( 193 )
THOMAS SMYTHE, OF WESTENHANGER,
COMMONLY CALLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE.
:BY J. F. WAD MORE, A,R,I.:B,A,
THE family of Smithe,* or Smythe, from which sprang the Lords
Strang£ord, was settled at Corsham in Wilts in the time of Henry
VIII.t John Smythe, a substantial yeoman and clothier, who
married a daughter of Thomas Brounker,t died at Coraham in 1538,
leaving his wire a lire interest in his mill, with the reversion of it
to his son John, as well as his other property. John Smythe's
eldest son, named after his father, married a daughter of John
Lygon of Richard Castle, Herefordshire, to whom a grant of
arms was accorded.§ To Thomas, his younger sn, born in 1522,
he left a £arm in the Hundred of Amesbury, Wilts, of the value of
£20 per annum. Thomas, who must have been about sixteen
years of age at the time of his father's death, came up to London
with the intention of seeking his fortune. Before commencini
business on his own account, which he was able to do after
disposing of. his landed :eroperty, he took up his freedom in his
father's guild, the Haberaashers, and subsequently in that of the
SkinnersJI also, which may account £or his intimate connection with
Sir Andrew J udde.
In the reign of Queen Mary Mr. Thomas Smythe succeeded
in the office 0£ the Customs one Mr. Cocker,1 to whom he paid a
sum 0£ £2500 as a fine. Shortly afterwards he married his first
and only wife Alice, daughter 0£ Sir Andrew J udde. This event
must have taken place somewhere about 1554, as his second son,
John, who succeeded him-the first-born, Andrew, having died in
infancy-was born in 1556. Sir Andrew, according to Hasted,
settled upon Smythe the manor of Ashford,** which he had only
* The name is spelt Smithe in the will, and Smythe on the monument in
Ashford Church, and in original MSS. Three other gentlemen of distinction
each named Sir Thomas Smith were contemporary with "the Customer:"
(1) a Secretary to Lord Burleigh ( died 1571) ; (2) a Latin Secretary to James I.
(died 1606); (8) the High Sheriff of Cheshire in 1628,
t Sir R. C. Hoare's Wilts.
:t Fonblanque's Li'IJes of the Stra11gfords, p. 2.
§ Fuller's Worthies, vol. ii., p. 551.
\I Ha'berdaskera ancl Skfaners' Oourt 11ooks.
'if Appendix to Oalendar of JJom. State Papers, A,D. 1567, p. 4,
** Hasted, vol. vii., p. 529. This is not strictly correct. The manor, once
held by the College of St, Stephen's, Westminster, was surrendered to the Crown
VOL. XVII. 0
194 THOMA.S SMYTHE, OF WESTENHA.NGER,
recently purchased of Sir Anthony .A.ucher. At the time of this
marriage Mr. Thomas Smythe must have been about thirty-three
years 0£ age, and .his wife about twenty-four.
Mr. Smythe was confirmed in his appointment at the Customs
on the accession of Queen Elizabeth, and continued in the office for
a period of eleven years. In 1567 he appears to have incurred her
Majesty's severe displeasure,* having been accused of issuing privy
warrants or cockets whereby a loss of revenue was sustained, to the
extent of some £6000 ; and it was only through the kind intervention
of his friend Cecil that he escaped imprisonment. Cecil
persuaded her Majesty to be lenient, as if time were allowed he
would doubtless pay ·up, but if he were imprisoned her Majesty
would be the loser.
Previous to the commencement of her Majesty's reign, we learn
from Stowt that the Customs of the Port of London were frequently
evaded. To remedy these abuses, an Act was passed in the
1st 0£ :Elizabeth, and a RoyaJ Commission appointed, which :fixed
landing-places £or the reception of all kinds of goods and merehandise.
Fifteen principal quays were named for the port of London.
Billingsgate was set apart £or fish, corn, salt, and stores ; The Three
Cranes in the Vintry, £or wines and oils; Johnson's and Butler's
Wharves, for pitch, tar, iron, deals, eels, hemp, cloths, skins, etc.
Newcastle coals might be shipped at any place in the port of
London, in the presence of a searcher; and the same privilege
was granted to goods entered in the Custom House books ; the
Bridge House was for corn ancl provisions, and the Guildhalda
1'eutonica for foreign merchants ; all other places were ordered to
be closed.
Among the officers appointed by the commissioners was Mr.
Thomas Smythe to the office of collector for customs and subsidies
inwards; while those outwards were placed in the hands of Mr.
Robinson; and Mr. Chapman was appointed controller. Besides
these, there were two searchers and sixteen waiters, with other
petty officers, and one packer who acted for the City of London.
