Ancestor Index

The Edward Smythe Debate - Lords Chief Justice (of the Common Pleas) of Ireland

It appears that there were two men by the name and title of Sir Edward Smith/Smyth(e) who served in this same capacity. Were they of the same family line?

For the purposes of this article - and in order to distinguish between the various Edwards - the following key has been adopted: Edward1682 = Edward Smythe buried at Whitchurchm Buckinghamshire in 1682 - link below. Edward1713 = Edward Smythe who died at the age of 77 in 1713 and who married Jane Vandeput, changing the family name to Smijth.

Sir Edward Smythe (Edward1682) served as Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland and also served in Parliament at the time of Charles I. The reign of Charles 1st began in 1625 and closed with his execution in 1649. Edward1682 would have been born in about 1602. He died in 1682 and was buried in St. John the Baptist church at Whitchurch in Buckinghamshire. He had a son named Edward who was dead by 1690. The other (Edward1713) was associated with the Smythe/Smith family of Hill Hall in Essex. The Smyth/Smith family of Hill Hall is/was a collateral line of Sir Thomas Smythe - the statesman who became Secretary of State to Edward VI and to Queen Elizabeth I. Find out more about Sir Thomas Smythe by following the above link where may also be found some further consideration of Hill Hall itself - the estate near Epping in Essex.

Edward Smythe (Edward1713) married Jane Vandeput (1653-1720) the daughter of Sir Peter Vandeput of London and died in 1713 at the age of 77. He was buried in the parish church of Theydon Mount in Essex. It may be assumed that he changed the name to Smijth in deference to his wife and her family and, perhaps, to facilitate the pronunciation of the name by Dutch relatives or associates. It also gives a modern interpretation of the pronunciation used by the family - not Smith and yet not Smythe either but a shorter sound which cockney slang, might have termed as "Smife"!

Historian and researcher, Phil Curwood of England, has kindly supplied this b&w scan (left) of a portrait of Lady Jane Smijth. Phil writes, "As you know, I am researching Lady Jane Smijth of whom there is a portrait, attributed to Sir Godfrey Kneller, painted around the late 17th Century. She was born in 1653 and died in 1720. Her father was Sir Peter Vandeput. Her husband was Sir Edward Smijth, whose father, Sir Thomas, owned Ankerwyke Priory in Bucks. but sold it around 1652."

Phil adds, "You may be wondering why I have such a deep interest in someone who is no relation to me whatsoever - well, I like to research what I call "people history" - a bit of keyhole surgery into the fabric of the past which gives you more of an idea and a sense of history than just studying Kings and Queens. I saw the portrait of Lady Jane in Newstead and felt I needed to know more about such a beautiful lady who lived in the 17th Century - to me, it is fascinating. I would like to thank you for your extensive research on the Smijths. You have more information on them than any history group in Britain that I have asked."

To access this Smijth pedigree (also courtesy of Phil Curwood) click on the adjacent image of Jane Smijth.

Sir Godfrey Kneller (b. 1646, Lübeck in the duchy of Holstein, d. 1723, in London) trained in Holland and became Court painter to Charles II and to William of Orange. In 1711, he became the Director of the first Academy of Painting in London and strongly influenced the subsequent generation of English portraitists (Reynolds, for example) with whom Henry Walton Smith was associated.

Kneller continued working into the reign of George I. He was principally involved with the Kit-Kat Club. This was was founded in William III's reign, largely by Lord Somers - the Lord Chancellor- and by the publisher Jacob Tonson, its secretary. It began meeting in Christopher Cat's tavern near Temple Bar and took its name from his mutton pies, known as Kit-cats. When Kneller died in 1720, at Kneller Hall in Twickenham, (now the Royal Military School of Music) he left some 800 paintings - which were sold by his widow.

(Note: Kit was a popular diminutive of the name Christopher (Kit Marlowe for example) so it may be more believable to assume that Kit Cat refers to the man rather than to the "pies" as found mentioned elsewhere in researching this page. The latter - which may be correct - sounds like something out of the celebrated programme "Call My Bluff". Cue Mr. Muir: "Imagine if you will ..."!)

Henry Walton Smith became an assistant to Charles Rogers who was principally an art collector working under William Townson (aka Tonson) of the Custom House, London, being befriended and greatly influenced by him and, in return, helping him to add to the collection - much of which he eventually inherited from Townson anyway. (Woodes Rogers and his family were painted by Joshua Reynolds before Rogers became Governor of the Bahamas for the second and last time. Rogers was a Bristol man - and also a sucessful 'privateer'.) When Charles Rogers himself died, in 1784, his nephew, William Cotton (the first of three by that name) inherited this vast collection of artistic and literary works. Much of it was gradually sold off but what remains of it - still extensive - survives today, at Plymouth's 'Cottonian'.

