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Authorised form of nameSmethwick; Francis (1619-1682); virtuoso
Other forms of surnameSmithwick
Dates1619-1682
NationalityBritish
Date of birth9 January 1619
Date of death1682
ActivityEducation:
Pupil of William Oughtred; University of Oxford (MA 1642); Incorporated at Cambridge (1671)
Career:
Library-Keeper at Westminster; amateur instrument maker
Membership categoryFellow
Date of election04/04/1667
ProposerJohn Wilkins
Date of ejection or withdrawal9 August 1682
Other Royal Society activityPresented some telescopic glasses and other instruments to the Society (1667/8); Expelled due to non-payment of arrears
RelationshipsParents: Thomas Smethwick and Mary Lawrence
OtherInfoNot much is known about Smethwick's life and career although some sources state that, in relation to his activities as an instrument maker, he also worked with Robert Hooke (FRS 1663). His inventions were discussed in Royal Society correspondence.
SourceSources:
Bulloch's Roll; Venn; Hunter
References:
Hegarty, A. 2011. A Biographical Register of St John's College, Oxford, 1555-1660' (Boydell & Brewer)
Sweet, J M. 1953. 'Sir Hans Sloane's Metalline Cubes', in Notes and Records, vol. 10, pp. 99-100
Turnbull, G H. 1953. 'Samuel Hartlib's Influence on the Early History of the Royal Society', in Notes and Records, vol. 10, pp. 101-130
Notes:
Taylor 'Math Practitioners' gives year of death as 1685. VIAF could possibly refer to different Francis Smethwick, bookseller. Possible baptism on 23 April 1620 at Brereton-cum-Smethwick in Cheshire.
Virtual International Authority Filehttp://viaf.org/viaf/68762021
CodeNA7341
Archives associated with this Fellow
RefNoTitleDate
NLB/10/106Copy letter from Herbert Rix, to W H Brown, Royal Microscopical Society, 20 Hanover Square, W.1 October 1894
CLP/6/26Paper, regarding experiments to show the weight of some metals, stones and liquids by Mr Reynolds1670
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