View of the City of Bath

Summary

This is a view of the City of Bath in 1768 with the River Avon pictured in the foreground and rolling hills of farm land in the distance. James Smithson's mother, Elizabeth Hungerford Keate Macie, was from the nearby town of Weston and Mrs. Macie in 1761 enjoyed the freedom of widowhood and the elaborate social life of Bath. Bath was the favorite playground in England for the upper class. It is suspected that this is where she met and had an affair with Sir Hugh Smithson. From the affair a son c. 1765 James Smithson, founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution, was born.

Subject

• Hungerfords of Studley
• Macie, Elizabeth Hungerford Keate
• Smithson, James 1765-1829

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

Appeared in a pamphlet. See Neg. # 2005-33529 for another view of Bath.

Contained within

Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7000, Box 5, Folder 6

Contact information

Institutional History Division, Smithsonian Institution Archives, 600 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20024-2520, SIHistory@si.edu

Date

1768

Restrictions & Rights

No restrictions

Topic

• Health resorts
• Landscapes
• Resorts
• Hot springs
• Rivers
• England

Place

• Bath (England)
• Great Britain
• Avon River (Leicestershire-Gloucestershire, England)
• England

Form/Genre

• Landscape
• Engraving
• Lithographs

ID Number

2005-33524

Physical description

Number of Images: 1; Color: Black and white; Size: 5w x 8h; Type of Image: Landscape; Medium: Engraving; Lithograph

Full Record

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