This image (right) is of a mezzotint engraving by John Smith from an original Kneller portrait. The sitter was Lady Elizabeth Southwell (née Cromwell) 1674-1709, daughter of Vere Essex Cromwell, 7th Baron Cromwell and 4th Earl of Ardglass. She was the wife of Edward Southwell - MP for Kinsale and Principal Secretary of State for Ireland.

John Smith was a mezzotint engraver and printseller. Early in his career, he collaborated with other publishers, but before 1700 he set up shop as a printseller and publisher at the "Lyon & Crown" in London's Russell Street. His work included plates for public sale, private commissions, and prints from existing plates by other engravers which he acquired and retouched. He produced some 280 mezzotint portrait prints, of which about 140 were after works by Kneller. The image shown is adapted from a portrait of John Smith himself - which was painted by Kneller and given to him as a gift. The Smith/Smyth facial characteristics are worth noting in relation to other "family" portraiture on this site - notably Smyth of Bristol and of Bishop William Smith/Smyth of Lincoln. (qv) Thus Kneller appears to be a strong link for conjecturing family ties between a variety of Smyth/Smith family branches.

The following biographical notes may be significant, given the Smith/Smyth/e connection with the Earls of Derby and the Derby seat at Knowsley (Lancashire): (click on Smith's image for full National Portrait Gallery biography).

See Bishop William Smith/Smyth

"Smith ran a profitable print shop. As well as selling single sheets he sold rare proof impressions at a premium, and sets of his prints as oeuvre collections. A number of these collections survive in albums, including a set of three volumes in the National Portrait Gallery. This set was acquired in 1944 and came from the Peper Harrow Library, Godalming, formed by the Brodrick family and sold by the 2nd Earl of Midleton (Hodgson & Co, 8 December 1944, lot 479). At 489 prints, the National Portrait Gallery's set is the largest recorded and it includes a good selection of the subject prints. The set is closely comparable to the Smith albums in the Hunterian Art Gallery in Glasgow. The set of albums in the New York Public Library originated from the collection of the Earls of Derby at Knowsley Hall; its particular importance lies in the handwritten dates and the fine condition of the prints. There are also albums formerly belonging to the Earl of Haddington, now in a private collection, and to Dean Aldrich, now at Christ Church in Oxford. It is significant that Haddington's portrait by Aikman was engraved by Smith (Simon the Dutch Skipper, CS 122), and similarly Smith makes a mezzotint of Aldrich's portrait that can be dated to 1699 (CS 3). It is likely that the remarkably complete and uniform impressions of Smith's prints found in the print rooms of Amsterdam, Paris and Windsor also originated from oeuvre albums."

Edward (Smijth) Smythe (Edward1713) and Jane Vandeput had one son, Edward, born in 1685, who was the only survivor of a family of six. Hill Hall was the original seat of Sir Thomas Smith/Smythe (1513-1577) who, in about 1550, was granted the former lands of the dissolved Ankerwycke Priory by Edward Vl for his service as Secretary of State. Thomas Smyth also became Provost to Eton College and built the first 'Ankerwycke House' which was eventually inherited by the Harcourt family in 1725.

Sir Thomas Smythe was born at Saffron Walden, Essex, 23 Dec 1513, the eldest son of John Smith (d. 1547) and Agnes Charnock (b. Lancashire; d, 1547). John Smith has been described as "wealthy" and having served as Sheriff of Essex and Hertfordshire in 1538/9 with the grant of arms being confirmed to him in 1545.

Among many of the positions that Sir Thomas Smith held was that of Secretary to (ancestor in the maternal line of this site) Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset in 1547. Sir Thomas Smythe had no surviving heir and his estates passed to his nephew William Smythe (died 1626) the son of his brother George Smythe, a London draper. His will, dated 18 Feb. 1577, included the gift of a gilt cup with the ‘seven planets’ for the Queen ‘as most worthy, having all the good gifts endowed of God which he ascribed to the seven planets’. He left his fine library of some 350 books to Queens’ College, Cambridge ‘because I see that none of these which shall succeed me of long time are learned’. His heir, William Smythe had a son Thomas Smythe who was created baronet in 1661. This is the line of the second Edward Smythe (Edward1713) in this debate - who married Jane Vandeput.

