John Henry Smyth MP (20 March 1780 – 20 October 1822) was a Whig member of Parliament for

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

from 9 June 1812 until his death.

Personal life and education

Smyth was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

and then

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he studied Classics, and the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

. Smyth inherited Heath Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire from his father John Smyth (1748–1811), MP of Pontefract from 1783 to 1807. His mother was Lady Georgiana, eldest daughter of Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. John Henry married Sarah Caroline Ibbetson, daughter of Henry, on 5 July 1810, but she died the following year on 29 May aged just 25. Three years later on 18 April 1814, he was remarried to his cousin Lady Elizabeth Anne FitzRoy, daughter of his uncle,

George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, KG (14 January 1760 – 28 September 1844), styled Earl of Euston until 1811, was a British peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1782 to 1811 when he succeeded to the Dukedo ...

. They had two sons and four daughters: his eldest son was John George Smyth, a Conservative MP for

City of York The City of York is a unitary authority area with city status in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. The district's main settlement is York, and it extends to the surrounding area including the town of Haxby and the villages of ...

(1847–1865), while his second son, Henry Smyth, was an Army officer and the grandfather of

Sir John Smyth, 1st Baronet Brigadier Sir John George Smyth, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1893 – 26 April 1983), often known as Jackie Smyth, was a British Indian Army officer and a Conservative Member of Parliament. Although a recipient of the Victoria Cross, his military ...

, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. His daughters were Elizabeth Sarah, Louisa Georgiana, Maria Isabella, and Frances. He was buried in the same vault as his first wife Sarah, in the church of the parish of St. Peter at Warmfield in Kirkthorp, where they were married.

Career

Before he was elected to Parliament, Smyth was

Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department This article lists past and present Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State serving the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom at the Home Office. Non-permanent and parliamentary under-secretaries, 1782–present *April 1782: Evan Nepean *April 1 ...

in Pitt's government at his father's request, from July 1804 to February 1806. His father sought to have him elected to Parliament from 1802. He stood for election in the Cambridge University constituency in 1811 when his uncle vacated his seat on joining the Lords, but he lost to Henry Temple, Lord Palmerston 451–345. Although he had served Pitt and his father was a Conservative, the younger Smyth had become a Whig at university and sat for that party when finally elected unopposed the following year when the other Cambridge University seat also became vacant. As an MP from 1812, he supported reduced military spending, reduced taxation, and the end of the slave trade, and he joined the finance committee in 1819. He was unwell during his last term in office and lived in Hastings for several months in the hope of recovering his health, but he died there in October 1822. He was a Captain of the South-West Yorkshire yeomanry, and a governor of

Wakefield Grammar School Queen Elizabeth Grammar School (QEGS) is an independent, public school for boys in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The school was founded by Royal Charter of Queen Elizabeth I in 1591 at the request of leading citizens in Wakefield (headed ...

from 1811.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Smyth, John Henry 1822 deaths Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1812–1818 1780 births Politicians from Yorkshire UK MPs 1818–1820 UK MPs 1820–1826 Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the University of Cambridge