This new arrangement did not work satis£actorily,i so Mr.
in the time of Edward VI.; and in the third year of the same reign was granted
to Thomas Colepeper, who, without licence from the Crown, granted it to
Sir Anthony Aucher. Sir Anthony, being in want of money, mortgaged it
to Sir Andrew Judde, who subsequently foreclosed. Sir Andrew died seised of
the manor of Essetesford or Asheford, of a water-mill in the tenure of one
Robinson, of the manor of Esture, 110 acres of pasture and thirty-six acres of
meadow, and a rental of £6 13s. 4d. (Furley, in Arolt(EoZogia Oanti'.ana, Vol. XVI.,
pp. 164-5). Furley tells us that lands held of the Crown oan uot be alienated
without the royal licence (Furley's Weald, vol. ii., p. ii., p. 504), It therefore
became necessary, when the estate passed to Sir Thomas Smythe and his wife
.Alice (on the termination of the life interest of Dame Mary, the wife of Sir
Andrew Judde), to obtain a pardon or authority from Parliament for a licence
to hold the same ; this was done, and a fee of £31 5s. 9d. exacted to remedy
the omission. The present lord of the manor is W. F. B. Jemmett, Esq.
* 156'7, Appendix to Calendar of JJom. State Papers, p. 4,
t Strype's Stow, ed. MDCCXX., book ii., p. 49.
:I: 1560, JJom. State Papers,. vol. xv., OaZenda1•, p. 166.
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COMMONLY CALLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE, 195
Henry Smith within a short time presented a memorial to her
Majesty, as to certain abuses existing in the Custom House and
Mint, whereby the Crown sustained a loss ; and he further prayed
to be employed in superintending the customs. The result appears
to have been that be, in conjunction with Mr. James More]ey,
was rewarded with the farming of the customs on all* woollen
cloths and wines. Another charge was made by George Nedeham.t
Mr. Thomas Smythe, however, was retained as collector of customs
(petty) for all foreign goods and merchandise brought into the
ports of London, Sandwich, and Chichester, for eleven years; when
a clear and full account of all duties and subsidies was drawn up
by him, and submitted to Lord Burleigh.t These accounts are
most beautifully and accurat.ely entered even to farthings. The
total of the petty customs received in this time amounted to the
sum of £15,978 8s .. 3¾d., and the subsidies of impositions to
£134,274 7s. lld.: the average of both for the eleven years being
£18,659 6s. 6d.§ ...
On this average Mr. Thomas Smythell submitted a proposal to
her Majesty to advance money yearly on all customs and subsidies
of all foreign goods and· merchandise brought into the Ports of
London, Sandwich, and Chichester (wines only excepted), and
further to pay over to the Crown a fine of £5000. 'fhis was in
May, and in August we find the Queen1 writing to the Treasurer of
the Exchequer, directing him to pay over the moiety of the fine payable
by Thomas Smythe, Farmer of the Customs, into the hands of
Richa1·d Stonley, one o:E the Tellers. Some further delay and
correspondence appears to have taken place before the agreement
was completed, to expedite which Mr. Smythe** wrote to Sir William
* 1567, JJomestio State Papers, vol. xliv., Calendar, p. 299.
t Ib., vol. xiii., 1567, Calendar, p. 289.
:I: 1570, Dom. State Papers, vol. lxix., Calendar, pp. 378, 382.
§ Shortly after the appointment of Thomas Smythe the following singular
incident occurred. The English Government being in want of ammunition, Sir
Thomas Gresham arranged for a supply from Antwerp. This required great
secrecy, as its export was forbidden under the severest penalties, and various
ingenious schemes were adopted to evade the law. Nevertheless the ammunition
was exported in comparatively small quantities, and Sir Thomas Gresham's
correspondence had frequent references to silks, satins, velvets, and damasks,
which were supposed to be imported. The continual arrivitl of these stores at
the Tower attracted attention, although the danger had been pointed out by
Gresham to the Council at home. On the 13th of June 1560, Sir Thomas was
much disgusted (when he was informed by the searcher who was in his
confidence as conveyor of velvets) that an Englishman had been with the
Oustomer and informed him of the many velvets of all sorts lately arrived in
London, and that, if he made a general search now, he '.voul find a great booty;
whereupon the Customer desired the searcher to be with hnn on the 15th very
early in the morning. As this would have led to an expose of the whole
transaction, the parties conferred together, . and the matter was wiseiy and
judiciously dropped. (Life and Times of 8ir Tkomas Gresl1am, by Walter
Burgon, vol. i., 381.)
II JJom. State Papers, May 1570, vol, lxix., Calendar, p. 378.