Of Edward1682), a translation - or better described as "an interpretation" (qv link at head of article) - of the 'life story' of Sir Edward of Whitchurch - as appears on his flagstone memorial, reads: "Here lies Edward Smythe, Knight, who after pausing from judging lawsuits in Ireland, carried off, because of this the reward of great fame, for he was made Chief Justice (of common  pleas in Ireland)  But being religiously inclined, and feeling the weight of cares, he nevertheless thought it wrong to devote his soul to God while he was still fit to hold office, and through his Ormond, setting a fine example by giving up (his  wish to serve God) he obtained what others eagerly strive for, that is , high office.  Then he took his part in Parliament in England, as long as it (Parliament) held out against Charles (the first) and the church, that is, for as long as there was room for wise policies.  I shall say a few, but important, things about his life after that.  He was rich in wealth and honour, he was devout, living like a poor man and a private person, well known for his prudence and learning, yet modest, courteous and honest, knowledgeable in local law, yet not against the clergy.  He was indeed a well-disposed patron of everyone everywhere, endowed with all the gifts of mind, body and fortune, and public-spirited, yet he preferred to have time for God and himself.  He was unobtrusive not only when living but also when dying, for having lapsed into a coma in bed this excellent man did not die (immediately) but (in the end) he passed away aged 79 Feb 20th 1682"

The work on the Latin wording on the memorial tablet is by Veronica Sankaran who kindly agreed to translate it especially for this site. Veronica is widely known for her translation of the seminal Norman era Domesday Book. (Philimore & Co Ltd, Chichester, 1983)

An 1806 history of Whitchurch outlines the Manorial descent as follows: "The manor was anciently in the Giffards Earls of Buckingham, afterwards in the Bolebecs. Hugh de Bolebec built a castle at Whitchurch, of which the site is plainly discernible, close to the village on the left hand as you pass from Aylesbury to Buckingham." The Bolebecs were chiefly from Yorkshire - in close proximity to the Estates of Rosedale Abbey which lands were leased shortly after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by the new owners, the powerful Neville family to William Smithdike - "assistant to Henry VIII" and the reputed progenitor of the major Irish Smyth lines.

That same history (Magna Britannia) continues: "From the Bolebecs this manor passed by a female heir to the Veres Earls of Oxford, by whom it was sold in the reign of Queen Elizabeth to the family of Waterhouse." It should be noted that Edward de Vere - the twelve year old "orphan" who became 17th Earl of Oxford - was educated at and spent an important part of his youth at Hill Hall in Essex - in the household of Sir Thomas Smythe - who married (1554) as his second wife, Philippa Wilford, widow of Sir John Hampden of Theydon Mount, Essex. By this marriage, Hill Hall - as it became - passed to the Smith/Smythe (Smijth) family.

Magna Britannia concludes this section by stating that: "It (the manor of Whichurch) was afterwards successively in the families of Watson and Smith. In 1695, it was purchased of a son of Sir Edward Smith, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in Ireland, by the family of Reynolds, from whom it soon afterwards passed to the Russells. In or about the year 1720, it was purchased of Governor John Russell by the family of Rowlands of Caerau, in the isle of Anglesea. This manor is now the property of dame Rebecca Williams, relict of Sir David Williams bart. and mother of the late Sir David Williams."

From biographical sources comes this account associated with the Drury family. Originally contributed to that family's Internet archives by Merrill Reich it is sourced from "A Naval Biographical Dictionary", by William R. O'Byrne, Esq.; London, Published by Jown Murry, Albemarle Street, 1849; pp 308-309 and p. 1383. The biography concerns Capt. Augustus Vere Drury who married, firstly (1803) Maria Smythe, daughter of Capt. Charles Smythe and niece of Sir William Smythe, Bt. of Hill Hall and secondly, in 1833, Jane, daughter of Sir George Williams Bt. The association of the family names cannot be ignored.

DRURY (Captain, 1814. F-P, 17; H-P 35) - Augustus Vere Drury died 9 February 1845. He was second son of the late Captain Richard Vere Drury of the Army, Ordnance Storekeeper at Tippnor, near Portsmouth, by Frances, only daughter of Sir George Vandeput, Bart.; and nephew of the late Admiral Thomas Drury.

This officer entered the Navy, 14 February 1793, as Midshipman, on board the Fox 32, commanded by his uncle, Captain Thos. Drury; in which frigate, and in the Jupiter 50, Commodore John Willet Payne, and St. Albans and Resolution, flagships of Admiral Vandeput, he served his time, on the Newfoundland, Mediterranean, Home and North American stations. Attaining the rank of Lt. 28 September 1799, he was afterwards successively appointed, chiefly on the Home station to the Asia 64, bearing the flag of Adm. Vandput, Royal George 100, Capt. Wim. Domett, Polyphemus 64, Capt. John Wawford, Hecla bomb, Capt John Sykes, and Moselle 18, Capt. John Surman Carden. He served in the Polyphemus at the Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1801; and was the First of the Hecla at the bombardment of Havre de Grace, in August 1804. In March 1807, Mr. Drury obtained command in North America of the Bream 4; and on 3 July following; he was removed to that of the Sylvia Cutter of 10 - 18 pound carronades and 50 men. After conveying the British Ambassador home from Copenhagen, he ultimately sailed for the East Indies; on his passage whither he recaptured the Seaflower Brig of 14 guns, and took L'Hirondelle schooner of 6 guns, with despatches on board containing intelligence which eventually led to the reduction of the Isle of France. On 6, 7, and 11 April 1810, we find Mr. Drury effecting the destruction, in the Straits of Sunda, of three armed vessels, carrying in the whole 6 guns and 132 men. He also took, after an action of two hours, a pirate of 10 guns and 100 men; and the 26th of the month last mentioned, with 12 of his men on the sick-list, compelled the Dutch national brig Echo, of 8 - 6 pounders and 46 men, to surrender, the close of a sharp engagement of 20 minutes, in which the enemy lost 3 killed and 7 wounded, and the British 4 killed and 3 wounded. The Echo, at the time was in company with two transports, both of which were likewise taken. For these services Capt. Drury was rewarded with the Navy Medal and a Commander's commission dated 2 May 1810. He returned to England in January 1811; and was next appointed, 17 June 1812, to the Dover 18. After cruising for two years on Baltic, Mediterranean and American stations, and obtaining the thanks of the Admiralty for his activity on a Particular Service, he was advanced to Post-rank 7 June 1814; from which period he remained on half-pay until his death."

