Kent, Ashford

1522-1591 Sir Thomas "Customer" Smythe and wife Alice flic.kr/p/34gxTz of Andrew Judde / Judd 1558 and Mary Mirfyn 1542 www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/4259137846/ -

Children

1. Andrew Smythe (died young) lies at his parents feet

2. Katherine Smythe www.flickr.com/photos/52219527@N00/1160273484/ = Sir Rowland Hayward, Lord Mayor of London = (2) Sir John son of Sir Thomas Scott & Elizabeth Baker of Sissinghurst) = (3) Sir Richard Sandys

3. Mary Smythe = Robert Davis (Davy) of London, Receiver for Wales

4. Ursula Smythe = Simon Harding of London = (2) William Boteler (Butler) - of Bedford

5. Joan (aka Johanna) Smythe = Sir Thomas Fanshawe (d 1601) Esquire of Ware Park.

6. Elizabeth Smythe = Sir Henry son of Thomas Fanshaw who married wife's sister.

7. Symon Smythe (d. 1596), killed at Cadiz, Spain

8 . Robert Smythe of Highgate = Ann daughter of William Lynford

9 . Henry Smythe of Corsham (Died before 1591) = Elizabeth daughter of Thomas Owen, JP

10. Sir John Smythe (eldest son) of Ostenhanger m 1576 Elizabeth flic.kr/p/47gG2Y(m 1576) daughter of Sir John Fineaux, Chief Justice of the King's Bench

11. Sir Richard Smythe of Leeds Castle flic.kr/p/47cuPk m1 Elizabeth daughter of Sir Thomas Scott, widow of John Knatchbull m2 Jane daughter of John White of London, widow of Samuel Thornhill

12. Sir Thomas Smythe of Sutton Governor of East India Company, Treasurer of Virginia Company, 1558-1625 flic.kr/p/7GhMdr m1 Judith daughter of Richard Culverwell m2 Jone daughter of William Hobbs m3 Sarah daughter of William Blount

13. Alyce Smythe = Sir William Harris of Crixes, Woodham, Essex.

Customer Smythe was a younger son of John Smythe 1538 of Corsham, a yeoman and clothier, by Joan daughter of Robert William Brounker 1537 of Melksham and Ursula Gouldinge . from whom he inherited a farm in the Hundred of Amesbury, Wilts, worth £20 pa Aged c 16 years at the time of his father's death, he came up to London with the intention of seeking his fortune. and took up his freedom in his father's guild, the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers, and subsequently in the Worshipful Company of Skinners, which may account for his intimate connection with Sir Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London in 1550, whose daughter Alice he married c1554.

In the reign of Mary Tudor he bought the Office of the Customs from a Mr. Cocker, for £2500, one of the most lucrative franchises in the country, becoming chief collector of customs duties, which involved paying an agreed annual sum to the royal exchequer and then collecting what he could making a fortune Some of this money was used to back the piratical expeditions of Drake and later Raleigh his son Thomas' friend. .. The increasing wealth of the Customer only tends to show that his gains were large; and Queen Elizabeth, ever on the watch to replenish her exchequer, did not fail to require larger and larger fines for a renewal of the leases; with these demands he at length found himself unable to comply, and in consequence he fell under her severe displeasure. His October 1589 counteroffer of a more modest payment was rejected. His increasing infirmities and the weight of his Royal Mistress's displeasure combined to shorten his life. He died 7 June 1591 his son Thomas taking over his position as collector of customs.

In his Will he founded a charitiy which still provides pensions for elderly people in the Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells area (wikpedia) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Smythe_(customer)

 

 

 

Done