Smith, John

Smith, John, British politician

Smith, John, 1938–94, British politician. A barrister, he was first elected to Parliament in 1970 as a Labour party member from Scotland. He served as secretary for trade in 1970 and subsequently as Labour spokesperson on a number of economic and industrial issues, developing a reputation as a moderate. Smith was elected leader of the Labour party when Neil Kinnock resigned following the Conservative victory in the 1992 general elections; he served as party leader until his death in 1994.

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Smith, John, English colonist in America

Smith, John, c.1580–1631, English colonist in America, b. Willoughby, Lincolnshire, England. A merchant's apprentice until his father's death in 1596, he thereafter lived an adventurous life, traveling, fighting in wars against the Turks in Transylvania and Hungary, and surviving a period of slavery in Turkey. His own account of these adventures has been doubted by some investigators but has been substantiated in a number of particulars. Returning to England, he invested in the new London Company and in 1606 sailed from London for America with Capt. Christopher Newport. On arrival in Virginia, Smith was named a member of the governing council of the Jamestown settlement, although not permitted to serve immediately, and began his explorations of the surrounding territory. He established trade relations with the Native Americans, drew up a map of Virginia, and finally fell into the hands of the Native American chief Powhatan. Although there is no definite proof of the famous incident of Smith's being saved from death by Powhatan's daughter, Pocahontas, it is considered quite probable that it happened. After his return (1608) to Jamestown, Smith's enemies arrested him, but he was saved from hanging by the arrival of Newport with new settlers. Smith then became president of the council and energetically resisted the company's peremptory demands that the colonists find gold. Maintaining his leadership despite opposition, he carried the colony through periods of intense suffering, hunger, and want (the "starving time"), remaining firm, tactful, and resourceful. Injured in an explosion, he returned to England in 1609. In 1614 he was sent to New England by a group of London merchants, and returned with a valuable cargo of fish and furs. He emphasized the importance of fishing and upheld the prospects for settlement in New England. On another voyage he was captured by pirates and then by the French, but eventually returned to England. He wrote A True Relation of … Virginia (1608), A Map of Virginia (1612), A Description of New England (1616), New England's Trials (1620, 2d ed. 1622), The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles (1624), An Accidence; or, The Path-Way to Experience (1626; enl. and repub. as A Sea Grammer, 1627), The True Travels, Adventures, and Observations of Captaine John Smith (1630), and Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England, or Anywhere (1631).

Bibliography

See edition of his works by E. Arber (1884; repr. and ed. by A. G. Bradley, 2 vol., 1910, repr. 1967); biographies by J. G. Fletcher (1928, repr. 1972), B. Smith (1953), P. L. Barbour (1964), N. B. Gerson (1966), and E. H. Emerson (1971).

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Smith, John, English nonconformist

Smith, John, d. 1612, English nonconformist: see Smyth, John.

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Smith, John

John Smith, engraving by Simon van de Passe, 1616

(credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.)

(baptized Jan. 6, 1580, Willoughby, Lincolnshire, Eng.—died June 21, 1631, London) English explorer. After a period as a military adventurer, he joined an English group preparing to establish a colony in North America. The Virginia Company of London sailed three ships to Chesapeake Bay, arriving in 1607 to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America at Jamestown, of which Smith later became the leader. On a river voyage to explore the surrounding region, he was captured by Indians of the Powhatan empire; according to his own account, Smith was saved from death by Pocahontas, daughter of the Indian chief. While president of the Jamestown Colony, Smith oversaw its expansion. An injury forced his return to England in 1609. Eager for further exploration, he made contact with the Plymouth Company and sailed in 1614 to the area he named New England. He also mapped its coast and wrote descriptions of Virginia and New England that encouraged others to colonize the New World.

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Smith, John (1579–1631) explorer, adventurer, colonist; born in Lincolnshire, England. After fighting the Ottoman Turks, he helped to found Jamestown in 1607. He became a member of the governing council and was once captured by the Indians of Powhatan's tribe—he was rescued by the chief's daughter, Pocahontas. From 1608 to 1609 he served as the president of the Jamestown colony, but he was plagued by constant bickering with other settlers. Following a severe injury, he returned to England in 1609. He returned to America in 1614 and explored the coast of what he called New England. He wrote several books on Virginia, the settlement at Jamestown, New England, and his earlier travels in Europe and Asia. The books induced many settlers to leave for the New England area.