Ancestor Index

In search of The Smith ancestry of Henry Walton Smith - founder of W.H.Smith

Under the banner of the National Register of Archives (UK) and amongst the indexed papers pertaining to the Historical Manuscripts Commission, is listed GB/NNAF/F4277 Smith family, Viscounts Hambleden.

One record is noted and it is stated to be in the possession of WH Smith Archives Ltd. "1498-1952: Bucks (Hambledon, etc), Berks (Culham, etc), Devon (Moretonhampstead etc), Herts (Oxhey, etc), Middlesex (London) and Suffolk (Hundon, etc) deeds and estate 1498-1952, legal 1888-1923, business 1830-1890 and family papers 1839-1951" Reference HA NRA 4812.

The list of Seats and/or Estates attaching to this family is recorded thus:

It would seem appropriate that the deeds and estate papers should be consulted since they might well show lineage information pertinent to the specific Smith family leading to Henry Walton Smith. However - in the absence of such consultation - which is currently outside the scope of this particular article, the following is offered as a springboard to further research should others wish to undertake it.

This detail from a portrait by Joshua Reynolds of the actor, David Garrick (between Comedy and Tragedy) may seem a strange starting point for this journey. However, David Garrick and the portrait painter, Sir Joshua Reynolds, between them, seem to be important in helping to establish the identity of Henry Walton Smith's forebears.

David Garrick was a Lichfield man - on good terms with local gentry - amongst whom would have been the Smyths of Cheshire (qv via Ancestor Index).

It was Garrick who inaugurated the first festival at Stratford to celebrate the genius and craft of William Shakespeare; before this time, the latter was celebrated but never popularised in this way. There were Smith connections in this county (Warwickshire) too and it seems highly probable that the Smyths of Cheshire and neighbouring counties - not to mention those who lived and worked in London - would have been more than aware of any cousins they may have had in Ireland - and vice versa - as is suggested by the following from other research pages on this site.

Garrick was a particular favourite of Mary Smyth, daughter of William Grattan, a wealthy Dublin goldsmith. Mary Grattan married William Smyth - nephew of Arthur Smyth the Archbishop of Dublin (b.1707 d.1772). Mary Smyth travelled from Dublin to London for Garrick's last appearances on stage and events so conspired during her stay there that she precipitated one of the biggest public religious rifts between members of the "establishment" Smyth family of the day.

Mary Smyth's brother-in-law, the Reverend Edward Smyth, became the centre of this controversy. It created something of a sensation when he was expelled from his living as a Church of Ireland minister for his espousal of the Methodist cause and his subsequent support of the non-conformist, Wesley, with whom he also worked for a time in London.

Eventually, and after a stormy (and yet fruitful) life, Edward Smyth died at Chorlton Hall, (Salford) Manchester, on February 6th, 1825. He, in turn, would have been more than familiar with his "local" Smith/Smyth cousins. Smyth/es of Cheshire included connections through marriage to the Blagg (Blague) family and a host of possible previous connections going back to the 17th century administrations and establishment of King James I - and to a Sir William Smyth, Blague's colleague of those days, with whom he certainly associated - between 1614-1615.

In 1644 Chorlton Hall and the adjoining estate was sold to an apothecary of Manchester for £300. Around 1790 it was sold for £60,000. Chorlton Hall was the home of Robert Owen. (1771-1858), proprietor of the Manchester based Chorlton Twist Company. Robert Owen was born in Newtown, Montgomeryshire, Wales - son of a saddler and ironmonger. He has been called the "Father of British Socialism", though his early life was occupied with being a successful emerging industrialist. Family, Smythe-Owen connected?

During the Civil War, the Blague family - through Thomas Blague - continued in royal service being groom of the bed-chamber to Charles I; a post he also held after the Restoration under Charles II. He was a colonel of a regiment of foot, and Governor of Wallingford during the Civil War, and Governor of Yarmouth and Landguard Fort, after the Restoration.

The following story is told of Blague - "Worcester fight was on September 3, 1651; the king was defeated, and fled, escaping, thanks to a stand made by Wogan, and to the loyalty of Mistress Jane Lane, and of many other faithful adherents. A jewel of [King] Charles's, the lesser George, was preserved by Colonel Blague, who intrusted it to Mr. Barlow of Blore Pipe House, in Staffordshire. Mr. Barlow gave it to Mr. Milward, a Royalist prisoner in Stafford, and he, in turn, intrusted it to Walton, who managed to convey it to Colonel Blague in the Tower. The colonel escaped, and the George was given back to the king. Ashmole, [as in the Ashmolean] who tells the story, mentions Walton as 'well beloved of all good men.' This incident is, perhaps, the only known adventure in the long life of old Izaak."