With regard to the Russell family, it should be pointed out that the Russells became kin of the family of William Smyth, apothecary of Shrewsbury, whose daughter, Corbetta Smyth, was the mother of the children of Lord William Manners, 2nd son of the 2nd Duke of Rutland, ancestors in the maternal line of this site. This family later took the name of Tollemache. This is the line of the Earls of Dysart with whom Cromwell family and Smyth/e Smith family were both kin and closely associated in the public arena of the day.

William Russell, the son of the first Duke of Bedford, was the great grandfather of Corbetta Smyth's children through the Manners line. He was executed in 1683 because of his opposition to James II and his Catholicism. The eldest son of William (the apothecary) Smyth was named Thomas Smyth/Smith and the apothecary had a brother named Edward Smyth. In his Will, William the apothecary of Shrewsbury declared that in the event that he should have no child surviving at the time of his death, his brother, Edward Smyth, should receive a sum of money and that other sums should be divided equally between the children of his four sisters who are named as: Sarah Corfeild, Eleanor Austin, Elizabeth Ball and Ann Sherratt (spelling as in document).

Until Ham House at Richmond came to the Earls of Dysart, the chief seat of the Tollemache family was - and still is - Helmingham in Norfolk. In "A Genealogical and Heraldic History of The Commoners of Great Britain And Ireland Enjoying Territorial Possessions or High Official Rank: But Uninvested With Heritable Honours - History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland" it is noted - under the family of Salvin, of Croxdale (Lineage. XVII) - that Mary Salvin married Thomas Smythe, Esq. brother of Sir Edward Smythe, Bt. "living in 1683".

The present Lord Tollemache - descended from the marriage of Lady Jane Tollemache/Halliday - of Helmingham declares on his family web site that "Helmingham has been extremely lucky over the centuries in that whenever the Hall has been in danger of falling into disrepair, another generation of Tollemaches has come along, who by their energy and love for the place have rebuilt and restored their family home. Two in particular were both called John Tollemache. In 1840 the 1st Lord Tollemache, on his succession, found the house in a deplorable condition, and a great deal of restoration, particularly on the garden front, had to be done; the courtyard overhang was bricked in at this time. Anthony Salvin is believed to have been the architect for this work, and it was he who was made responsible by Lord Tollemache for the design and building of Peckforton Castle on his Cheshire estate. Sadly, all correspondence, estimates and bills for the work at Helmingham have been lost." The interconnectedness of these various families - linking the different "Smyths" - is significant.

Of Edward (Smijth) Smythe (Edward1713) the following text from the Lisburn Historical Society is particularly detailed. The writer, Trevor Neill, states that Edward1713 was the only member of the English Bar appointed to the Irish bench in the reign of Charles II. He succeeded to his father's baronetcy in 1688 and thus to the estates at Hill Hall in Essex.

Neill also mentions that in the latter half of the 16th century the Smith grant in Ireland included the hamlet of Belfast and much property in the counties of Antrim and Down. Since "The Smiths" already appear to have held a substantial grant in the area from the late 1500s, it goes much of the way towards explaining why it was that William Smyth (known in this family line as "the first settler") went to Lisburn in about 1630 from Rosedale (aka Rossdale) Abbey in Yorkshire These estates were leased from the Neville family. The Nevilles and the Beauforts and Beauchamps were high ranking and powerful families of the day. 'Warwick the Kingmaker' was a Neville.

Of this Smyth family, Burke records, "This family originally came from Stainton in the Palatinate of Durham but moved to Yorkshire circa 1500, settling at Rossdale Abbey ... " Stainton is a town just north of Darlington in County Durham, near Hartlepool, on the northeast coast of England. It is only a few miles away from Stainford, the site of Raby Castle, built by the Nevilles in the fourteenth century.

