Sir John Smith or Smythe, JP (1557 – 29 October 1608), of

Westenhanger Stanford is a village and civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or ...

, Kent, was an English politician. Ashford, St Mary's church, memorial

He was the eldest surviving son of

Thomas Smythe Sir Thomas Smythe (or Smith, c. 1558 – 4 September 1625) was an English merchant, politician and colonial administrator. He was the first governor of the East India Company and treasurer of the Virginia Company from 1609 to 1620 until envel ...

, a London haberdasher who was a collector of customs duties ("customer") and who had bought

Westenhanger Castle Westenhanger Castle is a fortified manor house once owned by royalty, located next to Westenhanger railway station and the grandstand of Folkestone Racecourse in Kent. The castle has endured a period of steady decline to near ruination in recent ...

. His brother was

, the first governor of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. John entered

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

to study law in 1577. He succeeded his father in 1591, inheriting Westenhanger Castle, and was knighted on 11 May 1603. He was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Kent from 1587 to his death and was appointed

High Sheriff of Kent The high sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown (prior to 1974 the office previously known as sheriff)."Sheriffs appointed for a county or Greater London shall be known as high sheriffs, and any reference in any enactment or instrum ...

for 1600–01. He was elected a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, South East England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery, David Tugwell`s house on Watermead and the Waterside Theatre. It is in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wy ...

in 1584 and

Hythe Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to: Places Australia * Hythe, Tasmania Canada *Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada England * T ...

in 1586, 1587 and 1604. He was the Deputy Governor of the Mines Royal from 1605 to death. He died in 1608 and was buried at Ashford. He had married Elizabeth, the daughter and heiress of John Fyneux of Herne, Kent, and had 2 sons (one of whom predeceased him) and 6 daughters. His surviving son Thomas was created an Irish peer in 1635, becoming

Viscount Strangford Viscount Strangford was a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in for Sir Thomas Smythe. He was a son of John Smith (also Smythe) J.P., High Sheriff of Kent 1600–1601, also M.P. for Aylesbury (in 1584) and Hythe (in 1586, 1587 ...

References

1557 births 1608 deaths People from Westenhanger Members of Gray's Inn English MPs 1584–1585 English MPs 1586–1587 English MPs 1589 English MPs 1604–1611 High Sheriffs of Kent English justices of the peace {{17thC-England-MP-stub