John Smythe (1496 - 1544)

Born 1496 in Essex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1544 at about age 48 in Blackmore, Essex, England

Biography

According to Walter Copinger's book about these Smiths (which is much criticized for its account of their ancestry):

"JOHN SMITH, Serjeant-at-law, was son of Thomas (N 1) by his 2nd wife, and brother of Sir Clement (O 2). He was one of the Auditors of Hen. VIII., who granted him the Manor, Rectory, and Advowson of Blackmore, and the site of the Priory there by letters patent 32 Hen. VIII. (1540). The priory had been dissolved in 1527 by Hen. VIII. and granted to Cardinal Wolsey as part of the endowment of his college at Oxford, and upon the Cardinal's attainder in 1529 it came again to the Crown, being in 1531 granted by the King to the Abbey of Waltham in exchange for the Manor of Stansted Abbots. Upon the general dissolution of the monasteries, it reverted to the Crown, and in 1540, as already stated, was granted by Hen. VIII. to John Smith.1 John Smith also held lands in cos. Berks and Glouc. (Lechdale, Cherney), London, St. Gyles, Crepeelgate; and in 1542 enfeoffed Thomas Smith of Hackney, co. Middlesex, and others of lands in Heygrene."^[1]

The History of Parliament entry for John's brother Clement, mentions that:

"In 1513 Smith’s elder brother John had become reversioner or assistant to Edmund Denny in the important office of lord treasurer’s remembrancer in the Exchequer and in 1539, when he was probably already at work there, perhaps as his brother’s subordinate, he obtained the reversion of the same office. He was admitted and took the oath on 2 Dec. in the presence of Cromwell as chancellor of the Exchequer: the office, which had to be exercised in person, carried a fee of £64 2s. a year. The provision in Smith’s will that his sons should be trained by ‘auditors or other officers toward the laws’ may reflect a hope that one of them might in turn hold it."^[2]

John Smith had a PCC will made 10 May 1543, died on the 4 Aug. 1544, and was buried at Blackmore. This will has been partly transcribed on the Blackmore history website^[3], and abstracted in the book by Copinger, because it is an interesting and detailed will. It shows a concern that someone had to find a good husband for his young daughters Frances and Dorothy, and that they be brought up honestly and virtuously.

He names 3 sons, Thomas, William, and Giles.

The name of his wife has been subject to confusion, and in fact he clearly had two wives.

The mother of his children appears to be Elizabeth Twysell. She is mentioned in one of John's wills, as deceased heiress of Thomas and Elizabeth Twysell, who are named as the grandparents of one of John's children in John's brother Clement's will. (Copinger apparently only saw one of John's wills.) At least one visitation however names the mother of his children as a Trymnell, with no first name, but says her father was an auditor, as indeed he was. Copinger developed a myth that she was a Trussell, but the will of John's brother Clement clearly says Twysell, and such a family clearly were associated with them as shown in numerous records.

Because John's brother Clement was executor to his mother-in-law Elizabeth Twysell we can also trace her PCC will to May 1545, under the spelling Twysill. This is interesting because it names specific Smythe children to all receive a cup from her goods: William, Giles, Frances and Dorothy. It seems reasonable to propose that these were all children of John Smyth's first wife?

The second wife had the maiden name Dorothy Stone. From the inquisition post mortem of her first husband, Rowland Lathum, we know she married John Smyth in 1541. After John Smith she remarried to a Dennis Toppe:

Reference: C 1/1264/40 Description: Short title: Smyth v Toppe. Plaintiffs: Clement SMYTH, knight, and others, executors of John Smyth. Defendants: Dennis TOPPE and Dorothy his wife, late the wife of the said John, and formerly of Rowland Lathome. Subject: Debt of the said Rowland to Edmund Pekham, knight, etc.

Her father was Thomas Stone of Longworth, had a PCC will of 1539.

Sources

1. ↑ Walter Copinger, "History and records of the Smith-Carington family" Available online here.
2. ↑ http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/smith-clement-1515-52
3. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20161202101444/http://www.blackmorehistory.co.uk/blackmore_john_smyth_will.html

• Visitation of Essex 1612. https://archive.org/stream/visitationsofess1314metc#page/172/mode/2up
• Visitation of Norfolk 1563 (Rye's version) https://archive.org/stream/visitacionievisi32ryew#page/256/mode/2up