Izaac Walton was a man of Stafford. It is possible, therefore, that Walton, in the "Henry Walton Smith" name, is a homage to Izaac (or a Walton/Smith kinship) and that Henry Walton Smith is associated somehow with the line of Smith/Smyth/e of Cheshire - and possibly those of neighbouring Shropshire or Staffordshire. The Irish connection to the Cheshire line - with ancestors who arrived in Ireland from Rosedale Abbey in Yorkshire in about 1630 - is further underscored by the fact that a son of the Irish born John Smyth (d.1746) who married a Miss Scott - was James Smith. James Smith married Ruth Hill on 18th April 1729 at Clogran in Dublin, Ireland, and their son, Thomas Smyth/e became a Lord Mayor of Liverpool. It was his son, William Smyth (1765–1849) who was Reguis Professor of History at Cambridge University 1807–1849 and private tutor to the young Sheridan, between 1793 and 1806. (qv below).

Sir Joshua Reynolds

(from a variety of sources extracted from biographical accounts and edited in this page)

Joshua Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devonshire, on July 16, 1723. He attended the Plympton Grammar School of which his father, the Reverend Samuel Reynolds, was master. His mother was Theophilia Potter (Theophilia is an unusual name and has Smith/Smyth/e connections with a James Smyth of London and Ormond family.) Joshua was the couple's seventh child. Plympton is adjacent to Plymouth, a traditional naval city, and the city of the earlier 1620 'Mayflower' voyage. Nearby is Dartmouth, later home of the Royal Navy's training establishment.

The eighteenth century was a time of 'grand wars' and 'desperate wars'. Successful or otherwise, these actions saw the rise of a new and increasingly affluent officer class. Spanish Succession, Colonial War - in particular with America and in Canada and, perhaps most pertinently, the Seven Years War, contributed to the rise in status - and income - of these navy men.

Joshua Reynold's father had intended that his seventh son should become an apothecary but was persuaded to allow him to train as an artist. Thus, in 1740, Joshua Reynolds was apprenticed for four years to Thomas Hudson - a conventional portrait artist, pupil and son-in-law of Jonathan Richardson - in London. However, he cancelled his indentures in the summer of 1743 and returned to Devon where he began painting naval portraits. One such portrait was of Captain, the Honourable John Hamilton (1746) and, another, of Commander John Roberts (1747). In 1749, Reynolds was introduced to Commodore Augustus Keppel through Lord Mount St Edgecumbe (son, George Edgecumbe). Lord Edgecumbe became his patron. Another of his patrons was Wilbraham Tollemache (of Ham House, Richmond) who became the 6th Earl of Dysart in 1799. The Earls of Dysart include the family of Manners, descended from the Dukes of Rutland. Corbetta Smyth, a daughter of William Smith/Smyth, an apothecary of Shrewsbury, was the mother of ten children to Lord William Manners, 2nd son of the 2nd Duke of Rutland. Her descendants are shown (qv) in the maternal line of this site. The Tollemache family (of Helmingham) go to the Cromwells and the Cromwells, in turn, descend from a medieval Smythe daughter, who married a Cromwell. (qv Smythes of Essex on this site).

The Hanbury-Tracy family (the Lords Sudeley, ancestors in the maternal line of this site through Eva Isabella Henrietta Hanbury-Tracy by marriage to Anstruther) were connected with both the Smith and the Keppel families. Rhona Margaret Ada Hanbury-Tracy (1879-1926) m. Colonel Bertram Abel Smith D.S.O., M.C., whose Smith line traces back to Robert Smith, 1st Lord Carrington, and thence back (at least) to Hugh Smith of Cressing Temple in Essex in the late 15th Century. There are direct connections later in this lineage to the Dyke family. (to be explored). See also "William Smithdike" via the Smyth/e Index and also a "Carrington" link in the same index which traces the line back through the Medieval era to the time of Richard 1st and the Crusades. It is perhaps to this Smith line that "Smithdike" belongs ... and he was the progenitor of the eventual ancestor of the majority of the lines of Smyth in Ireland - from which line is purported to spring the paternal "Smythe" line of this site. The family of Walton forms part of this lineage and may be connected to this Viscounts Hambleden (W.H. Smith) line.

Henry Walton Smith's father is also believed to have been an officer in the Royal Navy and Joshua Reynolds clearly came to know many such officers well - well enough to benefit from the occasional favour. In 1749, by which time Henry Walton Smith would have been about eleven years old, Reynolds sailed to Minorca, one of the Balearic Islands off the Mediterranean coast of Spain, as the guest of Keppel (then of the Centurion) and they became firm and life-long friends. Reynolds had intended to make his way to Rome but whilst riding one day on Minorca, he took a fall from his horse and had to remain on the island for another five months. He eventually reached Italy and stayed for two years, both in Rome and in touring the country to study the great masterpieces of ancient Greco-Roman sculpture and of Italian painting.