In his detailed study of the Irish lines of this William Smyth, David Smyth - of the Hutchinson Smyth line - writes in the modern era, "William Smyth came to Ireland from Rossdale Abbey circa 1630, settled first at Dundrum, County Down, but later moved to Lisburn, County Antrim. He married Ann (died ante 1630), daughter of Sir Thomas Hewley and aunt of Sir John Hewley, Member of Parliament for Yorkshire, and died 1650, leaving issue ..." . Use the adjacent image to access this history.

Edward1713 and the text excerpt from Trevor Neill's article - with images adapted from scans courtesy of Phil Curwood. "In their proceedings of November 10, 1662, the Irish House of Commons referred the motion that a Writ be issued for the town of Lisburne, alias Lisnegarvy, in the county of Antrim, lately made a Corporation by virtue of Letters Patent from his majesty, Charles II to the Committee of Privileges for consideration thereof the large tract of land created by Patent January 3, 1627, the Manor of Killultagh - Coill Ultach - wood of Ulster - of which the town (Lisnegarvie) was the administrative head, had been in possession of the Conway family, then represented by Edward, 3rd Viscount Conway and Killultagh for a little over half a century, that they were true to their trust and had been "vigorous and improving planters" was all too evident. A month later the Commons in their deliberations of December 15, 1662, ordered "upon request that a warrant be forthwith drawn up and signed by the Speakers of the House directing the Clerk of the Crown to issue out a writ for electing and returning two Burgesses for the Corporation of Lisburne in this present Parliament; by this was fulfilled that part of the Charter of Lisburne proceeding thus "whereas we retain a sense of the many losses which the inhabitants of the said town of Lisburne, alias Lisnagarvie, have sustained for their allegiance towards us and our royal father of glorious memory: Know ye therefore, that we, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and were notice for us our heirs and successors, do give and grant to the dwellers and inhabitants of the said town of Lisburne, alias Lisnegarvie, that they and their successors forever hereafter can and may, from time to time, elect and chose two fit and proper persons m be Burgesses to attend and sit in every parliament hereafter to be summoned, appointed and held within our said Kingdom of Ireland. A short time previously in 1662, an Act had passed through Parliament dealing with claims for land, or landed estates; the controversies which raged around this Act, known as the act of Settlement and the subsequent (1665) Act of Explanation were long and violent and go down to the foundation of the political structure of Ireland in the period immediately following the Restoration In implementation of the Act of 1662 six jurists - Sir Richard Rainsford, Winston Churchill (whose daughter, Anabella was to become the mistress of James 11, and son John the 1st Duke of Marlborough), Edward Cooke, Sir Thomas Beverley, Edward Smyth or Smith and Sir Edward Dering, with Henry Coventry - had been named as Commissioners to carry out the Act in Ireland; in terms of partisanship Rainsford, Beverley and Churchill were, we are told for the King - Smith, Dering and Cooke for the English interest. Possibly with a view to representing the Commission two of their number Sir Edward Dering and Sir Edward Smyth were on January 6 1661, returned as the first two members for Conway's newly created borough of Lisburn, in Charles the Second's Restoration Parliament of 1661-1666. Edward Smyth, born c1636, the 2nd son of Edward Smyth of the Middle Temple, was admitted a student of Grays Inn 4 February, 1657, and in due course was called to the Bar. In his appointment as a Commissioner of the Court of Claims as constituted by the Acts of Settlement of 1662 and 1666, he received the honour of Knighthood. Displaying marked ability as a Commissioner, he was at the age of 29 on June 13, 1665 appointed Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the only member of the English Bar appointed to the Irish bench in the reign of Charles II. In addition to the business of his court and circuit Smyth discharged also the duties of Chief Commissioner of the Court of Explanation of 1666. Some three years after his appointment he succeeded to the Smyth baronetcy and having obtained leave to retire went to reside at Hill Hall in Essex, the seat built by his father, [?] Sir Thomas Smyth, Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State, where he died in 1713 at the age of 77, and was buried in his parish church of Theydon Mount. Having married Jane, daughter of Mr Peter Vande[pent] of London one son, Edward born in 1685, was the only survivor of a family of six." Note: The genealogy is generally strange here: For example, the father of Sir Edward Smyth who married Jane Vandeput was a Sir Thomas Smyth - certainly - but he was not the man who was Elizabeth's Secretary of State. This latter was "Secretary Smythe" who "built" Hill Hall and who died in 1577 without a direct heir - having been granted Ankerwycke in 1550. The father of the Sir Edward Smyth (who married Jane Vandeput) was married to Johanna Altham (daughter of Sir Edward Altham). This Sir Thomas Smyth (1st. Bt. 1661) died in 1668 having sold Ankerwycke in 1652. The "Edwards" are difficult to place via the text: the tree is clearer - click on the younger Sir Edward (right) above. Jane Vandeput (mother of Jane (Vandeput) Smijth) Peter Vandeput of London Trevor Neill concludes: "Strype, the ecclesiastical historian in his dedication of Sir Thomas Smith's Life of Sir Edward speaks of him