Agency:
James "Philosopher" Smith and Family
Agency Number:
Start Date:
01 Jul 1827
End Date:
15 Jun 1897
Description:
James "Philosopher" Smith was born in George Town 1/7/1827 to John Smith and Ann Grant. In 1836, after the death of his father and remarriage of his mother, John Guillian, ship owner and flour-miller became James's guardian. Smith managed a flour mill before heading to the Victorian Goldfields in the 1850s. Returning to Tasmania, Smith farmed and explored the Forth area. He discovered tin at Mt Bischoff in October 1871, establishing a mine. In 1873 the mine was taken over by the Mt Bischoff Tin Mine.;;Mary Jane Love, aged 32, married James in Launceston on 16/9/1874. Mary was a widow, having previously been married to a Mr Pleas. James and Mary Jane had six children - Leslie John (b.8/9/1875), Annie Bertha (b.22/2/1877), Eva Laura Mary (b.23/9/1987), Gertrude Elizabeth Marion (b. 2/8/1880), Ronald Edgar Smith (b. 25/07/1881), and Garnet Heber (b.25/9/1884).;;The Mt Bischoff Tin Mine commenced paying dividends in 1878, however by this time Smith had sold most of his interests. Instead Smith continued to farm and explore in the Forth area. Smith was elected to the Legislative Council in 1886 but resigned owing to ill health in 1888. He died 15/06/1897 at the age of 69. There is no record of why James was known as 'Philosopher'.
Information Sources:
Ronald E. Smith, 'Smith, James (Philosopher) (1827-1897), Australian Dictionary of Biography; RGD records, Tasmanian Archives.
Related Agencies:
Gustav Weindorfer (NG528) | 23 Feb 1874 | 05 May 1932 |
Major Ronald Edgar Smith (NG3697) | 25 Jul 1881 | 30 May 1969 |
Frederick Smithies (NG573) | 16 Aug 1885 | 13 Oct 1979 |
Weindorfer Memorial Service Committee (NG2325) | 30 Sep 1975 |
Series Created By Agency:
NS234/3 Letters received by James Smith | 03 Jun 1847 | 11 Oct 1898 |
NS234/4 Accounts and Receipts received by James Smith | 27 Dec 1849 | 11 Oct 1898 |
NS234/5 Letters received by Mary Jane Smith | 23 May 1867 | 29 May 1912 |
NS234/26 Miscellaneous Smith Family Papers | 01 Jan 1869 | 31 Dec 1937 |
NS234/2 Letter Press Copies of Letters sent by James Smith | 01 Apr 1874 | 18 Feb 1896 |
NS234/1 Diaries of James Smith | 02 Jan 1878 | 04 Jan 1898 |
NS234/25 Miscellaneous Papers of Ronald Smith | 06 May 1878 | 31 Dec 1968 |
NS234/12 Letters received by Gustav Weindorfer | 24 Jun 1879 | 27 Aug 1904 |
NS234/14 Notes Compiled by James Smith | 01 Jan 1880 | 31 Dec 1895 |
NS234/6 Copies of Letters sent and Letters received and Accounts and Receipts received by Mary Jane Smith | 01 Nov 1893 | 31 Jan 1907 |
NS234/7 Mary Jane Smith Accounts. | 25 Nov 1893 | 28 May 1906 |
NS234/17 Letters sent and received by Ronald Edgar Smith | 28 Mar 1894 | 30 May 1969 |
NS234/22 Correspondence to Selina Kathleen Smith Nee Carruthers, Mainly from her Husband Ronald Smith | 16 Aug 1897 | 27 Mar 1917 |
NS234/10 Accounts received by Ronald Edgar Smith | 22 Apr 1898 | 09 May 1966 |
NS234/8 Mary Jane Smith and Ronald Edgar Smith Accounts. | 01 Oct 1898 | 12 Jul 1918 |
NS234/9 Copies of Letters sent by Ronald Edgar Smith. | 21 Jan 1900 | 26 Feb 1907 |
NS234/28 Copies of Weindorfer Diaries by Ronald Smith and Records of Flora and Fauna in Victoria and Tasmania by Weindorfer | 01 Jan 1901 | 07 May 1928 |
NS234/15 Diary of Mary Jane Smith | 24 May 1902 | 28 Apr 1903 |
NS234/16 Diaries of Ronald Edgar Smith | 28 Apr 1903 | 30 May 1969 |
NS234/27 Diaries of Gustav Weindorfer | 31 Jan 1906 | 14 Apr 1923 |
NS234/19 Letters sent and received by Ronald Smith and Other Papers relating to Cradle Mountain | 01 Oct 1909 | 30 May 1969 |
LMSS150 Cradle Mountain Letters and Papers | 09 Oct 1909 | 24 Dec 1946 |
NS234/20 Accounts and Receipts relating to Land Tax and Rates for Ronald Smith | 01 Jan 1910 | 31 Dec 1945 |
NS234/23 Correspondence to Ronald Smith from his Wife, Selina Kathleen Smith Nee Carruthers. | 10 Jan 1911 | 19 Apr 1917 |
NS234/24 Letters sent by Kathleen Selina Smith Nee Carruthers | 20 Dec 1915 | 01 Jun 1917 |
NS234/13 Farm Diary | 01 Mar 1918 | 30 Mar 1918 |
NS1743 Ronald Edgar Smith's Copy of the Film Cradle Mountain in Winter Produced by H J King. | 01 Jan 1930 | 31 Dec 1930 |
NS234/18 Correspondence and Newspaper Extracts | 31 Jul 1946 | 14 Aug 1953 |
LMSS488 Early Life of James Smith and Discovery of Tin at Mount Bischoff | 01 Jul 1947 |
NS234/11 Copies of Letters sent and received by Ronald Edgar Smith | 02 Jul 1952 | 07 Sep 1955 |
NS234/21 Christmas Cards and Other Greetings received by Ronald Smith | 17 Dec 1957 | 31 Dec 1967 |