Arthur Toulmin Smith
Arthur Toulmin Smith's life in Russia was a bit different from that of most of his compatriots living in Moscow. He wasn't involved in either the cotton industry or the railway construction; he had strong professional and personal ties with the German community in Moscow; and on top of that, even though an active member of St. Andrew's congregation - serving as both churchwarden and choir member - he was Unitarian rather than Anglican. At the same time, we know much more about his daily life than anyone else's, thanks to the many letters he wrote to his eldest sister, Lucy Toulmin Smith, the first woman librarian at Harris Manchester College, Oxford.
A book based on these letters - Arthur Toulmin Smith: A British Engineer in 19th Century Russia by his great-granddaughter Bessie White was published in April 2025 by Troubador Press and is also available as a Kindle edition on Amazon:
A book based on these letters - Arthur Toulmin Smith: A British Engineer in 19th Century Russia by his great-granddaughter Bessie White was published in April 2025 by Troubador Press and is also available as a Kindle edition on Amazon:
Arthur Toulmin Smith was born on June 22, 1848, in Highgate, North London, and died in Moscow on January 11 (24), 1914. Between 1869 and 1874 (aged 21 to 26), he worked for Siemens installing and later managing the Indo-European Telegraph in the Caucasus. Later, unable to find a suitable job back in Britain, and with his knowledge of Russian and German, as well as experience managing Russian workers, he took employment with the newly established Gas Works in Moscow in 1878.
Uncertain about the viability of the company running the Gas Works, he soon set up his own business in partnership with a Russo-German colleague, Otto Ludwig. Their firm "Ludwig & Smith" manufactured weighing equipment (for granaries and other uses), as well as pipes and components for local fire services. "Ludwig and Smith" also supplied components for Moscow's sewage system, installed in the first decade of the 20th century. The firm exhibited at and won prizes in various industrial exhibitions, including the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896.
Uncertain about the viability of the company running the Gas Works, he soon set up his own business in partnership with a Russo-German colleague, Otto Ludwig. Their firm "Ludwig & Smith" manufactured weighing equipment (for granaries and other uses), as well as pipes and components for local fire services. "Ludwig and Smith" also supplied components for Moscow's sewage system, installed in the first decade of the 20th century. The firm exhibited at and won prizes in various industrial exhibitions, including the All-Russia Industrial and Art Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1896.
Photo of "Ludwig and Smith" weights from Filip V.'s collection
Arthur married twice, both times from the German community in Moscow. His first wife, Olga Simmoth, died in childbirth in 1882. Her daughter Alice Olga survived and was brought up by his second wife Wilhelmina Augusta Maria Müller who Arthur married in 1883.
Olga Toulmin Smith, nee Simmoth, Arthur's first wife
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Alice Olga, daughter of Arthur and Olga, in Russian costume
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Arthur was associated with St. Andrew's Anglican Church in Moscow mainly as a centre for the British community. He was not permitted to marry his first wife there as he was a Unitarian and declined the chaplain's invitation to be baptised into the Anglican Church. By the time of his second marriage, however, a new chaplain, Rev. Henry Bernard, had been appointed and had no such scruples about marrying a Unitarian.
Despite his independent views, Arthur enjoyed singing in the church choir and served at least once as churchwarden. His major contribution was as St. Andrew's representative on the ecumenical committee for the Vvedenskoe Cemetery, at the time, the burial ground for non-Russian Orthodox Christians. He chaired the committee for 20 years up until his death in 1914.
Despite his independent views, Arthur enjoyed singing in the church choir and served at least once as churchwarden. His major contribution was as St. Andrew's representative on the ecumenical committee for the Vvedenskoe Cemetery, at the time, the burial ground for non-Russian Orthodox Christians. He chaired the committee for 20 years up until his death in 1914.
Although "Ludwig & Smith" was located in Moscow, on Sadovnicheskaya Embankment, Arthur and his family preferred spending the warmer months of the year at the dacha (summer house) that they rented in Pushkino (then still a village) and nearby Listviany (now a street in Pushkino). An amateur photographer, Arthur took many photographs of nature, local peasants and his family in Pushkino and around it.
Top, left to right: Alice Olga, Wilhelmina, Arthur Toulmin Smith
Bottom: Bertha Nitsche, possibly an adopted child? |
Train from Pushkino to Moscow
Threshers at work behind Arthur's summer house
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The building of "Ludwig & Smith" can still be found in Moscow, although it has probably been rebuilt since Arthur's time.
At least three "Ludwig and Smith" manhole covers still survive in the centre of Moscow. They carry the "ЛиС" logo - the Russian letters for L (Ludwig) and S (Smith).