as "a useful magistrate, a good churchman, and a gentleman of sobor and regular conversation in a loose and debauched age." In resigning his seat in the Irish Parliament in 1665, Smyth in a letter dated October 4 from Dublin, to Viscount Conway conveys his thanks "for being made the first burgess of your new corporation of Lisburne. I am sorry I am now to resign that place in your hands as being incapable of any longer holding it. I have been too busy with doing public duties to do anything else. If you have not thought of any other person to succeed me let me mention a worthy man, Mr Robert Johnston. He is 'of the robe' and but lately come to practice here, of kin to Lord Arlington, whose Lordship has written passionately to me on his behalf I know his lordship would be much your debtor if you appointed him." Site Note: Significance of Johnson/Johnston? The Will of William Smyth - apothecary of Shrewsbury - was "Proved at London (with a Codicil annexed) the third day of September in the year of our Lord 1736 before the Worshipfull Thomas Walker [ ... ] by Elizabeth Johnson otherwise Smyth (wife of John Johnson) the other Executrix named in the said will to whom [Admon] was granted being first sworn duly to administer." Neill also states that "Edward Dering of Surrenden-Dering in Kent, and Edward Smith or Smyth of the Middle Temple, Lisburn's first two Members of Parliament", were both "jurists of great distinction, they had arrived in Ireland as Commissioners in the Court of Claims, as constituted by the Act of Settlement of 1662, and, possibly with a view to representing the Commission, had been returned for the newly created borough. Son of the first baronet of the name who, as member for the County of Kent, once presented a Bill from the gallery of the House of Commons for 'the extermination of all bishops, deans and chapters', and father of the baronet whose name appears in Schomberg's Army lists of 1689, Edward Dering, a most meticulous recorder, was the Commissioner before whom all cases relating to the North of Ireland were heard. His colleague Edward Smith, afterwards, at the age of twenty nine, a Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and Chief Commissioner in the Court constituted by the 1666 Act (of the Act of 1662), is described by Strype, the ecclesiastical historian, as 'A useful magistrate, a good churchman, and a gentleman of sober and regular conversation in a loose and debauched age'. In 1692, some thirty years after the return of these two members, Jeremy Taylor's son in-law, Edward Harrison of Magheralave was returned as one of the two members for Lisburn in the first Parliament of William III. (ascended throne 1689) A nephew of Matthew Harrison, Comptroller in the Household of the Lord Deputy and who had spent a lifetime in the service of the Ormonde family, he was the son of Michael Harrison of Belfast where he resided in a large house on or about the site of the Provincial Bank of Ireland, then known as 'Michael Harrison, his lane', later to become Hercules Place or Hercules Street, the 'street of the butchers', now Royal Avenue. Edward Harrison was again returned for Lisburn in the second Parliament of William III (1695/99) and in the first Parliament of Queen Anne (1703/13) his son Michael  was returned for the town. In the Short Parliament of 1713/14, the second of Queen Anne, his son Francis appears as the town's representative. A partner in the celebrated Dublin banking concern Francis Harrison, dubbed 'the only Croesus of the bankers' race', earned, for his sins, the wrath of Dean Swift who, surprisingly, does not seem to have been aware of his identity." Site Note: Dean Swift is mentioned in connection with Tollemache family (maternal ancestry of this site) via this link. "Lionel, third Earl of Dysart, was succeeded in 1727 by his grandson, Lionel, son of Lionel, Lord Huntingtower, who died in 1712. In July, 1729, the fourth Earl of Dysart married Grace Carteret, the eldest daughter of John, Lord Carteret, afterwards first Earl Granville. Grace Carteret was named after her grandmother, Lady Grace Granville, daughter of John, Earl of Bath. On the death of Lord Bath's only son, his daughter succeeded to his great Bath estates and she was - when still quite a child - formally married  to the second Lord Carteret who was only a little boy. This was done in order to secure the possessions of the Bath family. After the formal contract, the children were under the charge of their respective parents till they grew up. Such contracts - not unknown in England - were of frequent occurence in France, but they were discontinued shortly after this instance. The second Lord Carteret died when he was only twenty-six and in 1714 his widow was created Viscountess Carteret and Countess Granville in her own right. Lady Granville, who is called 'The Dragon' in the correspondence of the time, lived to be ninety so that her son, Lord Carteret, was fifty-four when, in 1744, he succeeded to her title. The mother of Grace Carteret was Frances Worsley, daughter of Sir Robert Worsley, of Appuldercombe - Isle of Wight. She was a beautiful woman and very intellectual, becoming, in her later life the correspondent of Dean Swift. Lady Carteret was married before she was seventeen and portraits of her and her husband - painted by Sir Godfrey Kneller - are in the yellow satin room at Ham House. In 1724, Lord Carteret was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, a post which he held for six years. His daughter Grace was eleven years old when she accompanied him to Dublin and her childish beauty was the subject of several Irish Poems." (Text courtesy of Susan F. Tollemache, August 2003.)

