SMETHAM, James (1821-1889)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0370 JS
Held at	: Queen Mary, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.library.qmul.ac.uk/ ›
Full title	: SMETHAM, James (1821-1889)
Date(s)	: 1853-1877
Level of description	: Collection (fonds)
Extent	: 1 box containing 147 items
Name of creator(s)	: Smetham | James | 1821-1889 | painter
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

James Smetham was born in Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, in 1821 and educated in Leeds. He began his career apprenticed to an architect but left to make his living painting portraits in Shropshire. In 1843 he went to London and entered the Academy School but left before completing the course and returned to itinerate portrait painting. In 1851 he became drawing teacher at the Wesleyan Normal College, Westminster, where he remained until his final illness. He married Sarah Goble, another teacher from the College, in 1854, and they had six children. In 1877 he suffered a final breakdown and lived in seclusion until his death in 1889. He is buried in Highgate Cemetery. His early work has been compared to William Blake and he was a Pre-Raphaelite associate numbering John Ruskin and Charles Gabriel Dante Rossetti among his admirers and friends. Religion was as important to him as art, he regularly attended Saturday and Sunday services and was a Methodist class leader. After his death his widow collaborated with William Davies (c1830-1897), a lifelong friend of Smetham and his family, on an edition of her husband's letters.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Letters written by James Smetham, 1853-1877, mainly to William Davies, concerning his work, schemes to raise money and his religious beliefs. Smetham called his letters "ventilators" and they often took the form of handmade notebooks with their contents resembling diaries or commonplace books. Other correspondents include Rev Thomas Akroyd, Quintin Hogg (1845-1903), Charles Mansford, Charles Gabriel Dante Rossetti (1828-1882), John Ruskin (1819-1900) and Frederic James Shields (1833-1911). Also letters to Sarah Smetham, his widow, from William Davies, 1889-1895.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English.

System of arrangement:

The letters are arranged in two series: letters by Smetham and letters about Smetham; each series is arranged chronologically.

Conditions governing access:

The Archives are available for access in the Archives Reading Room located on the 2nd Floor of the Mile End Library. The Archives Reading Room is open Mondays to Fridays 9am-4pm by appointment only. Contact the Archives for more information: Archives, Main Library QMUL, 328 Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, telephone: 020 7882 3873, email: archives@qmul.ac.uk. For more information about the Archives see the website: www.library.qmul.ac.uk/archives.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Photocopying at the discretion of the Archivist. Applications for copies for research or publication should be made to the Archivist: Main Library QMUL, 328 Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, telephone: 020 7882 7873, email: archives@qmul.ac.uk.

Finding aids:

Draft detailed list by Brenda Weeden, (c1980).

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Purchased by Dorothy Moore for Westfield College in 1971.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Department of Western Manuscripts holds letters from and concerning Smetham, 1861-1911 (Ref: MSS Eng c 5315); Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library holds letters from GCD Rossetti, 1861-1879.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Janet Foster as part of the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
January 2001