Ancestor Index

From David Smyth - family historian - Smyth Family Records

 

HUTCHINSON SMYTH

David Smyth's Endnotes.

1.

Ballynatray House - it has been written - goes back as far as the 6th century, when St Molanhfide chose it as the site for the abbey which he built on an island in the river and which now forms part of the property. Five hundred years later, Raymond Le Gros, Strongbow's companion-in-arms, chose the location for his castle at Temple Michael, the ruins of which still stand there. In the 16th century Sir Walter Raleigh sold Ballynatray to the Earl of Cork, then living upriver at Lismore Castle.

One source states: "It eventually passed to his son-in-law, Grice Smyth, who built the present house on the site of an earlier castle. He was largely responsible for creating one of the most beautiful parks in Ireland. He also built a causeway to the island on which Molona Abbey stands."

The house and estate - like so many of the fine old houses of Ireland and Wales particularly - was left empty for many years until the Boissevain family acquired the property and had it renovated to style and period - the success of which now makes it, some say, the equal of any of the great European houses. The new owners also replanted woodlands (putting in more than 150,000 broadleaf trees) and upgraded the formal gardens, the avenues, outhouses, farm buildings and the walled garden.

Family historian, Richard Hodgson, writes:

 

"As far as I can see, the first Smyth given the christian name Grice was born about 1672, the great grandson of Richard Smyth and Mary Boyle. It is unlikely that there were any earlier Grice Smyths because this one’s unusual first name presumably came from the surname of his mother, Alice Grice. Richard Smyth was not the son-in-law of the 1st Earl of Cork, but his brother-in-law.

 

I have seen information that the Grice Smyth who built the current house did so in 1795. He would be the grandson of the first Grice. This information also said he inherited it from the Earl of Cork (without giving a relationship).The 1st Earl of Cork did buy nearly all Sir Walter Raleigh’s Irish estates. I suppose it is possible that the (.pdf file) 1st Earl of Cork let his brother-in-law’s family live at Ballynatray but only in the 2nd Grice Smith’s time did the Smyths actually inherit it."

2.

It was Grice (2) Smyth's daughter, Penelope Caroline Smyth who fled to Gretna Green in 1846 to marry Carlos Ferdinando Borbone, the Prince of Sicily and son of the King of Naples. Gretna, the first stagecoach stop in Scotland after the bordering city of Carlisle, became popular when the Marriage Act of 1754 made marriage under the age of 21 without parental consent illegal in England. The couple went on to marry a further three times - in Madrid, in Rome and in England - but their union was never recognised under Sicilian law because the King of Naples withheld his consent. Penelope Smyth was so beautiful that she featured in a book called 'Some Fair Hibernians'. (Gerard, Frances H., Some Fair Hibernians, suppl. vol. to Celebrated Beauties, supra (1897), 279pp.)

Prince Carlo Fernando of BOURBON des DEUX-SICILES - Prince de CAPUA - born Palermo 1811 - d. Turin 1862 - married at Gretna Green 1836 - Penelope SMYTH, given title of Duchess of MARESCATA (1815-1882). Their 2 children were 1. Francesco di BORBONE, Comte di MASCALI (1837 - 1862) and 2. Vittoria di BORBONE, Comtesse di MASCALI (1838-1905).

The Ancestry of William Smithdike - some Conjectures and Speculations

Tracing the ancestry of the William Smithdike who took over the administration of the Rosedale estate in the 1530s is at present a matter of pure speculation. There is no documentation available and the Smithdike name itself is a mystery. All we have is that - according to the History of Rosedale Abbey - William Smithdike was “of the household of the king.” The king at the time being Henry VIII. However there are some clues that may be worth pursuing.