1 Ib., vol. lxxiii,, Calendai·, p. 391.
** Ib., 1570, Calendar, pp. 390-1.
o 2
196 THOMAS SMYTHE, OF WESTENHANGER,
Cecil asking for his friendly assistance. The arrangement then
made appears to have given satisfaction to all parties, so much so
that a fresh agreement was drawn up by which the O,rown granted
to Mr. Thomas Smythe* the :farm of the customs, subsidies, ancl
duties of the Ports of London, Chichester, Sandwich, Southampton,
and Ipswich, with the Clerkship of Woodbridge, and provides that,
in consideration of the great increase of her Majesty's customs in
the two last demises, exceptions are to be made of tunnage, prisage,
and butlerage of all wines, and forfeitures, to be held by him for
four years from Michaelmas next (September, 1572), at a rental of
£20,000, one moiety to be paid on the 1st of June and the 10th day
of January following.t Covenants were introduced permitting
Mr. Smythe to detain out of rent all sums due for customs, etc.,
and dispensed with by her Majesty to any person, the same being
proved before the Lord Treasurer ;t a1so that no officer by any
colour of their office shall withhold customs.
All wares (by her Majesty's command) brought from beyond
the seas into any ports, havens, or creeks, within the realm, were
to be delivered to Mr. Smythe or his assigns before unlading.
The document further provides that, if Mr. Smythe shall at any
time fee the officers to conceal the customs, their offices should be
voided, and he himself incur a penalty of £6000, and be further
dealt with at her Majesty's pleasure. In this grant to Mr. Thomas
Smythe wines were excepted.§ It may be interesting in passing to
note that, according to an ancient custom, it was not an unusual
thing for her Majesty,11 by an order in Council, to remit the duties
altogether: accordingly we find that, on the 21st of November
1571, ten bishops were allowed to import :from eight to twelve tuns
each, certain of the nobility from twelve to four tuns each, the
Spanish Ambassador twelve tuns or more i£ needful, State officers
and noble ladies thirty-three kilderkins, each esquire from one to
ten tuns. To this order in Council the following curious note is
added : That any lady with a good reputation for hospitality,
omitted from the list, may have meet allowance, provided the total
quantity does not exceed 1000 tuns yearly. 1
Smythe's capacity for business was not, however, wholly absorbed
in the management of the customs ; he entered largely into mining
speculation in company with Humphry, Shutz, Cole, and Williams.
* Appendix, Dom. State :Papers, 15'72, vol. xxi., OaZenclar, p. 438.
t OaZ. Dom. State Papers, p. 438.
t .A. private arrangement was also made between the Lord Treasurer and
Mr. Smythe to allow of the exportation (D.S.P., vol. xo., OaZendar, p. 454) of
4-000 barrels of beer.
§ The importation being regulated under the .A.ot for the Importation of Sweet
Wines, 1 Eliz. (H. Hall, vol. i., p. 306.)
II Appendix, Dom. State :Papers, vol. xx., CaZenda1·, p. 3'72.
f A table shewing the Customs and Subsidy of Imports and Exports in
the year 15'70 is given by Hubert Hall, vol. ii., pp. 243, 244.
Imports, Foreign • • • • £45,336 18 O
Exports, English 26,665 3 10
Balance in favour of Imports - £18,6'71 14 2
COMMONLY CALLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE, 197
They obtained licence to dig for minerals and ores in England, with
power to impress workmen, waggons and horses.* In 1568 the
works had so far proved successful that Humphry writes and sends
specimens. t
We find Mr. Customer Smythet at one time acting as a banker
to the Commissioners appointed for improving Dover Haven as
regards the tonnage money granted for the repair of the Haven,
and giving a bond in conjunction with Mr. John Bird and Mr.
John Watts, his brother officers, for the payment of £5000 to
the Harbour Commissioners, for which an indenture was drawn up
between the Crown and the Mayor and Jurats of the town of
Dover for the payment of the same ; and Sir Thomas Scott,
on or before the 7th of June 1584, signed a warrant authorizing
Mr. Customer Smythe§ to receive £5000 out of the Exchequer for
the use of Dover Harbour.
His intimacy with Sir Thomas Scott, Treasurer to the Dover
Harbour Commissioners, ultimately ripened into a closer connection,
when Sir Robert Smythe of Leeds Castle,11 the fourth son of
Mr. Customer Smythe, espoused Elizabeth, the daughter of
Sir Thomas Scott of Scott's Hall, Kent; and many subsequent
letters from Mr. Smythe are dated from Scott's Hall.
Smythe at this time became more mixed up in mining matters,
at Bokellyn in Oormvall, and at Treworthye. To William Carnsewe
and Ulric Frose,"i!· who appear to have had the local management of
the mines, he sent money from time to time to prosecute the works.
Carnsewe, although satisfied with the skill of the English miners, is
nevertheless of opinion that German labourers should be tried in
competition with them.** Mr. Smythe writes in return to thank
Carnsewe for his offer for the furtherance of the mineral works,
but the Company had resolved to go on with the lead mines at
Perrin Sands, requesting that Hans Hering should be discharged.
