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 1558 - 1625 (~ 67 years)
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| Name |
Thomas Smythe |
| Title |
Sir |
| Suffix |
Knight |
| Birth |
~1558 |
Westenhanger, Standford, Kent, England  [1, 2, 3] |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
4 Sep 1625 |
Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, England [1, 2] |
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| Burial |
St John The Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, England [1] |
| Person ID |
I33259 |
The Hennessee Family |
| Last Modified |
21 Jul 2019 |
| Father |
Thomas Smythe, Esquire, b. ~1522, Corsham, Wiltshire, England d. 7 Jun 1591, City of London, England (Age ~ 68 years) |
| Mother |
Alice Judde, b. ~1532, City of London, England d. 1593, City of London, England (Age ~ 60 years) |
| Marriage |
~1553 |
(London, Middlesex, England) [4] |
| Photos |
 | Smythe Monument
|
| Family ID |
F20005 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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| Photos |
 | Sir Thomas Smythe (1554-1625)
1st Governor of the East India Company
Funded the exploration of the New World including the 1607 Jamestown Colony and the 1619 Plymouth Colony |
-
| Notes |
- The details in this biography come from the History of Parliament, a biographical dictionary of Members of the House of Commons.
Born ABT 1558, third, but second surviving son of Thomas Smythe of Westenhanger, Kent by Alice, dau. of Sir Andrew Judde; brother of John and Richard. Educ. Merchant Taylors’ 1571. He married first Judith Culverwell, dau. and heiress of Richard Culverwell, s.p.; secondly Joan Hobbs, dau. and heiress of William Hobbs, s.p.; and thirdly Sarah Blount, dau. and heiress of William Blount, by whom he had three sons and one daughter. Sarah remarried Robert Sidney, 1nd Earl of Leicester. Kntd. 13 May 1603. Freeman, Skinners’ Co. by 1580, Haberdashers’ Co. by 1580, master, Haberdashers’ 1599-1600; customer of London, auditor 1597-8, alderman 1599-1601, sheriff Nov 1600-Feb. 1601; capt. of city trained bands; treasurer, St. Bartholomew's hosp. 1597-1601; trade commr. to negotiate with the Dutch 1596, 1598, 1619, with the Empire 1603; member of Merchant Adventurers; gov. Muscovy Co. by 1600; member of Levant Co., gov. by 1600; gov. E.I. Co. 1600-1, 1603-5, 1607-21; gov. North West Passage Co.; treasurer, Virginia Co. 1609-19; gov. of Somers Is. Co. 1615-d.; Ambassador to Russia 1604-5; jt. receiver of duchy of Cornwall Apr 1604; receiver for Dorset and Somerset May 1604; commr. for navy reform 1619.
In 1588, he lent ¹31,000 to Queen Elizabeth and raised the necessary funds for her to finance the English fleet which would destroy the Spanish Armada.
In the 30 years ending with the death of James I, Smythe was overseer of virtually all the trade which passed through the port of London. He had two outstanding examples: his maternal grandfather, Sir Andrew Judde, was a leading city merchant and lord mayor in the middle of the sixteenth century, and his father, "Customer" Smythe, whose shrewd judgment and financial acumen brought him a fortune in the city, and a position among the county families of Kent. Still, it is not easy to follow his career in the years before the turn of the century. As well as his father, who died in 1591, there was at least one other London merchant of the same name. It is clear, however, that he was already well established in his own business during his father's lifetime, presumably with the latter's financial backing. By the end of the century he had three strings to his bow. He occupied a prominent position in the city; he took the lead in the new trading and colonizing companies which were becoming such a marked feature of the commercial life of the period; finally, as his list of offices shows, he put his experience to use in the government's service.
In 1597 Smythe had his first experience of the House of Commons when he was returned for Aylesbury, a seat previously occupied by his father and his elder brother, through his family's long-standing friendship with the Pakingtons. He was named to a committee on the poor law, 22 Nov 1597, and could have served on one about the highways near Aylesbury, 11 Jan 1598. Others of his committees included those concerned with maltsters (12 Jan); two alien merchants (13 Jan); the sale of the lands and goods of one John Sharp presumably a merchant to pay his debts (20 Jan); and the reformation of abuses in wine casks (3 Feb).
In 1596, he was knighted for bravery by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex at Cadiz, and served as sheriff of London from 1600-1601. Smythe also served with Essex in Ireland in 1599, and was an acknowleded friend of his.