Pat Patterson’s genealogical web site www.patpnyc.com mentions a John SMYTHE. Born 1480-90 (guesstimate), before 1496 surely. Married Joan BROUNCKER / BRUNKER circa 1518; guestimate. Died 1538. "Aged 31 and more" at the death of his father; likely enough more, 31 yrs proven. Resided at Corsham, Wiltshire. Occupation between 1509 and 1546 "assistant to Henry VIII" - no more info, no dates - but then likely to have spent time in London and Westminster. Occupation clothier. Heir: on 27 Mar 1527. Circa 1528? "After the death of the said Richard Smyth, the said Wm Wilforde & his co-feoffees were seised of the sd premises to the use of the sd John Smyth. ... "The sd John Smyth being so seised enfeoffed thereof Tho Crumwell, John Bylsdon, Rd Ryche, Guy Crafforde, Wm Gynkes, Rd Holte, John Bodnam, & John Stuk'ey: to hold to them and their heirs to the use of the sd John Smyth & Joan his wife, & the heirs of the sd John Smyth for ever." Probate on 8 Oct 1538 Wiltshire PCC 21 Dyngeley.

It appears that William Smithdike was probably born around 1490 to 1500, since Burke’s Irish Family Records states that his son Thomas was born in 1520. John Smythe could possibly have been his brother or cousin. If there is in fact a connection here, we can trace the ancestry back another generation, to John Smythe’s father Richard, who, according to Pat Patterson’s website, was: Richard SMYTHE. Born circa 1460. Died 27 Mar 1527 London.

I've found this likely-looking connection but checking the London Merchant Tailors' Company records available here offered nothing to confirm this link. It remains purely speculative. Occupation from 1480 to 1527 guesstimate, Merchant Tailors' Company, London. Before 1524 resided at Fryday Street & Watlyng Street, London, parish of St John the Evangelist. Richard Smythe owned a number of properties, apparently in London, and Patterson continues:

"All the said premises are worth per annum, clear £29. Richard Smyth died at London, 27 March, 18 Henry VIII (1527); John Smyth is his son and heir, and was then aged 31 years and more." Inquisition p.m. 21 Henry VIII, No. 21.

At this point this particular ancestral trail appears to come to an end, at least for now.However, moving forward in time now from John Smythe, to his son Thomas, we have this from Pat Patterson’s web site:

Thomas SMYTHE. Born 1522 Corsham, Wiltshire. Married Alyce JUDD circa 1555. Died 7 Jun 1591.

Between 1539 and 1540 London "Supported by a small inheritance from his father, who Died 1538, Smith gained his freedom of the Haberdashers' Company and subsequently of the Skinners', the company of Sir Andrew Judde, a wealthy City merchant and Kent landowner, whose dau, Alice, he married abt 1555." Occupation before 1555 Merchant Adventurer. He and Alyce JUDD had 13 children. "Secure in business and society - he was a Merchant Adventurer, Muscovy merchant, and MP at the time of his marriage - Smith abandoned a conventional career in commerce when he took up the collectorship of the subsidy on imports at the port of London in 1558. Through his association with the customs, which earned him the title of 'Customer', Smith entered the realms of government finance and court patronage and politics. The move was highly profitable, particularly after the negotiation of his first lease of the duties on imported goods at London in 1570. Over 18 years it is estimated that the farm yielded around 50,000 pounds net profit." …

 

In 1573 from Robt Dudley, Earl of Leicester, "subleased the farm of the duties on the import of sweet wines after 1573" in London. Resided at Corsham, Wiltshire, "Some of the profits of the (customs) farm were put into land in Kent, where he added substantially to properties acquired through marriage, and in Wiltshire, where he built a fine house at Corsham." Occupation "He was particularly active in the affairs of the Societies of the Mines Royal and of the Mineral and Battery Works, either as manager or as lessee of their rights" … Died 7 Jun 1591 "a wealthy man" "survived by Alice and their 6 sons and 6 daus." Buried in 1591 Ashford, Kent. Probate on 29 Oct 1591 PCC 78 Sainherbe.

This biography of Customer Smyth raises some interesting points. He too was well connected with royalty – he held a lucrative post under Queen Elizabeth, following in the footsteps of his ancestor John, who had been “assistant to Henry VIII.” Customer Smyth also took an active interest in mining enterprises. Rosedale Abbey is the site of one of the oldest iron works in England, which may have come to his attention. He was a contemporary of our own Thomas Smyth (born 1520), the second generation of our family at Rosedale Abbey. And Customer Smyth had some sort of business relationship with Robert Dudley, from whom he “subleased the farm of the duties on the import of sweet wines after 1573.” It will be recalled that in 1576 Robert’s brother Ambrose Dudley took over the lease of Rosedale Abbey.