He also remonstrates against the high wages paid to the
Dutch miners, when Cornishmen do as well on less wages, and
intimates at the same time that the great expenses of the undertaking
now fall on him,tt as the partners will not advance any more
money; he furher complains that !he re produced yielded but
two ounces of silver to the cwt., which did not J?ay. Ulric Frose
advised Carnsewe to work the mines deeper, to yield a profit, as in
Germany it is usual to work from thirty to forty fathoms before
they come to the ore. This advice appears to have been followed :
* 1565, Dom. State Papers, vol. xxxvii., 1101 O•t.!TIIO, PRAGUE & C9 LONDON.
GROUND PLANS OF WESTENHANGER HOUSE.
IN A. D. IG48 AND, A, D., 1887.
COMMONLY CALLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE, 201
mati : & other ffyve thowsande pounds to be paide into her matis Exchequor by
ffyve hundred poundes a yere; what farder promes I made upon the yerely
profit of my ffarme I assuer yo• ho. I doe not nowe remember, having nether
kept coppie of my offer, nor com'unicated it wth any man who might helpe my
memory. But to my best remembrance I was to paye her mali 10001. yerelye
vpon my ffarme for ffive yeres & so to make it vpp Twenty thowsand pounde :
Being in this case p'mised by the messinger from her mati that if by strange
alteration of Tymes thinges felle owte contrarily I should by her mati• goodnes
be no loosor. Nowe my good L. to howe gr!)t a portion of my welth this offer
streacheth & wth howe heavie a harte I was induced to it god & my selfe best
knowes. But being so faithfully assured by the messinger not only of my present
quietus est but also of her ma11• £former most good & gracious ffavor The
assurance herof I estemed so inestimable a Treasure as I strained my selfe to
the vttermost to procure it. Wherfor my good L. being now againe moved by
yor ho. to an inlargement of my former offer (wherin I protest vnto yo• ho. I
strained my selfe to the vttermost before) I am in all humilitye by yo• ho. good
menes most humbly to crave pardon of her mat! herin being a t,hing w011 without
the vtter Ruin of my selfe & mine I canne by no menes performe.
Thus most hombly besechinge yor ho. by yo• ho. meanes & mediatio' to her
mat! to free me from yt heavie burden, of her hignes displesure (yt so presseth
me to y0 Erthe, yt I crave of the Erthe to cover bothe my discredit & sorrowe).
I most hombly comit yo• ho. to god & submit my selfe to her mail• com'iseration
4ombly praiinge aswell her hignes as yo• ho. yt this my offer may not be knowne
to many for my credit sake. This xvith of Octo. 1589.
Yo• ho. ever most hombly at com'ande.
THOMAS SMYTHE.
This offer was not accepted. His increasing infirmities and the
weight o:f his Royal Mistress's displeasure combined to shorten a li:fe
already marked with many honourable and worthy actions. He
departed this li:fe on the '7th o:f June 1591, leaving his widow, then
sixty years o:f age, and twelve children, six sons and six daughters,
"o:f whom more anon."
A breviate o:f five pages* (in the Record Office) shews the total
receipts o:f the :four :farms o:f Customs and Subsidy, as shewn by the
books o:f Mr. Thomas Smythe, :for a period o:f eighteen years, from the
thirteenth o:f her Majesty's reign to the thirtieth, giving receipts
ranging :from £20,000 to £42,000 per annum ; also that during the
first twelve years o:f her Majesty's reign when Mr. Smythe was
collector o:f the London subsidy, inwards only, it averaged £11,599
16s. 10d.; whereas :from the twenty-seventh to the thirtieth, when
he was :farmer, it was £30,263 15s. 2M., and that by the last farm
he gained £16,119 5s. 5d. Also that from the nineteenth to the
twenty-first his £arm of the Customs and Subsidies inwards on
London and the ports averaged £25,486 Ss. 6d. ; but that during
the last two years when it was in the Queen's hands, under Mr.
Alderman Billingsley, it was £35,823 16s. 5,£-d., shewing the losses
her Majesty had sustained under the practices o:f Mr. Smythe.
Her Majesty's attention was also directed to the duty on the
export o:ft lead beyond the seas, the tax on which had continued the
same for the last forty years, although many of the European
states at this time obtained their chie:f supply :from England.
* Oalenda,• of Doniestio State Pape1·s, June 1591, 1594, p. 64,
t Calenda1• of Donie8tic State Pape1•s, A,D, 1591, pp. 133, 155, No, 131.