In the midst of his many successes, Smythe's career nearly came to an abrupt and fatal halt: he found himself deprived of the shrievalty of London, after being in office for only three months, and in prison under suspicion of being implicated in Essex's abortive coup d'âetat of Feb 1601. On the 14th of that month the Privy Council informed the lord mayor that Smythe had ‘forgotten his duty to her Majesty’ and that the city would have to elect a new sheriff. On the same day he was placed in the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a fortnight later, on 2 Mar, he was put in the Tower. His defence was a complete denial of the charges against him. He said that he had had no communication with the Earl for nine years until the day in question. He denied prior knowledge of the plot. It is surprising that he escaped with a period in prison and a heavy fine.
With the new reign his return to favour was rapid. James I knighted Sir Thomas Smythe at the Tower of London in May 1603, he was shortly afterwards employed as Ambassador to Russia. As well as recovering his position as governor of all the important trading companies, he played a leading part in new trading ventures in Virginia, in Bermuda and in search of the North West Passage, and financed several voyages of exploration. He was also a leading adviser to the government on commercial and naval matters. His activities during these years, both in furthering trade and in encouraging the foundation of colonies, has led one historian to allot to him a ‘unique position among the founders of the Empire’. He eventually retired to an estate he had purchased at Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, where he died 4 Sep 1625.
Sources:
Nichols, Progresses
G. E. Cokayne, Lords Mayors and Sheriffs of London, 1601-25
end of biography [2]
- 8. Thomas (*) SMYTHE , 1st Gov. of East India Co.5,6,7,8 was born after 1554 in Weston Hanger, Kent, England. He was educated at Merchant Taylors’ in 1571. He lived in London on Fenchurch Street. He was a governor of the East India Company (1st).9,10
In 1588, he lent ¹31,000 to Queen Elizabeth and raised the necessary funds for her to finance the English fleet which would destroy the Spanish Armada. [Editor's Note - more on the Anglo Spanish War (1585-1604)... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Armada and Queen Elizabeth I...
In the 30 years ending with the death of James I, Smythe was overseer of virtually all the trade which passed through the port of London. He had two outstanding examples: his maternal grandfather, Sir Andrew Judde, was a leading city merchant and lord mayor in the middle of the sixteenth century, and his father, "Customer" Smythe, whose shrewd judgment and financial acumen brought him a fortune in the city, and a position among the county families of Kent. Still, it is not easy to follow his career in the years before the turn of the century. As well as his father, who died in 1591, there was at least one other London merchant of the same name. It is clear, however, that he was already well established in his own business during his father's lifetime, presumably with the latter's financial backing. By the end of the century he had three strings to his bow. He occupied a prominent position in the city; he took the lead in the new trading and colonizing companies which were becoming such a marked feature of the commercial life of the period; finally, as his list of offices shows, he put his experience to use in the government's service.
In 1597 Smythe had his first experience of the House of Commons when he was returned for Aylesbury, a seat previously occupied by his father and his elder brother, through his family's long-standing friendship with the Pakingtons. He was named to a committee on the poor law, 22 Nov 1597, and could have served on one about the highways near Aylesbury, 11 Jan 1598. Others of his committees included those concerned with maltsters (12 Jan); two alien merchants (13 Jan); the sale of the lands and goods of one John Sharp presumably a merchant to pay his debts (20 Jan); and the reformation of abuses in wine casks (3 Feb).
In 1596, he was knighted for bravery by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex at Cadiz, and served as sheriff of London from 1600-1601. Smythe also served with Essex in Ireland in 1599, and was an acknowleded friend of his.
In the midst of his many successes, Smythe's career nearly came to an abrupt and fatal halt: he found himself deprived of the shrievalty of London, after being in office for only three months, and in prison under suspicion of being implicated in Essex's abortive coup d'âetat of Feb 1601. On the 14th of that month the Privy Council informed the lord mayor that Smythe had ‘forgotten his duty to her Majesty’ and that the city would have to elect a new sheriff. On the same day he was placed in the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a fortnight later, on 2 Mar, he was put in the Tower. His defence was a complete denial of the charges against him. He said that he had had no communication with the Earl for nine years until the day in question. He denied prior knowledge of the plot. It is surprising that he escaped with a period in prison and a heavy fine.
