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 1558 - 1625 (67 years)
Generation: 1
| 1. | Thomas Smythe was born in 1558 (son of Thomas "The Customer" Smythe and Alice Judd); died on 4 Sep 1625 in Ashford, County Kent, England; was buried in St John The Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone, County Kent, England. Notes:
The son was the namesake of a very powerful and well connected family. He also must have been quite brilliant. The deeds of both father and son seemed to get combined but the son did have several notable accomplishments which can be attributed to him. In 1588, he lent 31,000 to Queen Elizabeth and raised the necessary funds for her to finance the English fleet which would destroy the Spanish Armada.
He was the Governor (Director) of the very successful and famous East India Company which contributed vast revenues to England after 1609. He was a member of the Levant Company, organized the Bermuda and Hudson Companies. He incorporated the Turkey Company in 1581, was a member of the Russian Company in 1587, succeeded his father as Master of Customs in 1591, sent exploratory ships to East India.
In 1596, he was knighted for bravery by Lord 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. This friendship would lead Smythe to the Tower of London with Essex in 1600 because he apparently had pledged to support Essex in London with 1,000 men, but apparently reniged at the last moment. While Essex was beheaded, Smythe was released. Smythe became the Governor of the East India Company at this time, and the new King James I knighted Sir Thomas Smythe at the Tower of London in 1603. He was soon appointed to many commissions, was generally recognized as the best business man in England, and made Treasurer of the London Company of Virginia.
Sir Thomas Smythe is buried in St. John the Baptist Church at Sutton-at-Hone,Kent. It is located about one mile east of the M-25 (the beltway around London). The effigy of Sir Thomas in alabaster exhibits a family likeness to that of his father (The Customer) in Ashford. As you enter the church, you see a mound of soil on each side,and according to the Vicar,contains the remains of plague victims. It is believed by some that Sir Thomas died of the plague also. Marie Gay
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Generation: 2
| 3. | Alice Judd was born about 1530. Children:
- Alice Smythe was born in 1557 in Westenhanger, Hythe, Kent, England; died in Nov 1615 in Creeksea, Essex, England; was buried in All Saints Church, Creeksea, Essex, England.
- 1. Thomas Smythe was born in 1558; died on 4 Sep 1625 in Ashford, County Kent, England; was buried in St John The Baptist Church, Sutton-at-Hone, County Kent, England.
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