Three years later, he returned to London where he gained commissions and was soon attracting a deal of attention through his portraits of a number of prominent people - including his 1753/4 portrait of Keppel himself, now striding along a beach - an approach in portraiture which was not new but which was something quite novel in England. He also painted Lord Cathcart (1753/54) and Lord Ludlow (1755). Such was the growing volume of his commissions that he found it necessary to take on assistants at his studios; they painted the backgrounds to his portraits! His "domestic" commissions included portraits of Nelly O'Brien (1760/62) and of Georgiana, Countess Spencer, and Her Daughter (1761).

Reynolds was, essentially, the first English painter to achieve social recognition for his artistic accomplishments. Not only was he an artist - he was also a collector and writer. As a young man, he had become well read in the writings of classical antiquity and throughout his life was deeply interested in literature too, being able to count many of the finest British authors of the 18th century amongst his closest friends. In 1764, he founded the Literary Club, which included essayist and critic Samuel Johnson, actor David Garrick, statesman Edmund Burke, writer Oliver Goldsmith, writer James Boswell and dramatist Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The son of the latter, as seen above, was tutored by Professor William Smythe of Cambridge.

Amongst the notables that he painted were not only David Garrick - as mentioned at the head of this article - but also Warren Hastings, Sir Joseph Banks and Josiah Wedgwood. Wedgwood china is specifically mentioned in 1919 by H..J..Drew-Smythe R.A.M.C. in a series of letters to his wife. The reference comes, it seems, in such a way as to suggest that Wedgwood, rather than the intrinsic qualities of the china, had a specific meaning in his life. At the time, he was in Bavaria - just after the Armistice. He was serving as part of the International Commission for the repatriation of Prisoners of War. (See "Dearest Blue Eyes" via Archives Index on this site.)

"On Sunday we did nothing special but went to the American Church to Service in the morning and took Communion there. In the afternoon we slept (methinks) and at 5o'clock we went to call on the Baroness Gleichen who had asked Dr. Schueeli if he would ask me to have tea with her. He also came soon after we had arrived. Her husband, Baron Gleichen, is a writer of socialistic ideas but moderate in his views and he has spoken out all through the war against Germany's doings and even starting the war. She is the great-niece of Schiller, the great German poet and she has all sorts of his pictures, works and furniture and a very fine painting of him. She has also some other old paintings and etchings, one by Goethe and a lot of real Wedgwood china. She spoke English very well and was altogether very interesting and the things in her house were even more so. She asked if she might present the Colonel and I with one of her husband's books each and we accepted and she is to send them to our hotel ..."

When the Royal Academy of Arts was instituted in 1768, Reynolds was elected as the first President and, in the following year, he was knighted. Eventually, in 1784, he was appointed as principal royal portrait painter to King George III, succeeding Allan Ramsay. In that same year, he exhibited one of the portraits for which he has come to be best appreciated - that of the actress, Sarah Siddons, as the Tragic Muse. Some five years after his appointment as the King's painter, his eyesight began to fail (he was already quite deaf) and he was forced to give up painting altogether. He never married, and his house in Leicester Fields.was kept for him by his sister Frances. He died in 1792 - in the same year as Henry Walton Smith - whom he must have known quite well - not only because he probably knew his navy officer father but also because of the connections outlined below.

It is stated that Henry Walton Smith arrived in London at some point towards the latter part of the 18th century 'and became an assistant to Charles Rogers '. Charles Rogers was principally an art collector who worked under William Townson (spelling also seen as Tonson/Tounson) of the Custom House, London, being befriended and greatly influenced by him and, in return, helping him to add to the collection - much of which he eventually inherited from Townson anyway. (Woodes Rogers and his family were painted by Joshua Reynolds before Rogers became Governor of the Bahamas for the second and last time.) When Charles Rogers himself died, in 1784, his nephew, William Cotton (the first of three by that name) inherited this vast collection of artistic and literary works. Much of it was gradually sold off but what remains of it - still extensive - survives today, at Plymouth's 'Cottonian'.

The Cottonian Collection

"The earliest part of the collection, the core of the library, was formed by Robert Townson (1640-1707) who bequeathed it to his son William. He added some prints and drawings, as well as more books, before leaving it to his friend and protégé Charles Rogers (1711-1784). Rogers built on this modest assemblage over the main decades of the 18th century, between the 1730s and 80s. During these years his wealth, social contacts and interest in the Pursuit allowed him to amass a quite remarkable collection reflecting his interests, taste and patronage."