With the new reign his return to favour was rapid. James I knighted Sir Thomas Smythe at the Tower of London in May 1603, he was shortly afterwards employed as Ambassador to Russia. As well as recovering his position as governor of all the important trading companies, he played a leading part in new trading ventures in Virginia, in Bermuda and in search of the North West Passage, and financed several voyages of exploration. He was also a leading adviser to the government on commercial and naval matters. His activities during these years, both in furthering trade and in encouraging the foundation of colonies, has led one historian to allot to him a ‘unique position among the founders of the Empire’. He eventually retired to an estate he had purchased at Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, where he died 4 Sep 1625.
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In the modern era, SIR THOMAS SMYTHE'S CHARITY (Registered Charity No. 210775) derives from the 1625 will of Sir Thomas Smythe. It provides pensions for the benefit of elderly people who are resident in twenty-six named parishes in the area of Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells, Kent. The funds of this charity are committed on the recommendations of local Trustees.
Haberdasher Farringdon Without 1599-1601;1604. Sheriff 1600-1. Elected Sheriff 1587. Knighted 13 May 1603; M.P. Dunwich 1604-11, Sandwich 1614, Saltash 1620-2; Receiver Duchy Cornwall 1604.
Ambassador to Russia; Auditor 1597-8; Treasurer St. Bartholomew's Hospital 1597-1601; Committee E.I.C. 1600-1, 1603-22 (Governor 1600-1, 1603-5, 1607-21); Governor Russia Company; Treasurer Virginia Company 1600-20; Master Haberdashers 1583-4, 1588-9, 1599-1600. Died 4 Sep 1625; Will (PCC 107 Clark) 31 Jan 1622; proved 12 Oct 1625.
Grandson of Sir Andrew Judde (Lord Mayor 1550-1), and uncle of the first Viscount Strangford. His widow married the first Earl of Leicester of the Sydney line. His name is written "Smith" on his monument at Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, but the Strangford family preferred "Smythe."
His grandson, Robert Smyth, was Governor of Dover Castle and married the Dowager Countess of Sunderland. (Waller's "Saccharissa".) His last male descendant was Sir Sidney Stafford Smythe, Baron of the Exchequer in George III's reign. (1778)
The following a website of Smith's Parish in Bermuda which was named after Sir Thomas Smith: http://bermuda-online.org/seesmith.htm
The two main groups involved in the colonisation of Virginia were the London merchants of the East India, Levant, and Moscovy Companies, led by Customer Smythe's son Sir Thomas who made the biggest contribution and the West Country group interested in the fur trade and fisheries led by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Governor of Plymouth. Sir Thomas Smythe funded the Virginia colony for 30 years.
Sir Thomas Smythe was first Governor of the East India Company (1600), Treasurer of the Virginia Company (1620), Governor of Somers Island Company (1615). His son John Smythe married Isabel, daughter of Robert Rich, earl of Warwick (d. 1619).
Sir Thomas Smythe funded explorers, he was involved in sending Hudson (who was cast adrift after a mutiny and died) and William Baffin (1615) to the Arctic. Sir Thomas proposed to the East India Company that they send a special ambassador to the Mogul emperor to obtain a permanent footing for trade with India.
In 1589 Sir Walter Raleigh handed over control of the Roanoke colony to a company of London merchants which included Sir Thomas Smythe.
Due to Gorges' efforts, colonists were sent out in 1619 to found New Plymouth, New England and the province of Maine. ("Gorges of Plymouth Fort" R.A. Preston, "Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine" - J.F. Baxter quoted in "Expansion of Elizabethan England" - A.L. Rowse).
The permanent settlement of Virginia began with the Virginia Company's Expedition which founded Jamestown in 1607 promoted by Sir Thomas Smythe. Large areas called particular plantations were granted to syndicates in England to undertake their settlement."
He died possibly of the plague on 4 Sep 1625 in Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was buried at the St John The Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was a 12th great grandfather of PLO.
By the middle of the 1700s, the 13 colonies that made up part of England's empire in the New World were finding it difficult to be ruled by a king 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. They were tired of the taxes imposed upon them. But independence was a gradual and painful process. The colonists could not forget that they were British citizens and that they owed allegiance to King George III.
A "tea party" and a "Massacre" were two events that hurried destiny. Along with general unrest these events united the colonists. In 1767 a tea company in India, owned by England, was losing money. To save the company, England levied a tax on tea sold in the colonies in 1773. Partly as a joke, Samuel Adams and other Bostonians dressed up as Indians and dumped a cargo of the India Company Tea into the Massachusetts Bay. King George III did not think it was funny, nor did he lift the tax on tea. In the Boston harbor, British soldiers were jeered and stoned by colonists who thought the soldiers had been sent to watch them. The soldiers fired into the crowd and killed a few citizens. The colonists exaggerated the number killed and called it a massacre.