Additional and associated notes gleaned during the course of research for this article

From - Visitation of Warwick and Leicester, confirmed by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux, to Francis Smyth, of Wooton, grandson of Sir John Smyth, and 5th in descent from John Carrington or Smith, died in 1446, who was 5th in descent from Sir Michael Carrington - Standard Bearer to King Richard I - died in the Holy Land.

Sir Michael Carrington, Standard Bearer to Richard I, in the Holy Land, had a grandson, Sir William Carrington, living during the reign of Edward I. This latter was the father of Sir Edmund Carrington who flourished in the reign of Edward II.

His son, Sir William Carrington, married in the time of Edward III, Lady Catherine, sister of William Montague, Earl of Salisbury, and had a son, Sir Thomas Carrington, who was a steward to Edward III.

According to Burke - "Sir Thomas Carrington married Margaret, daughter of Sir Robert Roos, and was father of John Carrington, who in the beginning of the reign of Richard II was forced to expatriate himself, and, after residing sometime abroad, to assume for security the very general surname of Smyth. "

He died in 1446, leaving, among other children, Hugh Smith, his heir, ancestor of the Smiths, Lords Carrington, which branch of the family became extinct in 1706. (See Burke's Extinct and Dormant Peerage) and Thomas Smyth of Rivenhall, whose great-great-great-grandson, Edward Smyth, of Iver, Bucks, married (LDS IGI states 10 September 1677 at St. John, Hackney, London) Frances Pennyman, daughter of William Pennyman of Normanby, in the county of York, and had seven sons and four daughters.

The fourth son, (all the others d. unm.) John Smyth, of Iver, Bucks, married (LDS IGI states 14th June 1716 at Iver in Buckinghamshire) Martha Bethel, daughter of Walter Bethel of Bristol and had three sons and two daughters: of the former, the eldest, The Rev. John Smith, rector of Ashwicken, in Norfolk, and of Henderclay, in Suffolk, married Mary Woodcock, daughter of (unknown) Woodcock, of Warwickshire, and died 17 Oct 1808, having had with two daughters, Mary and Anne, who died unm. an only son, John Carrington Smith.

Question: Names of the other two sons? Francis, Thomas or Richard?

John Carrington Smith of St. Margaret's in the county of Gloucester, was a magistrate and Deputy Lieutenant for Gloucestershire and was a Lieutenant Colonel in the army. He was born 08 May 1766. He married 07 Aug 1799, the Hon. Charlotte Juliana Butler, daughter of the then Viscount Mountgarret, and sister of the Earl of Kilkenny. The sons of this marriage were Edmund Carrington Smith, Capt. in the army; John Somerset Smith, Capt. in the army, who died unmarried and Pierce Butler Smith, who also died unmarried. The daughters were Harriet Mary Smith, Charlotte Juliana Smith, and Anne Smith, all of whom were unmarried.

Lt. Col. John Carrington Smith - Arms: Quarterly; 1st and 4th arg. a cross gu. between four peacocks ppr; 2nd and 3rd arg. on a bend sa. six swords in saltier of the 1st. Crests-1st. A peacock's head erased, issuing out of a ducal coronet, 2nd an arm embowed in armour holding a sword. Motto: Spero Meliora. Estates - In London , Bucks., and Essex. Seat: St. Margaret's, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

Tripartite agreement between Right Hon. Robert, Lord Spencer, Baron Of Wormleighton, co. Warwick, Sir Wm. Monsen of North Carlton, and Dame Dorothy his wife, Anthony Monsen of Fisleton, co. Lincoln, Esq., Walter Smith, of Allesley als. Awsley, co. Warwick, gent., Thomas Smyth, of Wansley, als, Only. Northamptonshire, yeoman and Elizabeth his wife Barnaby Holbeche of Fillingleyn, Warwick, yeo., Walter his son and heir, John Blythe, of Allesly, yeo., and Anne his wife, daughter of said Barnaby Holbeche, John Blayne of Weston under Wetherley als, Werely, co. Warwick. yeo., Daniel Wyne, his son and heir apparent, John Tolberde of do., yeo., and Margaret his wife, and Thomas his son and heir apparent, Thomas Medes of do., yeo., and Wm. Westley, of do.. laborer, of the first part: John Smyh of Grayes Inn, Middlesex, son and heir of Richard Smyth late of Shelfords, co. Warwick, Esq., deceased, of the second part: and John Leicester and Robert Higginson of London, Gentlemen, of the third part, whereby Lord Spencer el als. hold reversion of manors, etc., in said John Smyth and his heirs, the said Lord Spencer and others make the said Leicester and Higginson present tenants as said John Smyth the vouchee and the common vouchee may suffer, and convey the manor of Fletchampstead als, Nether Fletchampstead, co. Warwick, and the manor house wherein one John Russell doth inhabit, and all those houses, edifices, stables, barns, yards, pastures, commons, wastes, etc., rents, reversions, etc., in Fletchampstead, Allesley, Weston-under-Werely, Stonley, Conndon, Ericklowe, Attlebrough Grafton als. Temple Grafton, and Newbold-upon-Avon in co. Warwick, provided the said Leicester and Higginson at or in the walk adjoining to the mayor's parlor in the Cross Cheapinge, in the city of Coventry, on the 24 day of June next, pay the sum of 10000 pounds sterling. Dated 4 Dec., 10 James I (1612); enrolled 12 May, 11 Jas I. (Close Rolls 11 Jas. I, part 23c, No. 3.5.) 