Rogers was something of a self-taught man; Henry Walton Smith, as his assistant, would have been - if Smith/Smyth traits run true - the organiser! It also suggests that Henry's family moved in the kind of circles enjoyed by Rogers and - before him, Townson; they were of a similar 'mindset' in the pursuit of collecting and much interested in antiquities.

The significance of the date, 1784, and the death of Charles Rogers suggest two things in relation to Henry Walton Smith:

• He may have come into an amount of money as a result of his association with Charles Rogers.
• He would have been forced to seek an alternative means of support and employment.

It may be possible, therefore, that he set himself up in business with some money he gained from Charles Rogers (if not, he took a calculated risk - but, no doubt, had a comfortable amount of his own, given his age by this time) and he got married at one and the same time - thus dismissing any expectation of a family inheritance.

Charles Rogers had been a great friend of the artist, Joshua Reynolds - of Plympton in Devon and/or in London - and a branch of the Cottons were also of Cornwall and Devon; there is a Cotton Close to be found there. More significantly, the Cotton family was kin to Smiths/Smyth family which is possibly how Henry Walton Smith came to be working in London with Charles Rogers - who must also have been kin to this Smith family given that William (i) Cotton was a nephew to Charles Rogers.

A line of Rogers/Rodgers Smyth/Smith kinship is demonstrated through the marriage of a Smyth daughter of Ashton Court who married Sir Francis Rodgers, She was Helen Smyth, the child of Hugh Smyth and Dame Elizabeth Gorges - who later married Sir Fernando Gorges, her cousin, after the death of her first husband in 1627.

It has been said that the village of Wrington in Somerset was especially important in the family history of Henry Walton Smith.

The Smyths of Ashton Court, Bristol

• Wrington and its estates lie a relatively short journey south west from the Smyth estates of Ashton Court in Long Ashton, 'on the outskirts' of Bristol - the nearest town to Wrington being Congresbury.

• The Manor of Wrington was bought from Henry VIII - for whom one William Smithdike - the Smyth ancestor of many Yorkshire and Ireland Smyths was an "assistant" and who obtained the lease of Rosedale Abbey in Yorkshire at about the same time - by Sir Henry Capel, whose descendant, Arthur Capel, became the post-Elizabethan 1st Earl of Essex. The Capels, Cromwells, Hanburys, Smiths, and Tracys may all be found interlinked by marriage through the centuries.

There is a 19th century Smyth/Capel connection in the Irish line where Ralph Smyth of Gaybrook, the eldest son (1800-1827) of Ralph Smyth and Hannah Maria Staples, married (1821) Georgiana Capel, daughter of the Hon. John Thomas Capel, 2nd son of William Anne, 4th Earl of Essex. The arrow link will demonstrate the source - together with a biographical note or two. Use browser page search for "Staples". William, the 3rd Earl of Essex, was a Fellow of the Royal Society (admitted 17/11/1737). He died in 1743.

• In 1726 the Manor of Wrington was sold to William Pulteney who, in 1742, became the Earl of Bath. (qv Pulteney Bridge, Bath) In 1764 he left the reversion of the Manor to Henry Barnard, descended from the 15th century family of Vane, which, in the form of Vane-Tempest, links to Smyth genealogy (of Eshe Hall, Durham) through the family Tempest, also of Durham.

• According to the Manorial Court Papers, of Wrington Manor, 1733-1757, the Courts Leet and Baron "are recorded in 1738, 1747, 1750 and 1757 as being held at the Golden Lion, Wrington, by Jarrit Smith, Steward for the Earl of Bath. This venue was presumably because the Manor House was being let, and some time between 1738 and 1754 was demolished." This extract also expands the significance. "At some time between 1738 and 1754, therefore, the old Manor House (or Court House, as it was often termed) must have been demolished; and all knowledge of it almost completely disappeared. A few remains of outer walls and moat can still be seen - but it is not until comparison is made with the sources used here that a reconstruction of its plan has been possible. The 17th century house, itself much altered, at the foot of High Street, which is now called the Old Manor House, was in fact the office of the "estate manager" of the manor during this later period of its existence."

Perhaps there were Smiths involved in the estate management of the Manor at Wrington - or Smith tenants who had to move (to Walton?) when the old Manor was demolished, say, in 1738.

Jarrit Smith (1692-1783) came from the family of Smith which held extensive land and property in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire, dating back to the mid-seventeenth century. He ended his days as a Smyth/Smith of Ashton Court - rescuing the dynasty - and it is likely that he was descended from a cousin branch of that same family. His father is noted as being John Smith. The Smyth dynasty of Ashton Court came to an end on more than one occasion. In this first instance, it was saved when Jarrit Smith married Florence Smyth (daughter of Sir John Smyth and Elizabeth Astrey). Jarrit Smith became a baronet in 1743.