Virginia took the first step toward independence by voting to set up a committee to represent the colonies. This First Continental Congress met in September of 1774. They drew up a list of grievances against the crown which became the first draft of a document that would formally separate the colonies from England. George Washington took command of the Continental Army and began fighting the British in Massachusetts. For the next eight years, colonists fought fervently in the Revolutionary War.
In the meantime, a war of words was being waged in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress presented & debated a second draft of the list of grievances, and John Hancock, the president of the Second Continental Congress, was the first to sign. The document, called the Declaration of Independence, was treasonous against the crown and the fifty-six men who signed it were in danger of being executed.
Independence Day is celebrated on July 4 because that is the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence. From July 8, 1776, until the next month, the document was read publicly and people celebrated whenever they heard it. The next year, in Philadelphia, bells rang and ships fired guns, candles and firecrackers were lighted. But the War of Independence* dragged on until 1783, and in that year, Independence Day was made an official holiday. 1941 Congress declared 4th of July a federal holiday.
*Except for the U.S. Virgin Islands where celebrations are held a week prior to the climax on 4th of July.
John Adams, a lawyer, the first Vice President and the Second President of the United States, was one of the members of the Second Continental Congress who signed the Declaration of Independence. He wrote to his wife, "I believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival... it ought to be celebrated by pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other..."
John Adams may have predicted the later Independence Day celebrations or perhaps he started traditions with his words. Every July fourth, Americans have a holiday from work. Communities have day-long picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and all the fixings. The afternoon activities would not be complete without lively music, a friendly baseball game, three-legged races and a pie-eating or watermelon-eating contests. Some cities have parades with people dressed as the original founding fathers who march in parades to the music of high school bands. At dusk, people in towns and cities gather to watch the fireworks display. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together for a traditional 4th of July celebration!
The Declaration of Independence was first read in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Today, at the Freedom Festival at Independence Hall, costumed Americans re-enact historical scenes and read the Declaration of Independence for the crowd. In Flagstaff, Arizona, American Indians hold a three-day pow-wow around the Fourth of July, with a rodeo and dancing. In Lititz, Pennsylvania, hundreds of candles that were made during the year are lighted in the park at night and floated in the water while a "Queen of Candles" is chosen. The ship U.S.S. John F. Kennedy comes in full sail to Boston Harbor in Massachusetts on the Fourth of July, and the Boston Pops Orchestra plays a musical concert of patriotic songs as more than 150,000 people watch fireworks burst over the water.
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Married 1st Joan HOBBS, 2: Judith CULVERWELL, both heiresses, as was his third wife.
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Between 1556 and 1558 "Sir Andrew Judde was buying manors at Ashford and places adjoining from Sir Anthony Aucher, soon to lose his life at Calais. This estate passed to his daughter Alice and so to her son Sir Thomas Smyth, who in his turn was a benefactor of Tonbridge School".
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2nd s/o Thomas "Customer Smythe" of Westenhanger & Alice Judde. Of Bidborough & North Ash, (bought Sutton-at-Hone 1619) all in Kent. He was a Haberdasher & Skinner and he possibly went to Virginia with Raleigh. He was the Sheriff of London, Nov 1599. (a Mr Thomas Smith took part in funeral of Sir Thomas Egerton in 1599) He was seriously compromised by Essex rebellion Feb 1600/1, but rose to favour with James I. Kt 1603. In 1612 he was promoted for his discovery of North-West Passage.
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English East India Company
The English East India Company (1600–1874) was one of the longest-lived and richest trading companies. It exercised a pervasive influence on British colonial policy from early in its history because of its wealth and power both in England and in the rest of the commercial world. Nevertheless, not until the era of the American Revolution did the company figure in American affairs. At that time it was expanding its activities in the East, particularly in China, and in order to strengthen its rather precarious foothold at Canton, the company purchased increasing amounts of tea. Soon, with its warehouses overflowing and a financial crisis looming, the company surrendered part of its political power for the exclusive right to export tea directly to America under Lord North's Regulating Act (1773).