202 T.IIOMA.S SMYTHE, OF WESTllJNHA.NGER,
As regards tin also, it appeared that 15s. 6½d, royalty was
received by the Queen on every 1000 lb. weight raised in Devonshire,
and 40s. in Cornwall, the miners having the right to sell it to whom
they pleased unless required for the use of the state. In this
respect there was a loss of revenue of some £2000, which the
miners and tinners offered to give, but that if not left in the hands
of the patentees there were other merchants who were willing
to give £5000 or £6000 for it. Such facts as these go far to shew
that the mining operations carried out by Mr. Customer Smythe
and his co-partners were not so unprofitable a speculation as the
correspondence between the managers and agents before mentioned
indicated.
Mr. Thomas Smythe, by his wife Dame .A.Hee, the daughter of
Sir Andrew Judde before mentioned, had (besides Andrew, who
died when an infant) six sons and the like number of daughters.
First, John; then Thomas, Henry, Richard, Robert, and Symonthe
latter was killed at the Siege of Cadiz, and he is represented on
the monument as hal'ing a slrnll in his hands. His daughters were
Elizabeth, unmarried at the time of his death; Mary, the wife of
Robert Davy; Joan, the wife of Thomas Fans haw; Katherine, who
was married at the age of sixteen to Sir Rowland Hayward, a clothworker,
Lord Mayor in 1571 ; Alice, the wife of William Harris;
and Ursula, the wife of William Butler. His will,* dated the 22nd
day of May in the 83rd year of the reign of Elizabeth, was proved
in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury by his executors Sir
Rowland Hayward, Knt., John Smythe, Thomas Fanshaw, and
Mr. Thomas .A.ldowsey. It commences with the lengthy preamble
usual at that time, expressing his faith in the merits of his Saviour,
and after providing that his body shall be buried by his executors
in the Parish Church of Ashford, he exhorts them to avoid " vain
pomp as the World by customs in times of darkness were used,"
but rather that the money may be expended on the poor. His next
charge is as to the payment 0£ bis debts, " first such as I owe to my
most gracioust Sovereign the Queen's most excellent Majesty whom
God long preserve be duly satisfied,'' and for the more speedy
arrangement thereof he wills and appoints that the leases of
Maniton and Thorndon Wood in the county of Kent be sold £or
the payment of the same.
'ro his wife Dame Alice he leaves his lease and interest in his
messuage and tenement in London, for the term of her natural life,
together with all his household stuff therein, providing she does not
marry.
To his daughter Elizabeth he leaves the full sum of £1500 £or
her orphan portion, according to the laudable custom 0£ the
City of London; £1400, and the residue 0£ his goods and chattels,
* Somerset House, vide St. Barbe, fol. '78.
t Sir John Smythe, as his executor, received a remission of these on consideration
of resigning a bond of £3000 made to him by ( the late Lord Cobham Domesti:c State Papers, vol. xii., Calendar, p. 197).
MONUMENT OF
THOMAS SMYTHE ESQ':'
Commonly Called the Customer
IN ASHFORD CHURCH, KENT.
COMMONLY CA.LLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE. 203
to his children who were unadvanced, to be equally divided according
to the custom of the said city.
To his daughter Mary Davy, wife of.Robert Davy, he leaves the
sum of £500, and to their children the like sum of £500 to be
equally divided..
To Thomas, Katherine, and. William, the children of his daughter
Joan, wife 0£ Thomas Faushaw, and. ot his late wife Mary, the sum
of £500 to be equally divided..
To the children of his daughter Katherine, wife ot Sir Rowland.
Hayward, Knt., £500 to be divided..
To the children of his daughter .A.lice, wife of William Harris,
the sum of £550 to be divided..
To the children of his daughter Ursula, the wife of William
Butler, the sum of £550 to be divided..
'l'o his son John plate of the value of £100, to Thomas £100,
to Henry Smythe £100, and. to his children, not exceeding three at
the time of his decease, £50 a year, to Richard Smythe £100.
To his brother Horsepoole and. his wife £550, and. to every one
of his brothers and. sisters a ring of gold. of the value of 50 marks
a piece. To his kinsman Henry Smith £20, and. his brother
Richard. £100. To his household. servants at the time of his decease
£50 each. To William Bromley Rowlancl £20. To his loving
friend Thomas Owen, Sergeant-at-Law, £20; also to Christopher
Toldervey, £or his great care of his affairs, £200. To Peter
Laughton £20.
He further directs that his executors shall provide him a suitable
monument n Ashford. Church, and. that a sum of £40 should. be
given to the poor of Ashford., £10 to the poor of Corsham, and. to the
prisons in and. about London the sum of £40. Signed and. sealed.
in the presence of Mr. Christopher Told.ervey. Witnesses, William
Whistler and William Offi.ey.