Jarrit Smith was a man of the law and practised at College Green in Bristol. Besides his work as an Estate Steward and as a lawyer, he was also an MP for Bristol. Suspected by Wesley (and others) of being a Jacobite, he is also known to have had shares in some four privateers - which were, effectively, licensed pirate ships! His house is now occupied by the Royal Hotel.

The Smyths of Ashton Court had seats or estates as follows: (information courtesy of PRO) Ashton Court, Somerset - Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire - Stapleton, Gloucestershire - Foxcote, Somerset - Long Ashton, Somerset - Nailsea, Somerset - Wraxall, Somerset - Evesham, Worcestershire and at St Andrew in Jamaica. There are many research avenues available on this family. Bristol related documents -courtesy of Rootsweb BIFHS-USA Guide (to) British Isles Research - at the Bristol Archives are extensive and also contain genealogical papers. See also Smyth family of Ashton Court - this site and JS NRA 8674 Smith - Historical Manuscripts Commission files.

In general, the Smiths and Smyth/es were (and are) known to be competent administrators and one - a writer/librarian to the Cottons - receives a mention here - though not praised for his sense of humour ...

"In the fourteenth century a cadet of the ancient Cheshire family of Cotton acquired through marriage the Staffordshire Manor of Hamstall Ridware. Then, in the reign of Henry VI, William, a younger son of the Staffordshire Cottons, married a Leicestershire lady called Mary de Folville. Their son, Thomas, was the first Cotton of Huntingdon, for he inherited the manor of Conington in that county from his mother's maternal grandfather, Robert de Wesenham. (Robert de Wesenham left the property to his great-grandson Thomas Cotton in a will made in 1460.) Robert Cotton, the famous antiquary and the hero of this book, was fourth in descent from Thomas and became in due time, "lord of  Conington". But it was not there that, on January 22nd, 1571, he first saw the light of day. His birthplace was a hamlet three miles away called Denton, and thereby hangs a tale. The Life of Cotton by his grandson's librarian, the Non-juror Dr. Thomas Smith, is not only written in Latin, which removes if several degrees from reality, but, as well, it is without one single spark of humour. It is not entirely lacking, however, in touches of nature, and here is one of them: ..." Royal Blood, A Fly in Amber, Hope Mirrlees, p. 15. - Source

 

Non-juror = "One of those adherents of James II. who refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, or to their successors, after the revolution of 1688; a Jacobite." (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1913 - courtesy of Robert Maxtone Graham). An in-depth article by H.K.P. Skipton about the Non-jurors is available via the text link above.

See also on this site - 'Medieval Smyth/e'

The Cotton/Smyth connection may be seen in earlier generations too - where the Cottons became related to the Laytons in Yorkshire from which family of Layton, a daughter, Jane Layton , married into the Smyth family of Rosedale Abbey in Yorkshire - descendants of whom settled in the north of Ireland in about 1630. This too is significant:

John LAYTON
| | | | | | | | | | | Merchant tailor of London
| | | | | | | | | | | d. 14 Jul 12 Chas. I (c1636), Kirkby Hill
| | | | | | | | | | | m. 8 Jas I (c1610)
| | | | | | | | | | | Sarra COTTON dau. of Sir Alan COTTON, Knt., Lord Mayor of London

Additionally, Ann Layton b.1629 d.1713, married William Smith of Easby b 1614 c. and d.1691.

This more modern era Smith/Cotton and Dyke Acland link should also be noted:

Walton and Smith, as middle names, appear in the lines of Cotton kin in America in the modern era where Cottons and Smiths are still intermarrying! It is, of course, well documented that the Smith/e - Smyth/e families from several areas in England were deeply involved in the early settlements of the American colonies. Indeed, William Cotton published for himself, in 1873 'AN ELIZABETHAN GUILD OF THE CITY OF EXETER. An Account of the Proceedings of the Society of Merchant Venturers, During the Latter Half of the 16th Century' which was recently found for sale on the Internet.

Equally, the families of Coomb - in its variant spellings- were involved in the Merchant Venturer cartels of that era. Together with a series of questions relating to Smith/Smyth/e families of England, in that family's extensive Internet research files, may be found the following:

1 Edward COMB of Tisburie co. Som.
….+ Allice sister of Barnaby LEWIS arm.
….2 William COMB of Norton Ferrers co. Som. living 1623
….….+ Isabel d. of Tho. SMITH of Bishopston Wilts.
….….3 Michell aet. 20 [4]
….….3 Thomas aet. 14
….….3 Edward COMB s. and h. aet 19, 1623
….….3 Isabel [3]
….….…+ Edw. HAYWARD of Crowston in Bishopston.
….….3 Margaret [1]
….……+ Will. HELME Rector of Bishopston and Bachelor in Theology.
….….3 Jane [2]
….….…+ Tho. COX of Tisburie.

