Sir John Povey - Chief Justice - associated with the family "SMYTH/E" (of Ireland)

The Barbavilla (Ireland) line, like several other Irish Smyth lines, is descended from Thomas Smyth (b.1520) who married Jane Layton.

A few generations later, William Smyth, after the death of his wife, Ann Hewley, left Yorkshire (circa 1633) to settle in Ireland with the majority of his children. He became known as "The First Settler" (at Lisburn, Co. Antrim) - having first lived at Dundrum, in Co. Down. A son, Ralph Smyth (d. 1689) married, in 1643, Alice (Elizabeth?) Hawksworth - the daughter of Sir Richard Hawksworth of Hawksworth Hall, Yorkshire. The eldest child and son of Ralph Smyth and Alice (Elizabeth) Hawksworth was William Smyth - The Rt. Reverend (Bishop of Kilmore & Ardagh 1682) - of the Manor and Castle of Ranaghan - who became Bishop of Killala in 1680, trans. Raphoe 1693. He married (1672) Mary (Elizabeth) Povey (d. 1730) the daughter of Chief Justice, Sir John Povey.

Gratitude is expressed to John P. DuLong, of Michigan, for his information and for sharing his source notes in preparation for this page. The portraits are computer generated from faded copies of original portraits which are believed to have hung at Barbavilla until the 1950s. The original low quality copies appeared between pp 92-93 in the Irish Ancestor 11 (1979). Any family member or reader with knowledge of the present location of these - or any other family portraits from the Barbavilla Estate - is encouraged to contact this site; all such information will be treated in the strictest confidence.

Sir John Povey was born in about 1621, the eldest son of John Povey who lived near Market Drayton in Shropshire. After his education (Oxford) he entered Gray's Inn (1638) and was called to the bar in 1645. He married Elizabeth Folliott, eldest daughter of Guthlake Folliott of Worcester, in 1648. (Information extracted from an artilcle in Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society - 2nd ser. vol. 7 pp. 97-99. Author unknown).

He is reputed to have been of the same family as Thomas Povey, the government official in London who was frequently mentioned in the diaries of Pepys and Evelyn. The father of this Thomas Povey was Justinian Povey, who was married twice - secondly to Anne Keterick and Thomas was a son of this second marriage. He entered Gray's Inn some five years before his kinsman, the later celebrated, Sir John. When Thomas Povey died in the early months of 1705, "... admininstration of his estate was granted to his nephew, William Blathwayt ...." (quotation from DNB: ab Barbara Murison, OUP 2004-5). A William Blathwayt (Blathwaite) is recorded as being the second husband of Ann Povey (LDS IGI) (AFN: 1008-HNT) a daughter of a Justinian Povey. Ann Povey is said to have been born in about 1623 and being of St. Martin in the Fields, Middlesex, England. Her first husband is listed as Thomas Vivian, with the marriage taking place in about 1661, just after the Restoration. Interestingly enough, a daughter of this first marriage, Mary Vivian, is noted to have married back into the Povey family - one John Povey, on 12th November 1693.

(Sir) John Povey went to Ireland as counsel for Sir John Barrington (of Barrington Hall in Essex) a kinsman of Cromwell. Once there, he achieved notable success and brought his family over from England. He was Member for Swords in the Restoration Parliament and was elevated to the bench on 26th October, 1663, as third Baron of the Exchequer.

It is said that Ormond "entertained a high opinion of his abilities" and this would have been the same Ormond associated with The Edward Smythe debate - Lords Chief Justice (of the Common Pleas) of Ireland.

The same source (F. Erlington Ball, The Judges of Ireland, 1221-1921, 2 vols. (London: John Murray, 1926), vol. 1, pp.350-351) also states that Povey was appointed Chief Justice of the Common Pleas on the recommendation of the Earl of Essex - Arthur Capell, 1st Earl (1631 - July 13, 1683) - surname often spelled Capel - a name (and family) also associated with Smyth (of Gaybrook) in later generations.

John Povey was knighted (at the suggestion of Viscount Conway) by the Earl of Essex (1673) - so states F. Erlington Ball - having been sworn a member of the Privy Council and, when he died, left three sons; John, who had stayed behind when his parents moved to Ireland and was educated in England (and who married Mary Vivian?) Charles and Richard. He left one daughter, Elizabeth - which name is at variance with Mary as seen in some official sources. However, Elizabeth has been seen in two reliable source locations also and must therefore be seriously considered as correct - especially as her mother's name was Elizabeth. Elizabeth Folliott died in 1677 and, soon after, Sir John Povey's own health deteriorated. In hope of respite or a cure, he travelled on the continent but died at Bordeaux in February 1679. His grave is in St. Michan's Church, Dublin - under his own seat in the chancel.

Sir John Povey: Portrait courtesy of Judge Robert Smyth

Robert Smyth also writes ... "You know about the Robert Smyth who married (?) a sixteen year-old in the period 1850/60 and was sent off to Australia as a remittance-man?"