Mr. Thomas Smythe's monument is on the south-east side of
the south transept in Ashford. Church. The recumbent figures of
the Customer and. Dame .A.lice, his ,vife, are admirably carved. in
alabaster. The head of Smythe has a peaked. beard and. closefitting
cap, and. the features are those of au able and. cultivated.
gentleman; his dress that of a well-to-do merchant, with doublet,
hose, and. furred gown; his hands are raised, holding a book,
which he appears to be reading. The features of his wife strike
one as being rather Flemish in character, on her head. she wears a
coif or cap. Both effigies rest on a raised. monument under an
arch springing from imposts, the soffit of which is richly ornamented.,
flanked with Corinthian columns on short pedestals, supporting an
enriched architrave, swelled frieze and cornice, surmounted with an
open balustrading, pedesfals, and obelisks. In the centre is a
square coffer, carved. and enriched. with the arms of the Smythes,
surmounted. with the helmet and. crest. In bas-relief, on the face
of the monument below, are the effigies 0£ the children-six sons
and six daughters.
The arms of Smythe 0£ Ostenhanger are thus described by
204 THOMA.S SMYTHE, OF WESTENHANGER,
Edmondson, vol. ii. : Azure, a chevron engrailed between three
lions passant-gardant or; Crest, a leopard's head erased argent,
spotted sable, collared and lined or ; granted in 1591.
The following is a translation, made by the Rev . .A.. J. Pearman,
of the inscription on Smythe's monument:*
Sacred to memory. Here, in the certain hope of a blessed resurrection, is
interred the most illustrious man Thomas Smythe, Esq., of W estenhanger, who,
on account of his tried fidelity and obedience towards his Sovereign, was deemed
worthy to be set over the duties of the Customs in the Port of London, which
dues he afterwards purchased of the Sovereign by the payment of an annual rent
of £30,000, and he presided over them with singular liberality towards those of
higher rank, and love towards the trading interests. He expended the means
with which an .Almighty and Merciful Providence had blessed him freely and
willingly, in relieving the poor to the Glory of God, in cherishing the professors
of true religion, m promoting literature, and, for the advantage of the State, in
fitting out ships for long voyages, in discovering new countries, and opening
copper mines. .And now, full of years, when he had completed his sixty-ninth
year, and brought up six sons and also six daughters, by his dearest wife, herself
sixty years of age, daughter and heiress of Sir .Andrew Judde, Knt., Lord of the
Manor of this Town of .Ashforl, who are placed by marriage in families of some
distinction, he departed this life in firm faith in Christ on the '7th of June in
the year of grace 1591.
John Smythe, his eldest son, most sorrowfully erected this monument to the
best of fathers and the most beloved of motherst as a memorial of his duty and
affection, and a record to posterity, the other sons and daughters joining in
his grief.
MEMORI.lE SA.ORUM.
Hie certa spe Beatie resurrectionis oonditur Clarissimus Vir Thomas Smythe
de Westenhanger armiger, qui ob Spectatam in Principem fidem et observantiam
dignissimus habebatur. Qui portorii Vectigalibus in Londini Portubus
prroficeretur, quro postea triginta millium librarum annua pensitatione a Principe
redemit, et singulari in nobiliores liberalitate et amore in mercatores prrostitit.
opes quibus illum Deus Opt, Max. beavit, ad Dei gloriam pauperes sublevando
verro Religionis professores fovendo bonasque literas promovendo, et ad
Reipublicro usum longinquas navigationes instituendo novas terras detegendo et
rorarias fodinas aperiendo libens lubensque erogavit. Jamque annorum plenus
cum sexagesimum nonum annum implevisset-filiosque sex, sex etiam, filias, ex
.Alicia Charissima conjuge sexagenaria, filia et hrorede Andrei Judd Militis Dn1
hujus Villro de .Ashford suscepisset-qui in clariores familias matrimonio collocantur,
ex hac Vita firma in Christo fide demigravit Junii Septimo anno
Salutis 1591.
Johannes Smythe fili us primo
genitus optimo patri matrique charissimro
ceteris filiis, filiabus que collacrimantibus ad offi.ciosoo
Jiietatis et posteritatis
Memoriam Mrostissimus
posuit.
His widow, the daughter of Sir Andrew J udde, Knt., before
mentioned, survived him, living at her late husband's house in
London until her decease in 1593.
* A.shforrl,: its Okurcli, etc. By Rev. A. J. Pearman. Page 15.
t Dame .Alice's will is dated 1592. Mr. Pearman says that she was buried
in .Ashford Church on the 21st of' June 1593.
COMMONLY CALLED CUSTOMER SMYTHE. 205
Her will was proved 11 May 1598 in the Prerogative Court 0£
Canterbury,* and we may fairly conclude from the bequests therein
contained that she was 0£ a generous and large-hearted disposition,
kind and charitable to the poor and needy, a loving mother, and an
affectionate friend.
