Agnes and Margaret Smith - Early Life and Training

Early Life and Training

The twins were brought up by their father John (their mother having died two weeks after their birth), a solicitor and amateur linguist. They were educated in private schools in Birkenhead and London, interspersed with travels in Europe guided by their father.

After John's death, they settled in London and joined the Presbyterian church in Clapham Road. Already conversationally fluent in German, French and Italian, they continued to learn languages and travelled in Europe and the Middle East, including travelling up the Nile and visiting Palestine in 1868. In 1870, Agnes wrote Eastern Pilgrims, an account of their experiences in Egypt and Palestine.

In 1883, Agnes and Margaret,by then also quite fluent in Greek, travelled to Athens and other parts of Greece. beginning a lifelong affectionate relationship with Greek Orthodoxy, whose monks occupied Saint Catherine's Monastery at Sinai. In this year, Margaret married James Gibson; and in 1887, Agnes married Samuel Savage Lewis, librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Both were clergymen. Each marriage was soon ended with the death of the husband.