At Kolpachny Lane, Moscow, on the premises of Knoop's mansion
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At Potapovsky Lane, Moscow
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At Starosadsky Lane, Moscow
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Fanny Toulmin Smith
Arthur Toulmin Smith had four siblings: three older sisters and one younger brother. One of his sisters - Fanny (full name Frances, 1846-1934) - lived in St. Petersburg for several years in the 1870s-1880s, teaching English at a well-known girls' school - Maison d'Education - that belonged to Emilie Marie Sophie Schaffe, its founder, directress and teacher, who, according to Fanny Toulmin Smith, was "much loved and respected".
Fanny Toulmin Smith
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There are two known articles that Fanny wrote for different publications. Both are about life in Russia. One of them, entitled "Girl Life in Russia", was published in "The Girl's Own Paper" - a British weekly magazine published between 1880 and 1956 and aimed primarily at middle- and upper-class girls and young women. In this article she gives a rather detailed account of the education that girls could get in Russia in the late 19th century, focusing on schools for the aristocracy (Institutes for noble maidens), private gymnasiums for girls, public gymnasiums for girls and home schooling that was popular in the merchant class. Fanny also writes about other aspects of girls' life - summer holidays, entertainments, work (when she writes about peasant girls) and options in their grown-up lives. She mentions the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in their upbringing, wedding traditions and the differences between girls' upbringing in Russia and Britain.
Her second known article - "That the Representation of Russian Life in English Novels is Misleading" - Fanny Toulmin Smith first presented at the meeting of the Anglo-Russian Literary Society on July 4, 1899, and then it was published by this society in the 25th issue of their Proceedings (The Anglo-Russian Literary Society. Proceedings. 1899. Issue 25. May-July, p. 88-110). In this article, Fanny Toulmin Smith analyses 8 novels published in Britain in the 1890s:
It's quite incredible that in 1897-1898 Fanny Toulmin Smith undertook the highly challenging scholarly task of copying/transcribing one of the earliest Russian-English dictionaries. This dictionary had been compiled by Richard James in 1618-1619, during his stay in Old and New Kholmogory in northern Russia. Sadly, Fanny's work was criticised for numerous mistakes. However, here one needs to understand the context. Richard James did speak and read/write some Russian, he had studied it before he came to Russia. He was also a linguist. However, he wrote down words and expressions he heard in Kholmogory - a place where people most certainly spoke in a local dialect. Secondly, dialect or not, this was early 17th-century Russian, very different from the late 19th-century Russian. Thirdly, this was a handwritten notebook with quite a few mistakes on the part of Richard James himself, since he wrote down whatever he heard, and sometimes he didn't hear right. On top of that, the dictionary was nearly 300 years old by the time Fanny Toulmin Smith had first opened it. Russian was not Fanny's native language. She had lived in St. Petersburg for several years and did speak Russian, but this kind of task that required knowledge of the history of the Russian language with all the archaisms and dialectisms was certainly beyond her scope. Still, Fanny's work was the first step to studying and understanding the importance of this dictionary. This dictionary was finally published in the Soviet Union in 1959.
Her second known article - "That the Representation of Russian Life in English Novels is Misleading" - Fanny Toulmin Smith first presented at the meeting of the Anglo-Russian Literary Society on July 4, 1899, and then it was published by this society in the 25th issue of their Proceedings (The Anglo-Russian Literary Society. Proceedings. 1899. Issue 25. May-July, p. 88-110). In this article, Fanny Toulmin Smith analyses 8 novels published in Britain in the 1890s:
- Max Pemberton's "Kronstadt", 1898
- Joseph Hatton's "By Order of the Czar", 1890
- George Henty's "Condemned as a Nihilist", 1893
- L. T. Meade's "The White Tsar", 1896
- L. T. Meade's "The Siren", 1898
- Richard Henry Savage's "My Official Wife", 1891
- James Graham's "Son of the Tsar", 1898
- Henry Merriman's "The Sowers", 1896,
It's quite incredible that in 1897-1898 Fanny Toulmin Smith undertook the highly challenging scholarly task of copying/transcribing one of the earliest Russian-English dictionaries. This dictionary had been compiled by Richard James in 1618-1619, during his stay in Old and New Kholmogory in northern Russia. Sadly, Fanny's work was criticised for numerous mistakes. However, here one needs to understand the context. Richard James did speak and read/write some Russian, he had studied it before he came to Russia. He was also a linguist. However, he wrote down words and expressions he heard in Kholmogory - a place where people most certainly spoke in a local dialect. Secondly, dialect or not, this was early 17th-century Russian, very different from the late 19th-century Russian. Thirdly, this was a handwritten notebook with quite a few mistakes on the part of Richard James himself, since he wrote down whatever he heard, and sometimes he didn't hear right. On top of that, the dictionary was nearly 300 years old by the time Fanny Toulmin Smith had first opened it. Russian was not Fanny's native language. She had lived in St. Petersburg for several years and did speak Russian, but this kind of task that required knowledge of the history of the Russian language with all the archaisms and dialectisms was certainly beyond her scope. Still, Fanny's work was the first step to studying and understanding the importance of this dictionary. This dictionary was finally published in the Soviet Union in 1959.