As the will extends over several folios, we can only glance at a
£ew 0£ the bequests, although all have some matters 0£ interest for
the antiquary. Her wish is expressed to be buried without pomp
by the side 0£ her husband, and she directs that a mourning gown
of black cloth 0£ the value 0£ xxd a yard be given to her sons,
daughters, and relatives, and one cloak 0£ the value 0£ xiid a yard
to her servants.
Out 0£ the first moneys that shall come into the hands 0£ her
executors, they shall purchase lands, of the yearly value 0£ £15
per annum at least, to be conveyed in trust to the Company 0£
Skinners 0£ London and their successors ; ten pounds to be paid in
increasing the pensions 0£ the alms people in Great St. Helen's,
founded by her worthy husband ; thirty shillings £or the relief
0£ the poor women in the Parish 0£ All Saints, Lombard Street,
and twenty-four shillings per annum to poor women of St. Gabriel's,
Fenchurch Street, and the rest bestowed on the Charity Warden
£or the time being.
To the Universities 0£ Oxford and Cambridge £100 each; to
threescore women of All Saints, Lombard Street, St. Andrew
Unders11a£t, and St. Gabriel's, Fenchurch Street, black gowns;
to those of the Town 0£ Barnes and residue of the Parishes of
London at the discretion 0£ her executors.
To her cousins, Constance Glover and Thomas Stubbesfield,
annuities 0£ £5 a year each, and her man and maid servant annuities,
40s. ; to the poor of Ashford, £20 ; the poor of Stamford, £5 ; to
Christ's Hospital, Little Bartholomew's, and Bridewell, £20; to
John Stoddard of Mortlake, and Mr. Roger, £5 ; to her brothers,
Henry and Robert, £3 each.
And further the will goes on to say, "And I give and bequeath
to my son Sir John Smith,tmy:fl.aggon, chain, and my great bo[w]lls
which were my father's, and the furniture of my best chamber,
that is to say the hanging, the tapestries, and the bedstead furnished
with yellow velvet, and the pillows of yellow-like sarcenet, and
yellow little quilt, a feather-bed and bolster, and pillows and blankets,
and two chairs of Arras wrought, one great and the other
lesser, and two high (hoighe) stools 0£ yellow velvet, a table of
wainscote, and two Turkey carpets, one pair of andirons, one pair
of tongues and a shovel."
To her daughter, Alice Smith, £50; her daughters, Katherine
and Margaret, £10 each; to her daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth,
£10 to be paid on their attaining their majority.
To her son Thomas she gives the furniture of her own best
chamber, the hangings 0£ tapestry, and the bedstead, with the teste1•
"" Somerset House, Lewin 1, fol. 42. t Ancestor of the Lords Strn,ngford.
206 THOMAS SMYTHE, OF WESTENHANGER,
and vallance of crimson velvet, the bed, bolster, pillows, and blankets,
and the great coverlid of Arras of the Story of Paris and Helen, her
longest Turkey carpet, whereof there was a finer sort of red worsted
and an ordinary sort; one table-cloth of damask of the Story of
Holofernes, containing five yards in length and three in breadth, and
one long broad towel, and two dozen napkins, and two hand towels
of the same work, and one long needle-work carpet with the
cushions and covered cloth to it.
Her third son Henry receives a table-cloth of damask of the
Story of the Prodigal Child, and 100 oz. of white plate, i.e. silver.
To Richard Smith and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir
Thomas Scott of Scott's Hall, she bequeathed a bedstead and
furniture of green taffany, a feather-bed, bolster, and pillow; a blue
velvet chair, six low stools, a feather-bed and bolster £or serving, a
table-cloth of damask of the Story of the Creation, six yards long,
and two dozen napkins, a long towel, and two hand towels, one
dozen of high stools covered with Moikyndoe, a green velvet chair,
and four of the hangings of the guest chamber. To his son Thomas
Smith £100, and to John £50, to be paid on attaining the age
of 21.
To Robert Smith, the furniture of the bed chamber, which was
hung with carving (carved wainscot), the bedstead and furniture
of ta:ffi.ta, one long and two high stools, two chairs of green velvet,
bed, bolster, and blankets, a coverlid of Arras of tbe Story of David
and Abigail, a table-cloth of damask, six yards long, a double towel,
two dozen napkins, and two hand towels of the same work, of a
great flower, four yards of hangings which were in the guest
chamber beside the porch, and 40 oz. of white plate.
To her son Symon, the furniture of her son John's chamber,
with the bed and tester of green velvet, and curtains of green
silk, a bolster, blankets, a coverlid of Arras of the Story of Susanna,
a table-cloth of damask, five yards long, two dozen napkins, one large
towel, and two hand towels.
To her daughter Joan (Mrs. Fanshaw), her best chain, a tablecloth
of damask of the Story of Susanna, of five yards, a double
towel, a cupboard cloth, two dozen napkins, and £200 in money.
