Another fascinating talk on Monday 20th, this time about the Toulmin Smith family who continue to have strong Hornsey connections.
The talk was given by Bessie, the granddaughter of the extraordinary Joshua Toulmin Smith. Born in 1816 in Birmingham, he came from the great Unitarianism tradition of self-improvement. At 16 he was articled as a solicitor, wrote textbooks on Latin and Greek and married, in London, when 21 years old. With his wife Marta, he went to America and became interested in phrenology and philosophy. They returned to England after five years, settling in Highgate. Joshua reflected on the USA as having “Freedom unbridled by responsibility”.
He became fascinated by geology. Bessie showed some slides of ancient sponges and admitted to knowing little about them “Is there a geologist in the audience?” she asked. Incredibly, there was! The gentleman kindly interpreted the images to the fascinated audience.
Only at the HHS!
Image credits
Author’s collection