All of which raises some interesting possible connections but provides as yet not a shred of documentary evidence that we are related to Customer Smyth and his ancestors.

At Generation 5, we know from the Burke genealogy  that the William Smyth who went over to Ireland from Rosedale Abbey was the third son of James Smyth and Helen Sayers, but unfortunately we do not know the names of his two older brothers. It is a pity, as that knowledge might possibly establish a connection with the Neville family in that generation.

A clue to this is to be found in The Diary 1603-1623 of William Camden, which provides an intimate insight into the Court life and times of King James I. An entry for January 27th., 1618, for example, presents this Smith/Neville conundrum - "Sir John Dacomb, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, died, whose daughter married Thomas Smith, or Neville, son and heir of Sir Thomas Neville of Holt in the County of Leicester."

A Charles Duncombe bought the Rosedale estate from George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, at some point between 1620 and 1628.  Was this Thomas Smith a brother of our William Smyth? And was Dacomb a variant of Duncombe in that era of free-form spelling? And above all, why does the diarist refer to Thomas Smith as “Thomas Smith, or Neville, son and heir of Sir Thomas Neville? If he was the legitimate son and heir, how does the Smith name come into play?

Another possible ancestral link might be searched for in the life of William Smith or Smythe, Bishop of Lincoln from 1496 to his death in 1514, an influential figure at the royal court, and the founder of Brasenose College, Oxford. Bishop Smythe, who was probably born about 1450 or 1460, is of interest here because he had very close connections with King Henry VII from the very beginning of his reign in 1485. This Smythe may well have had some family relationship with the Rosedale Smyths because he was most definitely “of the household of the king.” And he was apparently well known for handing out preferments to his relations, one of whom, Matthew Smythe, he appointed principal of Brasenose College, for example. The precise relationship, if any at all, to the Smyths of Rosedale  - whether through his sons, nephews or cousins - remains to be established, but it seems to be a possibility deserving further investigation.

Smythe may have been brought up and educated at the expense of Margaret Beaufort. This lady was not only the mother of Henry VII, the first king of the Tudor dynasty. Her family, the Beauforts, were also related to Ralph Neville, the Earl of Westmoreland who, according to Burke, leased the Rosedale property to William Smithdike in the 1530s.

In 1485, just after the Battle of Bosworth that set Henry VII on the throne, Smythe was made Keeper of the Hanaper of Chancery. The duty of the Keeper was to record fees paid on the writs that began every action at common law. In this capacity, William Smythe would have been apprised of each and every action to be heard and, as such, would have been a useful source of information for a new king grappling with insecurity. The office was so named because the writs, and the returns to them, were kept in a wickerwork box called a hanaper - or hamper. Two daughters of King Edward IV (died 1483) were also entrusted to William Smythe's keeping. He was a member of the Royal Council and in 1501, five years after he had been translated to the important Bishopric of Lincoln, he became Lord President of Wales. This was a man at the very cusp of royal favor. By the early 1500s he was also a man of great wealth. William Smythe was one of the executors of Henry VII's will but retired from public life just after this King's death in 1509.

Smythe himself died in 1514, a quarter of a century before the dissolution of the monasteries and the handing over of Rosedale Abbey to private owners. So if there is any connection to be made between him and the Rosedale Smyths, it is probably to be found in the next generation - his sons or nephews, of which at this time we have no record.

If a relationship should eventually be verified, Bishop Smythe’s family can be traced back for a couple of generations. He came from a  well-to-do family, being (according to the Bishop’s biographer Ralph Churton)  "the fourth son of Robert Smyth of Peelhouse, in the parish of Prescot, Lancashire. His grandfather was Henry Smyth, a country squire, seated at Cuerdley. The date of his birth and the place of his education are alike unknown. Churton conjectures  from the patronage early bestowed ... by the  mother of Henry VII  that he was brought up at a school in which were educated “certayn young gentilmen at her findying.”

This family site fully agrees with David Smyth's interpretation. The "Smith" identity of William Smithdike would unlock a considerable number of research avenues!