To the two sons of Mrs. Mary Davy, £200 on their attaining
the age of twenty-one, and the like sum to her daughter on her
coming of age or marriage, which should first happen.
To her daughter Ursula (Mrs. Butler), 100 oz. of white plate, a
small yellow satin quilt, £20 to her sons Thomas, Oliver, and
William, and a like sum to Alice and Catherine on attaining the age
of twenty-one.
To her daughter Fanshaw (Joan), the third chair of Arras, a
table-cloth of damask, seven yards long by five wide, of the Story of
Holofernes, a long broad towel, and two dozen napkins, and two
hand towels ; to her son Thomas, £20 ; and to William, £10 ; to
Alice, £20 ; and Katherine, £10.
To her daughter Katherine (wife of Sir Rowland Hayward), her
best chair of crimson velvet, embroidered with silk and gold, and a
09:MMONLY CALLED Cl!S'l'OMER SMY'l'HE. 207
long cushion suitable to it, and her best ring, being a diamond, to
her sons George and John, £10 a year at the age of twenty-one, to
her daughter Alice, £20, and to Katherine, Mary, and .Amiee, £10
on attaining the age of twenty-one or on marriage.
To her daughter Harris (.Alice), her jewel ring and lE* of
diamonds, a table-cloth 0£ long damask of the Story 0£ Samuel,
containing five yards, a double towel, and two dozen napkins, and
two chairs of.crimson enstuffa; to her son Thomas Harris, £14 per
annum, and to her daughter Dora, £10 .
. To her daughter Elizabeth Smith, a long table-cloth of diaper,
containing six yards in length, a long towel, and two dozen napkins,
her carpet of .Arras work, a long cushion of green velvet, and two
end cushions, one pair of fine sheets 0£ three yards breadth, a pillow
pursed and stuffed, a large quilt of crimson taffita, a table-cloth of
damask, five yards in length, a double towel, and one dozen napkins,
of the work of a great flower, and £300 in money.
Then follow bequests of £20 each to her sons-in-law, Sir
Rowland Hayward, Thomas Fanshaw, and William Butler, and
to William Harris, £50; to Robert Davy, £20; Susanna Owen, a
ring value £3; and Dr. Smith of Wood Steet, the picture of
Geoffery. Legacies are also given to Andrew Judd on his attaining
the age of twenty-one, and £20 to Mr. Fisher, together with
memorial rings to her brother Horsepool and her sister> his wife,
value 40s. each, to-. - and .Amiee his wife, value 30s. each; to
her sister Martha, a gold ring, a standing cup, and 40 oz. of plate ;
to her children, rings value 30s. each; to her cousin John Mello1•,
a ring of 30s.; John Gaythorne and his wife,· rings of the value
of £3 ; to Alice Brome and wife 0£ Harry Smith, a ring value 40s. ;
to John Gaywood, Anne Oooke, Bridget Bird, and Mr. Rogers, rings
value 40s.
To the men-servants residing with her at the time of her decease,
Thomas Wray, the bedstead in his chamber and £3, and the like to
William Payne; John Woodhouse,40s.; Richard Smith, £5; John
Meeson, £3 ; David Jacob, 40s., and Ohristopher Moore, £3.
To her maid-servants, Bridget, £4 ; Grace, 40s. ; Susan, £3 ;
Sarah, £3 ; Mother Self, £3 : to be paid in full by her executors.
After mentioning the names of her executors, she prays them to
be careful in the performance of her will, according to the meaning
0£ every and all the above named; and "I pray them to be satisfied
with my good will towards the said several legatees, considering
that at this time I could not do better £or them. In witness
whereof, I, the said Alice Smith, have -set my hand and seal in the
presence of Thomas Peake ;" and then following, as if omitted,
" Item I give the remainder of my goods and chattels to the discharge
of my just debts and funeral charges ; and I do beg that
the said remainder may be divided into six equal parts, five whereof
shall be paid to my sons; John, Thomas, Richard, Robert, and
Symon, and the sixth part be given to my executors. Signed in
the presence of' the aforesaid Thomas Peake."
* A monogram for Alice.
208 THOMAS SMYTHE, OF WESTENHANGER.
There is a codicil, dated May 20, 1593, when the following
bequests were added : to John Smith £100, his wife £40; to
Thomas 200 oz. 0£ plate, and £200 to his wife; to Henry £100, and
£40 to his wife; to Richard 200 oz. 0£ plate, and £100 to his wife ;
to Robert 60 oz. 0£ plate; to Cousin John, £10; Cousin Henry
Smith, £10, and his brother Richard, £10; to Ambrose Davis, a
piece 0£ plate; to William Mosey, £5; to Mrs. Clarke, £5; to Mr.
Greenham, £5; and other poor preachers, £10 a year: the residue
in equal proportions to her sons.
Witnesses, Robert Smith and Elizabeth Fisher.
