Customer Smythe
Encyclopedia
Thomas "Customer" Smythe (Kent
, c. 1522 – 1591) was the collector of customs
duties ("customer") in London
during the Tudor period
. His son and namesake Sir Thomas Smythe was an active supporter of the Virginia colony.
, 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.
Thomas 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 circa 1554.
Smythe purchased the Office of the Customs from one Mr. Cocker, for the sum of £2500. He was confirmed in his appointment at the Customs on the accession of Elizabeth I
in 1558, 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 whereby a loss of revenue was sustained, to the extent of some £6000; and it was only through the kind intervention of his friend William Cecil, Lord Burghley that he escaped imprisonment. Cecil persuaded the Queen to be lenient, as if time were allowed he would doubtless pay up, but if he were imprisoned her Majesty would be the loser.
The 13 Children of Thomas (Customer) Smythe and Alice Judd were:
1. Andrew Smythe (died young)
2. Katherine Smythe = Sir Rowland Hayward, Lord Mayor of London
= (2) Sir John Scott (s/o Sir Thomas Scott, Scotts Hall & 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 Fanshaw (s/o Thomas Fanshaw who married wife's sister).
7. Symon Smythe (d. 1596), killed at Cadiz
, Spain
8 . Robert Smythe of Highgate
= Ann Lynford (d/o William Lynford)
9 . Henry Smythe of Corsham
(Died before 1591) = Elizabeth Owen (d/o Thomas Owen, Justice of the Peace)
10. Sir John Smythe (eldest son) of Ostenhanger = Elizabeth Fineaux (m 1576) (d/o Sir John Fineaux, Chief Justice of the King's Bench)
11. Sir Richard Smythe of Leeds Castle
= Elizabeth Scott (d/o Sir Thomas Scott) (w/o John Knatchbull) (m 1589) = (2) Jane White (d/o John White of London) (w/o Samuel Thornhill)
12. Sir Thomas Smythe
of Bidborough
, Governor of East India Company
, Treasurer of Virginia Company
(1558-1624/5) = Judith Culverwell (d/o Richard Culverwell) = (2) Jone Hobbs (d/o William Hobbs) = (3) Sarah Blount (d/o William Blount)
13. Alyce Smythe = Sir William Harris of Crixes, Woodham
, Essex.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, c. 1522 – 1591) was the collector of customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
duties ("customer") in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the Tudor period
Tudor period
The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...
. His son and namesake Sir Thomas Smythe was an active supporter of the Virginia colony.
Early life
Customer Smythe was a younger son of John Smythe (d. 1538), a substantial yeoman and clothier, who married a daughter of Thomas Brounker. To Thomas, his younger son, born in 1522, he left a farm in the Hundred of AmesburyAmesbury
Amesbury is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is most famous for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is in its parish, and for the discovery of the Amesbury Archer—dubbed the King of Stonehenge in the press—in 2002...
, 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.
Thomas took up his freedom in his father's guild, the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
Worshipful Company of Haberdashers
The Worshipful Company of Haberdashers is one of the senior Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation, following on from the Mercers' Company, another Livery Company connected with clothing and haberdashery, received a Royal Charter in 1448...
, and subsequently in the Worshipful Company of Skinners
Worshipful Company of Skinners
The Worshipful Company of Skinners is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. It was originally an association of those engaged in the trade of skins and furs...
, which may account for his intimate connection with Sir Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
in 1550, whose daughter Alice he married circa 1554.
Career
In the reign of Mary I of EnglandMary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
Smythe purchased the Office of the Customs from one Mr. Cocker, for the sum of £2500. He was confirmed in his appointment at the Customs on the accession of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in 1558, 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 whereby a loss of revenue was sustained, to the extent of some £6000; and it was only through the kind intervention of his friend William Cecil, Lord Burghley that he escaped imprisonment. Cecil persuaded the Queen to be lenient, as if time were allowed he would doubtless pay up, but if he were imprisoned her Majesty would be the loser.
Later career
The increasing wealth of the Customer only tends to shew that his gains were large; and 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 again fell under her Majesty's 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, leaving his widow, then sixty years of age, and twelve children, six sons and six daughters.Family
Thomas and Alice Smythe had a number of children, twelve of whom lived to adulthood.The 13 Children of Thomas (Customer) Smythe and Alice Judd were:
1. Andrew Smythe (died young)
2. Katherine Smythe = Sir Rowland Hayward, Lord Mayor of London
Lord Mayor of London
The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the legal title for the Mayor of the City of London Corporation. The Lord Mayor of London is to be distinguished from the Mayor of London; the former is an officer only of the City of London, while the Mayor of London is the Mayor of Greater London and...
= (2) Sir John Scott (s/o Sir Thomas Scott, Scotts Hall & Elizabeth Baker of Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is a small village in the county of Kent in England. Originally called Milkhouse Street , Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the smuggling and cockfighting activities of the Hawkhurst Gang.The nearest railway station is at...
) = (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
William Boteler
William Boteler was a Colonel of Horse in the New Model Army during the English Civil War. By the end of the war, Boteler had been appointed Major-General for Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland during the Rule of the Major-Generals....
(Butler) - of Bedford
5. Joan (aka Johanna) Smythe = Sir Thomas Fanshawe (d 1601) Esquire of Ware Park.
6. Elizabeth Smythe = Sir Henry Fanshaw (s/o Thomas Fanshaw who married wife's sister).
7. Symon Smythe (d. 1596), killed at Cadiz
Cádiz
Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....
, Spain
8 . Robert Smythe of Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
= Ann Lynford (d/o William Lynford)
9 . Henry Smythe of Corsham
Corsham
Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in north west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south western extreme of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 which was formerly the main turnpike road from London to Bristol, between Bath and Chippenham ....
(Died before 1591) = Elizabeth Owen (d/o Thomas Owen, Justice of the Peace)
10. Sir John Smythe (eldest son) of Ostenhanger = Elizabeth Fineaux (m 1576) (d/o Sir John Fineaux, Chief Justice of the King's Bench)
11. Sir Richard Smythe of Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle
Leeds Castle, southeast of Maidstone, Kent, England, dates back to 1119, though a Saxon fort stood on the same site from the 9th century. The castle is built on islands in a lake formed by the River Len to the east of the village of Leeds....
= Elizabeth Scott (d/o Sir Thomas Scott) (w/o John Knatchbull) (m 1589) = (2) Jane White (d/o John White of London) (w/o Samuel Thornhill)
12. Sir Thomas Smythe
Thomas Smith (East India Company)
Sir Thomas Smith or Smythe , was an English merchant and politician. He was the first governor of the East India Company.-Early life:...
of Bidborough
Bidborough
Bidborough is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England, north of Tunbridge Wells and south of Tonbridge. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 958....
, Governor of East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
, Treasurer of Virginia Company
Virginia Company
The Virginia Company refers collectively to a pair of English joint stock companies chartered by James I on 10 April1606 with the purposes of establishing settlements on the coast of North America...
(1558-1624/5) = Judith Culverwell (d/o Richard Culverwell) = (2) Jone Hobbs (d/o William Hobbs) = (3) Sarah Blount (d/o William Blount)
13. Alyce Smythe = Sir William Harris of Crixes, Woodham
Woodham
-People:* Cecil Woodham-Smith , a British historian* Dai Woodham , a British businessman* Luke Woodham , an American murderer-England:* Woodham, Buckinghamshire* Woodham, County Durham* Woodham Ferrers* Woodham Mortimer...
, Essex.