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Early life: Correcting misspelled name and improving phrasing

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'''Thomas Smith''' (8 July 1817–26 May 1906) was a [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[missionary]] and mathematician who was instrumental in establishing India's [[zenana mission]]s in 1854. He served as [[Moderator of the General Assembly]] of the Free Church of Scotland 1891/92.

==Early life==
Smith was born in the manse at [[Symington, South Lanarkshire|Symington]], [[Lanarkshire]], on 8 July 1817, the eighth of the ten children of Rev. John Smith and his wife Jean (née Stodart).<ref>{{Cite ODNB|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-36160|title=Smith, Thomas (1817–1906), missionary and mathematician|last=Gray|first=W. F.|date=2004-09-23|editor-last=Ritchie|editor-first=Lionel Alexander|volume=1|language=en|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/36160}}</ref> He was educated at the local parish school in Symington and then studied mathematics and physics at the [[University of Edinburgh]], matriculating in 1830 aged 13 (this was normal at that time). In 1834 he studied theology at [[New College, Edinburgh|Divinity Hall]] in Edinburgh under Rev Dr [[Thomas Chalmers]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB12|wstitle=Smith, Thomas (1817-1906)|volume=3}}</ref>

==Calling as a missionary==
[[File:Cowgatehead from Candlemaker Row - geograph.org.uk - 1352172.jpg|thumb|Cowgatehead Mission Church (in foreground) as seen from Candlemaker Row]]
In 1839, under the influence of Rev [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]], Smith was ordained by the [[Church of Scotland]] and travelled to [[Calcutta]] in [[India]], as a missionary, teaching mathematics and physics in the schools. From 1840 he suggested the use of female missionaries, because male missionaries were not permitted to speak to the Indian females.<ref>ODNB: Thomas Smith</ref>

At the [[Disruption of 1843]] Smith left the established church and joined the Free Church of Scotland. The Free Church set up its own mission in Calcutta and Smith transferred to this new building.<ref>Ewing, William ''Annals of the Free Church''</ref>

From 1851 to 1857 he was editor of the ''Calcutta Review'' and ''Calcutta Christian Observer''. In 1840 he proposed the establishment of what would become known as the [[zenana missions]], and his scheme was later implemented in the 1850s by [[John Fordyce (missionary)|John Fordyce]].

When the [[Indian Mutiny]] broke out in 1857, Smith acted as the chaplain of the [[42nd Regiment of Foot|42nd Highlanders (Black Watch)]] at Calcutta, accompanying the regiment when it was on active service.<ref name="DNB"/>

Smith resigned his post in Calcutta in 1858 due to ill-health (claims of [[cholera]] are perhaps exaggerated). He returned to Scotland in 1859 when he was recovered enough to travel and settled in [[Edinburgh]] to do mission work in the poorest parishes. The following year he became minister of the Free Cowgatehead Mission Church.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} He then lived in a modest flat at 4 Keir Street, south of the Grassmarket.<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1862</ref>

In 1880 he was appointed Professor of Evangelistic Theology at [[New College, Edinburgh]], a role in which he continued until 1893.<ref>Hugh Watt, ''New College, Edinburgh: A Centenary History'' (Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1946), p. 251.</ref> His new-found wealth allowed him to purchase a large villa in the [[Grange, Edinburgh|Grange district]] at 10 Mansionhouse Road.<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1882</ref>

In 1891 he succeeded [[Thomas Brown (minister)|Rev Thomas Brown]] as [[Moderator of the General Assembly]], the highest position in the Free Church.<ref>Free Church Monthly July 1891</ref>

He received two honorary doctorates from the University of Edinburgh, a Doctor of Divinity (DD) in 1867 and a Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 1900.

He died at home 28 Hatton Place in Edinburgh on 26 May 1906.<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1906</ref> He is buried in the [[Grange, Edinburgh|Grange Cemetery]].

==Publications==
Smith wrote on both mathematical and religious subjects:

*''An Elementary Treatise on Plane Geometry'' (1857)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009794154|title=An elementary treatise on plane geometry, according to the method of rectilineal co-ordinates.|first=Thomas|last=Smith|date=25 February 1857|publisher=William Whyte & co.|via=Hathi Trust}}</ref>
*''The Christian's Patrimony''
*''Treatise on Plane Geometry''
*''Medieval Missions'' (1880)
*''The Life of [[Alexander Duff (missionary)|Alexander Duff]]'' (1883)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://missiology.org.uk/blog/biography-alexander-duff-missionary-india/|title=Biography of Alexander Duff, Missionary to India|date=14 June 2017}}</ref>
*''Memoirs of [[James Begg]]'' (2 vols, 1885–8).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nesherchristianresources.org/JBS/ebooks/begg_memoir/begg_memoir_front.html|title=The James Begg Society|website=www.nesherchristianresources.org}}</ref>
*''Euclid: His Life and System'' (1902)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/euclidhislifesys00smituoft|title=Euclid : his life and system|first=Thomas|last=Smith|date=25 February 1902|publisher=Edinburgh : Clark|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
*''The [[Puritans]]'' (50 volumes)

==Family==
In 1839, before his departure to India, he married Grace Whyte (d.1886), the daughter of D. K. Whyte, a [[Royal Navy]] paymaster and sometime bookseller of 10 Scotland Street in Edinburgh.<ref>Edinburgh Post Office Directory 1939</ref> Their five children included Rev William Whyte Smith, minister of [[Newington, Edinburgh]] and David Whyte Ewart Smith, Sheriff Substitute for Haddingtonshire.

==Artistic recognition==
His portrait by [[John Henry Lorimer]] RSA hangs in [[New College, Edinburgh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Smith,_Thomas_(1817-1906)_(DNB12)|title=Smith Thomas (1817-1906)|first=William Forbes|last=Gray|via=Wikisource}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Thomas}}
[[Category:1817 births]]
[[Category:1906 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Lanarkshire]]
[[Category:19th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:Scottish Presbyterian missionaries]]
[[Category:Presbyterian missionaries in India]]

Thomas Smith (missionary) - Revision history

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imported>LondonScottish: /* Early life */ Correcting misspelled name and improving phrasing