This development coincided with and influenced the outbreak of disputes between Great Britain and its American colonies. After Britain imposed the tea tax in 1767, American boycotts reduced colonial tea consumption from 900,000 pounds in 1769 to 237,000 pounds in 1772. The Regulating Act allowed the East India Company to ship huge quantities of tea to America duty-free. Although this act allowed Americans to purchase tea at a discounted rate (even accounting for the tea tax), it also enabled the East India Company to undersell colonial smugglers who had benefited from tea boycotts. When Boston importers resisted Patriot pressure to refuse tea shipments, proponents of the tea boycott organized anti-British activities, which culminated in the Boston Tea Party (1773). After the Revolution the company had little or no contact with America.
Boston Tea Party
Incident on Dec. 16, 1773, in which American patriots dressed as Indians threw 342 chests of tea from three British ships into Boston Harbour. Their leader was Samuel Adams. The action was taken to prevent the payment of a British-imposed tax on tea and to protest the British monopoly of the colonial tea trade authorized by the Tea Act. In retaliation, Parliament passed the punitive Intolerable Acts, which further united the colonies in their opposition to the British.
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The details in this biography come from the History of Parliament, a biographical dictionary of Members of the House of Commons.
Thomas Smythe was born abt. 1558 as the third, but second surviving son of Thomas Smythe of Westenhanger, Kent by Alice Judde, dau. of Sir Andrew Judde. He was a brother of John and Richard.
He was educated Merchant Taylors’ 1571. He married first Judith Culverwell, dau. and heiress of Richard Culverwell, s.p.; secondly Joan Hobbs, dau. and heiress of William Hobbs, s.p.; and thirdly Sarah Blount, dau. and heiress of William Blount, by whom he had three sons and one daughter.
Sarah then remarried Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester. Kntd. 13 May 1603. Freeman, Skinners’ Co. by 1580, Haberdashers’ Co. by 1580, master, Haberdashers’ 1599-1600; customer of London, auditor 1597-8, alderman 1599-1601, sheriff Nov 1600-Feb. 1601; capt. of city trained bands; treasurer, St. Bartholomew's hosp. 1597-1601; trade commr. to negotiate with the Dutch 1596, 1598, 1619, with the Empire 1603; member of Merchant Adventurers; gov. Muscovy Co. by 1600; member of Levant Co., gov. by 1600; gov. E.I. Co. 1600-1, 1603-5, 1607-21; gov. North West Passage Co.; treasurer, Virginia Co. 1609-19; gov. of Somers Is. Co. 1615-d.; Ambassador to Russia 1604-5; jt. receiver of duchy of Cornwall Apr 1604; receiver for Dorset and Somerset May 1604; commr. for navy reform 1619.
In 1588, he lent ¹31,000 to Queen Elizabeth and raised the necessary funds for her to finance the English fleet which would destroy the Spanish Armada.
In the 30 years ending with the death of James I, Smythe was overseer of virtually all the trade which passed through the port of London. He had two outstanding examples: his maternal grandfather, Sir Andrew Judde, was a leading city merchant and lord mayor in the middle of the sixteenth century, and his father, "Customer" Smythe, whose shrewd judgment and financial acumen brought him a fortune in the city, and a position among the county families of Kent. Still, it is not easy to follow his career in the years before the turn of the century. As well as his father, who died in 1591, there was at least one other London merchant of the same name. It is clear, however, that he was already well established in his own business during his father's lifetime, presumably with the latter's financial backing. By the end of the century he had three strings to his bow. He occupied a prominent position in the city; he took the lead in the new trading and colonizing companies which were becoming such a marked feature of the commercial life of the period; finally, as his list of offices shows, he put his experience to use in the government's service.
In 1597 Smythe had his first experience of the House of Commons when he was returned for Aylesbury, a seat previously occupied by his father and his elder brother, through his family's long-standing friendship with the Pakingtons. He was named to a committee on the poor law, 22 Nov 1597, and could have served on one about the highways near Aylesbury, 11 Jan 1598. Others of his committees included those concerned with maltsters (12 Jan); two alien merchants (13 Jan); the sale of the lands and goods of one John Sharp presumably a merchant to pay his debts (20 Jan); and the reformation of abuses in wine casks (3 Feb).
In 1596, he was knighted for bravery by Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex at Cadiz, and served as sheriff of London from 1600-1601. Smythe also served with Essex in Ireland in 1599, and was an acknowleded friend of his.
