View from Hillside of Town of Bath

Summary

This is a close-up view of the City of Bath from a hilltop in 1768. People are on the hill and the River Avon can be seen on the right. 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. The affair led to the birth c. 1765 of James Smithson, founding donor of the Smithsonian Institution.

Subject

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

Category

Historic Images of the Smithsonian

Notes

See Neg. # 2005-33524 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

1878

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

2005-33529

Physical description

Color: Color; Size: 4 1/4w x 3 1/2h; Type of Image: Landscape; Medium: Engraving; Lithograph

Full Record

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