John Gibson Smith

Who is John Gibson Smith?

John Gibson Smith was a Scottish poet.

He may have been from Innerleithen, a small village near Peebles in the south of Scotland. He moved to Ednam as a schoolmaster in 1834. He was a keen gardener and wrote about all he saw. For example, his classic "The Old Churchyard" took 240 pages!

In 1851 he married Mary Waddell, eldest daughter of James Waddell of Oban, Scotland.

He had a work published entitled "Ancient Manners, Customs, and Amusements of the Scottish Border".

He also had a collection of his Poems published about 1861/1862.

He resigned his post as Ednam school in 1864 and emigrated to New Zealand with his family.

He may be the John G. Smith who was aboard the ship "Sevilla", which left Glasgow on 21 May 1864 and arrived at Bluff on 4 September 1864. That person was Chairman of a Passengers' Committee which rendered a Testimonial to the Sevilla's Captain. He is not on the Passenger List published by the Southland Times newspaper but that List appears to only cover "Assisted" Immigrants.

He became schoolmaster at Longbush School, Southland, New Zealand. He regularly contributed poetry to the local newspapers.