In the midst of his many successes, Smythe's career nearly came to an abrupt and fatal halt: he found himself deprived of the shrievalty of London, after being in office for only three months, and in prison under suspicion of being implicated in Essex's abortive coup d'âetat of Feb 1601. On the 14th of that month the Privy Council informed the lord mayor that Smythe had ‘forgotten his duty to her Majesty’ and that the city would have to elect a new sheriff. On the same day he was placed in the custody of the Archbishop of Canterbury and a fortnight later, on 2 Mar, he was put in the Tower. His defence was a complete denial of the charges against him. He said that he had had no communication with the Earl for nine years until the day in question. He denied prior knowledge of the plot. It is surprising that he escaped with a period in prison and a heavy fine.
With the new reign his return to favour was rapid. James I knighted Sir Thomas Smythe at the Tower of London in May 1603, he was shortly afterwards employed as Ambassador to Russia. As well as recovering his position as governor of all the important trading companies, he played a leading part in new trading ventures in Virginia, in Bermuda and in search of the North West Passage, and financed several voyages of exploration. He was also a leading adviser to the government on commercial and naval matters. His activities during these years, both in furthering trade and in encouraging the foundation of colonies, has led one historian to allot to him a ‘unique position among the founders of the Empire’. He eventually retired to an estate he had purchased at Sutton-at-Hone, Kent, where he died 4 Sep 1625.
Thomas (*) SMYTHE , 1st Gov. of East India Co. and Sarah (*) BLOUNT were married before 1576. Sarah (*) BLOUNT (daughter of William BLOUNT , 7th Baron of Mountjoy) died before 12 Mar 1655 in Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. She was born in Kent, England. She was a 12th great grandmother of PLO.
Dau and heiress of William Blount of the Mangotsfield family.
She later married Robert Sidney, Earl of Leicester (m 1626), per the Wills of Customer Smyth/ and of Sir Thomas Smythe of Bidborough.
It may appear that Sarah is of the Baron's of Mountjoy Line, which in turn fits into the Barons of Saxlingham and Barons of Ixworth. These lines run all the way back to the 1000s with the Counts of Guisnes, as they had command of William the Conqueror's was ships. Guisnes are old lands in what we know today as France.
Thomas (*) SMYTHE , 1st Gov. of East India Co. and Sarah (*) BLOUNT had the following children:
+29
i.
Thomas SMITH.
+30
ii.
John SMYTHE.
+
end of biography [1, 6]
- Sir Thomas Smythe's pedigree... http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/ahnentafel.php?personID=I82057&tree=00&parentset=0&generations=5
end of comment [7]
- More about Sir Thomas Smythe... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Smith_(East_India_Company)
end of comment [8]
- Time Line
ca. 1558 - Thomas Smythe is born. He is the second surviving son of Thomas Smythe of Ostenhanger (later Westenhanger) in County Kent and his wife, Alice Judde Smythe.
1580 - Thomas Smythe is a member of the Haberdashers' and Skinners' companies.
1581 - Thomas Smythe is a founding member of the Merchants of Levant, or Turkey Company, which trades in Turkey and India.
1588 - Thomas Smythe possibly lends ¹31,000 to Queen Elizabeth I to help meet the threat of the Spanish Armada.
March 7, 1589 - Sir Walter Raleigh disperses his interest in the Virginia colony, "saving only the fifth part of gold and silver ore," to a group of London merchants, gentlemen, and planters.
1596 - Thomas Smythe serves as a commissioner negotiating trade with the Dutch.
June 1596 - An English fleet under the command of Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex; Charles Howard, baron of Effingham and England's Lord High Admiral; and Sir Walter Raleigh sacks the Spanish port city of Câadiz.
1597 - Thomas Smythe is elected to represent Aylesbury in Parliament, a seat held before him by his father and his older brother, John Smythe.
1597–1598 - Thomas Smythe serves as an auditor in London.
1598 - Thomas Smythe serves as a commissioner negotiating trade with the Dutch.
1599–1600 - Thomas Smythe serves as master of the Haberdashers' Company.
1599–1601 - Thomas Smythe serves as an alderman in London.
October 1600 - The East India Company is formed with Thomas Smythe as its first governor.
November 6, 1600 - Thomas Smythe is appointed sheriff of London.
December 31, 1600 - Queen Elizabeth I issues a royal charter to the East India Company, formed to trade with the East Indies.