Perhaps most tellingly, from the Sparks family Internet genealogy, comes this reference which points to the family of Fowke which also relates to the Dyke Acland lineage to be considered in pages following (in progress).

"Refs: A: "THREE RECTORS OF HUNGAR'S PARISH AND THEIR WIVES," byMrs. P. W. Hiden, also ADDENDA in the GENEALOGIES OF VIRGINIA FAMILIESFROM THE WILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE QUARTERLY, 5 vols. GenealogicalPublishing Co., Baltimore, 1982, Vol II, pp. 763-770, 771-773:

1. ANDREW COTTON of Bunbury, Cheshire, m. Joane (N), and was thefather of (A): Rev. William.
2. Rev. WILLIAM COTTON, son of Andrew and Joane, d. 1642 in Accomac County, VA., having m. Anne, dau. of Capt. Thomas and Katherine Graves.Their dau. was (A) Verlinda.
3. VERLINDA COTTON, dau. of Rev. William and Ann (Graves), m. Thomas Burdett and was the mother of (A): PARTHENIA, d. unm.;
(B): ELIZABETH, m. 1st. John Hamilton, and 2nd. Richard Chandler;
(C): SARAH, m. Col. Gerard Fowke;
(D): FRANCES."

The county of Suffolk (also the home county of Anna Eastaugh, Henry Walton Smith's wife) has a particular tie with the Smith/Smyth family and it may eventually be Suffolk that helps "turn the key" to the origins of Henry Walton Smith.

"In Ireland, many Smyth/Smith families of English origin are found, especially in the area around Dublin. These included Smith of Maine, County Louth and Smith of Annsbrook, County Meath (a branch of Maine). In 1646 William Smith started his fifth term as Lord Mayor of Dublin. He was a Colonel in a regiment of foot that protected the city and was of a Yorkshire family that later settled in Suffolk." - source

NB - the silver service of David Garrick turned up recently in Carmarthen (Wales) - brought in for appraisal by "The Antiques Roadshow" (BBC Television).

Site Note - Cooper surname and Smith/Smyth/e marriages ...

James Francis Smythe (né Smith born 1830, Bristol, son of a 'cooper master' Francis Smith and grandson of a 'cooper' Thomas Smith) married Eleanor Cooper in the Baptist Chapel at East Dereham, in Norfolk, in 1858. She was the daughter of 'a Landed Proprietor', William Cooper.

Is this family of Cooper in any way connected with the Wesleyan, Mary Ann Cooper, who married William Henry Smith (Sr.) in 1817 in London? James Francis Smythe was educated at Q.E.H. (The City School) in Bristol and trained as a Baptist Minister at the College there. On completing his training, he moved to East Dereham, Norfolk, in about 1855. He was not in the best of health at this time and so, for a few years, he edited a newspaper. He married Eleanor Cooper in 1858 (father, William Cooper) and obtained a pastorate at Worstead.

Sadly, Eleanor Cooper died in childbirth - or soon after - (he was a widower by the date of the 1861 census) and he was left with a baby daughter named Mary Ella Smythe. He married again in 1861, Elizabeth Tompson Smith, who had been born in Norwich in about 1834. In all, James Francis Smythe had six daughters (five by the second marriage) and three sons.In genetic terms, given a large family, this line of Smith/Smyth/e may be said to sire more daughters than sons! The names of some of the children of this second marriage are perhaps significant: Helen and Mabel, for example.

The wife of Francis Smith (cooper master) was Emily Roberts. Her son, James Francis Smythe (1830) had a younger sister, Martha Ann Smith (1832) and twin younger brothers, Josiah Hill Smith and Philip Vickery Smith (1834). Nothing is currently known of these siblings.

James Francis Smythe's son, Frank Tompson Smythe - Baptist Minister at Shortwood in Gloucestershire in 1907 - sent his son, Henry James Drew Smythe, to Taunton School in that year (a boarder) which suggests that there may have been relatives not too far distant from Taunton. The latter, a distinguished surgeon in his day, was keen to do locum work in nearby Yeovil in Somerset and Truro in Cornwall in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Amongst the effects of Henry James Drew-Smythe, when he died in 1983, was an aged green stamp album, full of early issue stamps, mainly from the province of Saxony in Germany. The family was known to have previous generation relatives (Smythe and Drew) in Europe. Currently, this line is stopped on Thomas Smith ... and somehow - by family lore - it is supposed to connect with the Irish line of Smyth/Smith.