Shipton Bellinger Hants. Near Winchester - At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Manor of Shipton was held by the Prior and Convent of St. Swithun and thus passed from the Crown to the Dean and Chapter of Winchester in 1541 (where it remained until 1857).

At the beginning of the 19th Century the village was a bit of an oddity. It was still in the Broughton Hundreds for administrative purposes, with the largest landlord, owning most of the north and west of the Parish, living in Tedworth House in the Parish of South Tidworth. The Smith family had owned this, besides property in London and Cheshire and slate quarries in North Wales, since 1650 and were said to be the richest commoners in England with an annual income of around 1 million pounds in today's terms.

When, at the end of the 18th Century, the male line became extinct, the properties passed to a nephew, Assheton Smith, who in the first part of the 19th Century was a celebrated cricketer and famous huntsman, besides being a Member of Parliament for Andover. Whilst there is plenty of evidence of Assheton Smith's presence in Tidworth, including his enterprises in Ashdown Woods above Tidworth, his development of Tidworth Park, and building new kennels at Home Farm, Tidworth (Happy Land, as it is locally known), practically none exists of his influence in Shipman, except as landlord to several farmers.

In 1861 the population was down to 270. Rev. Cotton had built a vi1lage school and Mrs Martha Dyke was the first Schoolmistress. Prominent among the names of the farmers is that of Gilbert, but the great-grandfather of Gilbert (of opera fame) left the village before the turn of the century and had made his fortune in London as a tea merchant.

Constance, Lucy m. first, to Sir William Spencer, bart.; and, secondly, to Sir Edward Smith. Chn. Margaret , d. unm. Bridget , m. to Sir Bryan Broughton. Alice, m. to Sir William Underhill. Mary, m. to Sir Matthew Herbert. Elizabeth, m. to Sir John Walcot.

Sir Thomas Lucy d. in Dec 1640, and his virtues are set forth in a Latin inscription upon a noble and curious monument at Charlecote. Of Sir Thomas it was said, that "his tables were ever open to the learned. and his gates never fast to the poor." He was s. by his eldest son, Spencer Lucy, esq. of Charlecote, a colonel in the royal army. This gentleman took the degree of doctor of physic at Oxford in 1643. He married Mary, daughter of Henry Brett, of Down Hatherley, in the county of Gloucester, but dying without issue in 1648, the estates devolved upon his brother, Robert Lucy, esq. of Charlecote, who wedded Margaret, daughter of Thomas Spencer, esq. of Upton, by whom (who m. after his decease, Thomas, Lord Arundel, of Wardour) he had an only daughter, Bridget, m. to William, Visconnt Molyneux. He died in 1658, without male issue, and was s. by his next brother, Richard Lucy, esq. of Charlecote, who m. Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Urry, esq. of Thorley, in the Isle of Wight, by whom he had Thomas, his son and heir, and Richard, who died young; with a daughter, Constance, the wife of Sir John Burgoyne, bart. of Sutton. He died in 1677.

The children of Lieutenant-Colonel John Handfield & Elizabeth Whainiet ( http://www.handfield.ca/documentsen/page8.htm ) GEORGES -- Born at Annapolis Royal 4 August 1747, Ensign 13 September 1760 in the 40th Regiment. Lieutenant - 08 April 1762. Left for Ireland in 1765 with his regiment. He married Elizabeth, only daughter of Reverend Sir William Smith Bart of Hill Hall, County of Essex. They had one daughter, Catherine Elizabeth, who married on 04 June 1804 William George Monckton Arrundell, 5th Viscount Galway. They were the grandparents of Viscount Galway, who was Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand up to 1941. The newspaper, La Presse of Montréal of Thursday, 20 February 1941, shows a photo of this Viscount Galway, who had stopped at Québec during his return trip to England.