February 14, 1601 - Thomas Smythe, under suspicion for involvement in an uprising against Queen Elizabeth led by Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex, is remanded to the custody of the archbishop of Canterbury. He is removed from his position as sheriff of London.
March 2, 1601 - Thomas Smythe is transferred to the Tower of London, where he will be imprisoned for more than a year for his suspected involvement in an uprising against Queen Elizabeth led by Robert Devereux, second earl of Essex.
1603–July 1621 - Sir Thomas Smythe retains the position of governor of the East India Company, excepting the period from 1605 until 1607.
May 13, 1603 - Thomas Smythe is knighted by the new English king, James I.
1604 - Sir Thomas Smythe is elected to Parliament representing Dunwich.
March 19, 1604 - Sir Thomas Smythe is appointed to be special ambassador from King James I to the czar of Russia, then Boris I.
April 11, 1604 - Sir Thomas Smythe is appointed to be a receiver for the Duchy of Cornwall.
June 13, 1604 - Sir Thomas Smythe, the new royal ambassador to Russia, and his party sail from Gravesend bound for Russia.
July 22, 1604 - Sir Thomas Smythe, the new royal ambassador to Russia, and his party arrive at the city of Arkhangelsk in the northern part of European Russia. From there, they travel overland to the city of Yaroslavl, where he meets the czar, Boris I. He later travels to Moscow.
May 28, 1605 - Sir Thomas Smythe, having obtained a grant of new trading privileges for the Muscovy Company, begins his return journey to England.
April 10, 1606 - King James I grants the Virginia Company a royal charter dividing the North American coast between two companies, the Virginia Company of London and the Virginia Company of Plymouth, overseen by the "Counsell of Virginia," whose thirteen members are appointed by the king.
November 20, 1606 - King James I appoints Sir Thomas Smythe a member of His Majesty's Council for Virginia, the governing board of the Virginia Company of London.
May 23, 1609 - The Crown approves a second royal charter for the Virginia Company of London. It replaces the royal council with private corporate control, extends the colony's boundaries to the Pacific Ocean, and installs a governor, Sir Thomas West, twelfth baron De La Warr, to run operations in Virginia.
July 26, 1612 - King James I grants the North-West Passage Company a royal charter to facilitate finding a route to Japan and China and facilitating trade with them. He names Sir Thomas Smythe its governor.
1614 - Sir Thomas Smythe is elected to Parliament from Sandwich.
June 29, 1615 - King James I grants the Somers Islands Company a royal charter to facilitate colonization of and trade with Bermuda. He names Sir Thomas Smythe the company's governor.
1618 - Sir Thomas Smythe is appointed commissioner of the navy.
January 1619 - Sir Thomas Smythe is appointed to the treasury commission and assigned to negotiate differences with the Dutch, then in the midst of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648).
April 28, 1619 - Sir Edwin Sandys takes over as treasurer (essentially chairman) of the Virginia Company of London.
1621 - Sir Thomas Smythe is elected to Parliament representing Saltash.
January 30, 1621 - Sir Thomas Smythe writes his will. He will add a codicil to it on the day of his death.
May 1623 - The Privy Council launches an inquiry into the administration of the Virginia Company.
May 24, 1624 - Following a yearlong investigation into mismanagement headed by Sir Richard Jones, justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the Crown revokes the Virginia Company of London's charter and assumes direct control of the Virginia colony.
September 4, 1625 - Sir Thomas Smythe dies at Sutton-at-Hone in Kent, England. He is buried at the church of Saint John the Baptist.
end of time line [3]
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| Sources |
- [S45685] http://thecityobserver.org/cromwell/b100392.htm#P100419.
- [S8925] "Sir Thomas SMYTHE of Fenchurch Street, Knight(~1558-1625)" biography, http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ThomasSmythe.ht.
- [S11551] "Sir Thomas Smythe (ca. 1558-1625)", Biography, https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/Smythe_Sir_Thomas_ca_1558-1625, rev.
- [S14347] Thomas "Customer" Smythe Esq aka Smith (1522-1591), Ancestors, Descendants, Biography & Sources, https://www.wikitree.co.
- [S8926] http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Hobbs-2207, retrieved January 16, 2016 by David A. Hennessee.
- [S51575] http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/ThomasSmythe.htm.
- [S45687] http://www.ourfamilyhistories.org/ahnentafel.php?personID=I82057&tree=00&parentset=0&generations=5.
- [S45688] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Smith_(East_India_Company).
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