Talk:James Smithson/Archive 1

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Archive 1

Untitled

Most of this article has been copied verbatim from the Smithsonian website.

84.68.142.181 19:13, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Specific sentences and url please? The facts are the same (as they should be), but the wording I see in the given external link is completely different. Stan 22:17, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Note

"...under the name of the Smithsonian Institution"

The above words are quoted from the article. I am convinced that the statement is incorrect because I know Matthew Fontaine Maury, superintendent of the National/ Naval Observatory was trying to get some of the funds for the Observatory. I am sure other groups or individuals were doing the same. How could they IF Smithson used the words, " under the name of the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE"?

He had stated that the funds go towards "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

Smithson did not, IMHO, declare that his name be included in any manner in his deed.

--Maury 19:42, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

You need only to read the text of the will: http://www.si.edu/oahp/Smithsons%20Crypt/James%20Smithsons%20Will.html to see that Smithson specified a "Smithsonian Institution." There were at that time many groups who were vying to gain control of the Smithson money, the National Institute the most prominent among them. Cestertonio (talk) 19:03, 19 March 2012 (UTC)


The article says that the reason for the bequest is unknown. According to Paul Harvey's book, "The Rest of the Story," the bequest was Macie/Smithson's desire to retaliate against the constrictions placed upon him for being illegitimate. At that time, his illegitimacy prevented him from being a member of Parliament, holding public office, or serving in the British military. He could not inherit his father's estate or titles and he was, for all intents and purposes, disinherited. This was his way of disinheriting the British Empire of his vast estate. 152.133.13.2 (talk) 17:11, 3 September 2011 (UTC)

Photo of James Smithson Statue

"Image:Smithson.jpg" from Wikimedia Commons, said to be of James Smithson.
"Image:The Smithsonian Dude.jpg" from the English Wikipedia, said to be of Joseph Henry.

In this article there is a photo of a statue, identifying it as that of James Smithson. In the article on the Smithsonian Institution Building, the same statue is identified as that of Joseph Henry, the first secretary of the Institution. Both photos can not be correct. 75.139.135.155 07:40, 20 June 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for pointing that out. I realized the problem, but did not have time to remove the images yesterday. I have now done so. The problem is that there is a Wikimedia Commons photograph, "Commons:Image:Smithson.jpg", which says the statue is of James Smithson, while a different photograph of the same statue in the English Wikipedia, "Image:The Smithsonian Dude.jpg", says that it is a statue of Joseph Henry. I have highlighted the problem to administrators at Wikimedia Commons (see "Commons:Administrators' noticeboard#Same statue, different attribution"), but don't think it will be resolved until someone who has seen the inscription on the statue corrects the information. Cheers, Jacklee 10:02, 20 June 2007 (UTC)
I've removed the image from the article. It can be replaced if the statue is eventually identified to be of James Smithson (which seems rather unlikely). Cheers, Jacklee 00:19, 2 August 2007 (UTC)
I have read the inscription on the statue (as of August 2003) and it is Joseph Henry. Rsduhamel (talk) 16:29, 20 November 2007 (UTC)
Thanks very much. I've re-uploaded the image formerly known as "Smithson.jpg" under the name "JosephHenry-SmithsonianCastle-20051108.jpg" and have updated its description. I've also transferred "The Smithsonian Dude.jpg" from the English Wikipedia to the Commons under the name "JosephHenry-SmithsonianCastle-20050517.jpg". — Cheers, JackLee –talk– 23:58, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Memorial

Several issues here:

  • A crypt is a vaulted chamber. You can't pack that up in crates and ship it from italy. It must have been present in the building beforehand.
  • So what was in those crates? Some kind of wall decorations which can be packed and transported? (The Amber Room springs to mind...) The sarcophagus is obviously in less pieces than sixteen.
  • The pedestal is of Tennessee marble. Why would that be shipped from Italy?
  • The Casket was not placed into the ground, but inside the pedestal. The coffin and the remains of James Smithson today lie "in the Tennessee marble pedestal beneath the sarcophagus."

Source: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Urban-Legends-About-the-Smithsonian.html?c=y&page=2
--BjKa (talk) 12:47, 27 November 2012 (UTC)

Pembroke College

At present, the entry reads:

Smithson enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford in 1782 and graduated in 1786 with his Masters of Arts.[6][7]

It was not possible to take an Oxford MA four years after joining a college ("matriculating"). Smithson would have first graduated with a BA and then taken his MA twenty one terms after matriculating. I have amended the text accordingly.Thomas Peardew (talk) 20:05, 11 December 2013 (UTC)

This seems based on your 20th/21st C understanding of 18th C practices? Smithson was absent almost entirely for much of the last two years of his time at Oxford; his experience bears no relation to matriculating today. Based on the original source at the University Archives in Oxford (per Ewing, Lost World of James Smithson (2007), fn 42 on p. 373) he received an honorary Master of Arts degree in May 1786. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Cestertonio (talk • contribs) 22:30, 27 May 2020 (UTC)

Birthdate

Smithson's date of birth is unknown. User:Stolengood appears to have made this change (first to May-June 1765 and then to June 5, 1765) with no citation or source given. If someone has actually located some archival material that sheds light on his birth, then please share! Cestertonio (talk) 12:17, 16 May 2015 (UTC)

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