James Smith (journalist)

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James Smith (1820 – 1910) was an Australian journalist. Smith was born near Maidstone, Kent, England, in 1820 and was educated for the church. However, he took up journalism and at the age of 20 was editing a country newspaper.

In 1845 he published 'Rural Records or Glimpses of Village Life', which was followed by 'Oracles from the British Poets' (1849), 'Wilton and its Associations' (1851), and 'Lights and Shadows of Artist Life and Character' (1853).

In 1854 he emigrated to Victoria and became a leader-writer on The Age and first editor of The Leader. He joined the staff of The Argus in 1856 and wrote leading articles, literary reviews, and dramatic criticism. He also wrote leading articles for country papers. Feeling the strain of over-work in 1863 he intended making a holiday visit to Europe, but was offered and accepted the post of librarian to the Victorian parliament.

Smith was not content to merely carry out the routine duties of his position, he had always been a tireless worker, and during his five years librarianship he reclassified and catalogued about 30,000 volumes. The office was temporarily abolished in 1868, and Smith resumed his duties on The Argus, and continued to work for it until he retired in 1896 at the age of 76. He still, however, did much journalistic work, and even when approaching the age of 90 was contributing valued articles to The Age under the initials J. S.

He died at Hawthorn in Melbourne, on 19 March 1910. He married and was survived by a son.

In addition to the works mentioned Smith was the author of From 'Melbourne to Melrose' (1888), a pleasant collection of travel notes originally contributed to The Argus, and 'Junius Unveiled '(1909). He also published many pamphlets, some of which are concerned with spiritualism, in which he was very interested during the last 40 years of his life. He contributed a large amount of the letterpress to the 'Picturesque Atlas of Australasia', and edited 'The Cyclopedia of Victoria' (1903), a piece of hack-work in which he could have taken little pleasure. He wrote a three-act drama, 'Garibaldi', successfully produced at Melbourne in 1860, and 'A Broil at the Café', also produced at Melbourne a few years later. He was a member of the council of the working men's college and a trustee for many years of the public library, museums, and national gallery of Victoria. A good linguist he was interested in the Alliance Française and the Melbourne Dante Society, of which he became the president. These activities led to his being made an officer of the French Academy, and a chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy.

Smith was a thoroughly equipped journalist who with his well-stored mind and fine library could produce an excellent article on almost any subject at the shortest notice. During his 56 years of residence at Melbourne he had much influence on the cultural life of the city.

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