their sons included Sir Warrington Wilkinson Smyth, Professor of Mineralogy of the Royal School of Mines, General Sir Henry Augustus Smyth and Charles Piazzi Smyth who became astronomer royal for Scotland.

Smyth became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1821 and of the Royal Astronomical Society. He was awarded the Royal Astronomical Society's Gold Medal in 1846 and was president in 1849-50. He was also a member of many other literary and scientific societies including the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries.

In 1839 he moved to Cardiff to supervise the construction of the Bute Docks which he had designed. Three years later he moved to Stone near Aylesbury where he died on September 9th 1865.

Publications

The following books by W.H.Smyth are held in the Heritage Library at Bedford Central Library

Account of a private Observatory, recently erected at Bedford. 1830.
Address at the Anniversary Meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on the 27th May 1850.
Description of an Astrological Clock belonging to the Society of Antiquities. 1848.
Sidereal Chromatics ; being a re-print with additions from the "Bedford Cycle of Celestial Objects" and its "Hartwell Continuation2, on the colours of multiple stars." 1864.

The Virtual Library

Smyth, William Henry

People > Smyth, William Henry

Publications

Further Reading:

William Henry Smyth, astronomer by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005