Notes:

Dr. Johnson: His Friends and His Critics by George Birkbeck Hill, ND (c.1878-91). A large 11" x 16" bound 415-page book, that includes all 345 pages of the 1878 first edition given as a presentation copy to author's son, Edward Maurice Hill, dated August 27, 1891. The original 1878 edition published in London by Smith, Elder and Company, had no illustrations. This one-of-a-kind book--with 70 full-page engravings, collotypes, and tipped-in photographs bound on pages near the appropriate text--was cited by Hill in a letter to Mr. Scudder on deposit at the Boston Public Library [bMS Am 1925 (847)], where he notes that "All the portraits I had bound up in a book to give them to my eldest son on his wedding day." The text pages are printed in their original 4.5" x 7" size in the center of 11" x 16" [untrimmed first edition?] pages.

161 - 7x9 engraved proof page: "Adam Smith from a Medallion executed in [his] lifetime by Tafsiel" the political economist Adam Smith. ...
284 - 9x12 pasted engraved page: "Charles II" orig. in the possession of Henry Smith, published by J. Lendrum.

From the files of Camilla Gemmingen von Massenbach reproduced with gratitude:

                1.  M\?¹ Smith, an officer in the Navy.

          MSmith had the following child:

    +          2     i.     Henry Walton² Smith was born 1738

          2.  Henry Walton² Smith (M¹) was born 1738.  Henry died 23 Aug 1792 at age 54. Herbert Maxwell thinks he was ca 35 at his death. said to be originally of Hinton St. George, Somerset, or from Devonshire. He referred to Wrington as having some significance concerning his lineage.Said to have been educated at Harrow. The family story is that he came from a "well to do" background and when he married "beneath" him, he was cut off. By the 1780s he was acting as a personal assistant and was a protege of Charles Rogers, a high official in the London Custom House. Rogers was also a collector and Fellow of the Royal Society. Visitors to his house included Horace Walpole, Romney and Sir Joshua Reynolds whom Henry W. Smith must therefore have known. He married Anna Eastaugh (Easter) in London, England, 27 Oct 1784.  Marriage register P93/CTC1/15, 27 Oct 1784 (GLC Record Office) Anna was born 1756.  Anna was the daughter of M\? Eastaugh.  Anna died bef 9 Apr 1816 at approximately 59 years of age.  She made a will.  proved 9 Apr 1816. She was from Suffolk. When she first knew her husband to be, she was a domestic servant at 95 Watling Street, to a coal merchant's widow. After she was widowed, she singlehandedly managed the "newswalk" business started by her husband, until 1800, and in partnership until her death in 1816. At her wedding she signed with an x, which implies that at that time, she couldn't write.

          Henry Walton Smith and Anna Eastaugh (Easter) had the following children:

                 3     i.     Henry Edward³ Smith was born 1787.  Henry died 20 Jul 1846 in London, England, at 59 years of age.  He was baptized in London, England, Jul 1787. Baptism Registers 27 Jul 1787

                 4     ii.     Mary Ann Smith was born bef Mar 1789.  She was baptized in London, England, 10 Mar 1789.  Baptism Registers 10 Mar 1789

    +          5     iii.     William Henry Smith was born 7 Jul 1792

          5.  William Henry³ Smith (Henry Walton², M¹) was born 7 Jul 1792.            He was baptized in London, England, 06 Aug 1792.  Baptism Registers 27 Jul 1787 and 10 Mar 1789, 6 Aug 1792 of Kilburn House 1840-1858. Of Greenlands and of Walton House, Bournemouth, Hants. Founder of W.H. Smith and Son - booksellers. Methodist. Will dated 4 May 1863, proved (Prin. Reg., 604, 605) 27 September 1865, by Augusta (Gussie) Smith, spinster, daughter, and Thomas Godfrey Sambrooke. Portrait at Walton House, Bournemouth. Marble bust by M. Noble.  William died 28 Jul 1865 in Bournemouth, Hants., England, at 73 years of age.  GRO ref. Sep 1865 Smith William Henry Christchurch 2b 362 He was buried 1865 in London, England, Kensal Green cemetary.  He married Mary Ann(e) Cooper in London, England, 25 Jun 1817.  or 24th according to Herbert Maxwell.

Mary was born 1792.   Mary died 17 Mar 1851 at 58 years of age.  She was buried 1851 in London, England, Kensal Green.  She came of a strict Wesleyan Methodist family. Portrait at Walton House, Bournemouth.

