Thomas Bywater Smithies


Thomas Bywater Smithies was an English businessperson, radical publisher, editor, and campaigner for temperance and animal welfare. He was the founder and editor of the broadsheet periodical The British Workman.

Biography

Smithies was born on 27 August 1817 in York, to James and Catherine Smithies, the second of ten children. His mother was a campaigner for abolitionism, animal welfare and temperance. He converted to Methodism at age 15, joining the Methodist Society. The following year, he started work at the Yorkshire Fire and Life Insurance Company. He also worked as a Sunday school teacher and initiated missionary meetings specifically for children. He became teetotal in 1837, aged 20. Smithies additionally founded the first temperance society in York.
In 1849, Smithies moved to London to become the manager of the Gutta Percha Company. He formed the first Band of Hope in London at his friend Hannah Bevan's house and it included some of her neighbours and children. In 1851, he published Sunday Scholars' Friend and the Band of Hope Review. This was followed by The British Workman in 1855; edited by Smithies. Subsequent publications included The Infant's Magazine, The Children's Friend, The Family Friend, The Friendly Visitor, and The Weekly Welcome.
In 1879, he published the Band of Mercy Advocate, a periodical for the Bands of Mercy movement, which was founded by his mother.
On 20 July 1883, after a period of long illness, Smithies died of heart disease, aged 67. He was buried with his mother in Abney Park Cemetery.

Selected publications

  • Illustrated Songs and Hymns for the Little Ones
  • Illustrated Sabbath Facts; or God's Weekly Gift for the Weary. Reprinted from the "British Workman"
  • Illustrated Anecdotes and Pithy Pieces of Prose and Verse
  • The Earlham Series of Tracts