Thomas Smith or Smyth was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons

House of Commons of England

The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...

 at various times between 1628 and 1642. He fought for the Royalist cause in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

Smith, of Long Ashton

Long Ashton

Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset, a few miles south west of the city of Bristol. The parish has a population of 4,981...

 in Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, was the eldest son of Sir Hugh Smith (1574–1627) and his wife Marquess Elizabeth Gorges daughter of Sir Thomas Gorges of Lanford

Thomas Gorges

Thomas Gorges , an Elizabethan courtier and Groom of the Chamber to Queen Elizabeth I, a second cousin of Queen Anne Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I all descendants of the first Howard Duke of Norfolk.His father was Sir Edward Gorges of Wraxall,and his mother one of Sir Edward's...

. He was head of wealthy Somerset family, descended from a 16th century Mayor of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

.

In 1628, Smith was elected Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 for Bridgwater

Bridgwater (UK Parliament constituency)

Bridgwater was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, until 2010 when it was replaced by the Bridgwater and West Somerset constituency...

 and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, he was elected MP for Somerset

Somerset (UK Parliament constituency)

Somerset was a parliamentary constituency in Somerset, which returned two Members of Parliament , known traditionally as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of England until 1707, the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from...

 in the Short Parliament

Short Parliament

The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....

. He was elected MP for Bridgwater again in the Long Parliament

Long Parliament

The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...

 from February 1641 until August 1642, when he was disabled from sitting for his sympathies. He joined the Marquess of Hertford's

William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset

Sir William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, KG was an English nobleman and Royalist commander in the English Civil War....

 royal army, and was serving with that force when he died at Cardiff

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...

 in October 1642.

Smith married Florence Poulett (died 1677), daughter of Lord Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett

John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett, was an English sailor and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1610 and 1621 and was later raised to the peerage....

, on 12 April 1627. After the Restoration

English Restoration

The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

 their son, Hugh

Sir Hugh Smith, 1st Baronet

Sir Hugh Smith, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660 and 1679.Smith was the son of Thomas Smith of Long Ashton, Somerset and his wife Florence Poulett, daughter of John Poulett, 1st Baron Poulett of Hinton St George, Somerset.In 1660, Smith was elected...

(1632–1680), was created a baronet.