Court of Chancery Suit for Smithson Bequest

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Summary

Richard Rush, acting on behalf of the United States, enters a suit in the English Court of Chancery to obtain possession of the James Smithson bequest. The United States had never before sued in an English court.

Subject

  • Rush, Richard 1780-1859
  • Smithson, James 1765-1829
  • Great Britain Court of Chancery

Category

Chronology of Smithsonian History

Notes

  • Goode, George Brown, ed. The Smithsonian Institution, 1846-1896, The History of Its First Half Century. Washington, D.C.: De Vinne Press, 1897., p. 29, 833
  • Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution for the year 1879, p. 170

Contact information

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

Date

November 14, 1836

Topic

  • Smithson Bequest
  • Actions and defenses
  • SI, Early History
  • Gifts

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