The Dyke Acland Connection

          22.  Emily Anna⁵ Smith (Rt. Hon. William Henry⁴, William Henry³, Henry Walton², M¹) was born in London, England 03 Mar 1859.  Emily died 28 Jan 1942 at 82 years of age.  She married Adl.Sir William Alison Dyke Acland in Hambleden, Bucks., England, 7 Jul 1887.  GRO ref. Marriages Sep 1887 Lovelock Emma Edith  Henley 3a 1039 SMITH Emily Anna  Henley 3a 1039 Lawrence William  Hendon 3a 1039 Acland William Alison D  Hendon 3a 1039 NB Obviously Hendon should read Henley

          William was born in Oxford, Oxon, England 18 Dec 1847.  William was the son of Sir Henry (Harry) Wentworth Dyke Acland and Sarah Cotton.  William died ca 1924.  Acland [2nd Bt] eldest son. Entered the Britannia as a Cadet September 1861, Sub-lieutenant 1867, Liut. 1868, Commander 1879, Captain 1885, (Captain of the Efgar in 1894), Rear-Admiral 1899, Vice-Admiral 1904, Admiral 22 narch 1908, retired 17 July 1911; attached to the Chilean Army in the Peruvian War 1881 accompanied the first brigade in the march from Pisco to Lurin, and was present at the battles of Chorrilos and Miraflores (mentioned in despatches, gold medal with two clasps from the Chilean government); employed by the Colonial Government of Sydney to make preparations for the naval defence of the ports; Deputy Commissioner for Western Pacific 1883; commanded Australia, sent to Havre to do honour to Pres. Faure on his visit to that place 1894-97;  Captain on the RN ship Edgar in 1894; Captain of the Dockyard Reserve at Devenport 1897-99; 2nd in command of Channel Squadron 4 Jun 1901; Admiral Superintendant of Gibraltar Dockyard 1 October 1902-1904; Associate of Institute of Naval Architects; J.P. for the counties of Oxford (1887) and Devon (1905); A.D.C. to Qu. Victoria 11 March 1896 to 1899; Jubilee Medal 1897; F.R.G.S.; C.V.O. on the occasion of the visit of Kg. Edward VII to Gibraltar, April 1903. Three quarter length portrait by Pierre Troubetskoy at Wilmead, Torquay.

          She was baptized in London, England, 08 Apr 1859.  Author. Kitcat portrait by Philip Herogenes Calderon R.A., and a three quarter length portrait by Edith Brinton at Wilmead, Torquay.

          23.  Hon. Helen⁵ Smith (Rt. Hon. William Henry⁴, William Henry³, Henry Walton², M¹) was born in London, England 28 Dec 1860.  Helen died 17 Jan 1944 at 83 years of age.  She married Henry Sydney Seymour in London, England, 16 Apr 1896.  Henry was born in Westcott, Surrey, England 15 Sep 1855.  Henry was the son of Rev. Henry Seymour and Susannah Biscoe Tritton.  Henry died 26 Mar 1930 at 74 years of age.  of Hayne, Mortonhampstead, Devon. Eldest son. Auditor of the Duchy of Lancaster 1903.           She was listed as Rt. Hon. William Henry Smith's daughter in the 1881 census in London, England.  The following individuals are also linked to this event: Mabel Danvers Smith (daughter); Beatrice Danvers Smith (daughter); Emily Danvers (wife).

          Hon. Helen Smith and Henry Sydney Seymour had the following child:

               40     i.     Edward (Eddie) William⁶ Seymour was born 27 Mar 1897.  Edward died 1979 at 82 years of age.  He married Barbara Judith Lascelles 18 Nov 1925.  Barbara was born 28 MAR 1903.  Barbara was the daughter of George Reginald Lascelles and Beatrice Pulteney.  Barbara died aft 1925.  Acceded Tarrant Abbey, Blandford, Dorset. JP Dorset. Director W.H. Smith - booksellers.

          24.  Beatrice Danvers⁵ Smith (Rt. Hon. William Henry⁴, William Henry³, Henry Walton², M¹) was born in London, England 18 Feb 1864.  Beatrice died 4 Dec 1942 at 78 years of age.  She married Lt. Col. Alfred Dyke Acland in Hambleden, Bucks., England, 30 Jul 1885.  The following individual is also linked to this event: Rev. Peter Leopold Dyke Acland (minister). GRO ref. Sep 1885 Henley 3a 965

          Alfred was born 19 Aug 1858.  Alfred was the son of Sir Henry (Harry) Wentworth Dyke Acland and Sarah Cotton.  Alfred died 22 Mar 1937 at 78 years of age.  of Digswell House, Welwyn, Herts. and of 306 St. James Court, Buckingham Gate, London. Youngest son. Engineer. He served his apprenticeship with Maudslays of Lambeth, the pioneers of the machine tool industry. During the Great War, he was Colonel to the 1st (Royal) Devon Yeomanry.  J.P. for co. Herts. 1906; a Knight of Justice of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England.