The Anderson Collection

 

The Naesmyth family line

 

 

Lineage – According to family tradition an ancestor was required to repair the armour of King Alexander III and made such a bad job of it; but, as he fought well, the King knighted him with the remark that though he was ‘nae smith’, he was a brave gentleman.

The Naesmyths of Posso have always recognised as a cadet branch; the family of Alexander Nasmyth (1758-1840), painter, engineer and architect, and his son Patrick (1787-1831), his six daughters, who were apt pupils of their father, and his youngest son James Nasmyth (1808-90) the engineer who invented the steam hammer and after his retirement gained further distinction from his astrological studies of the moon.