Thomas Smibert
Thomas Smibert (1810–1854) was a Scottish journalist, writer and poet.
Life
[edit]He was born on 8 February 1810 at Peebles, where his father, Thomas Smibert, a leather-merchant, was provost (1808–11); his mother's name was Janet Tait. Educated there, he was apprenticed to a druggist, and then qualified as a surgeon at Edinburgh University.[1]
Smibert set up as a surgeon at Innerleithen, near Peebles, but left after a year when faced by personal and business problems. From Peebles he contributed to Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, of which he became sub-editor and editor between 1837 and 1842. During that period he wrote for the periodical about 650 literary articles, tales, and biographical sketches. He was also a large contributor to Chambers's Information for the People.[1]
In 1842 Smibert became sub-editor of The Scotsman, but a legacy meant he shortly dropped journalism for literature. In his later years he was a frequent contributor to Hogg's Instructor. He died at Edinburgh on 16 January 1854.[1]
Works
[edit]Smibert wrote:[1]
- Condé's Wife (1842), a historical play that had a run of nine nights at the Edinburgh Theatre Royal.
- Clans of the Highlands of Scotland (Edinburgh, 1850).
- Io Anche! Poems chiefly Lyrical (Edinburgh, 1851), a collection of his verse including the song The Scottish Widow's Lament, with a Tweeddale setting and in dialect.[2]
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b c d Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
- ^ Millar, Victoria. "Smibert, Thomas". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25759. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
External links
[edit]- Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "Smibert, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
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