Viscount Strangford was a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The Peerage of Ireland consists of those titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lord or King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. It is one of the five divisi ...

. It was created in for Sir Thomas Smythe. He was a son of John Smith (also Smythe) J.P.,

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 ...

1600–1601, also M.P. for

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(in 1584) and

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(in 1586, 1587 and 1604), and grandson 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 ...

, of

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 ...

, collector of customs for London, haberdasher, and M.P. The sixth Viscount was British ambassador to

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Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

and

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. In 1825 he was created Baron Penshurst, of Penshurst in the County of Kent, in the

Peerage of the United Kingdom The Peerage of the United Kingdom is one of the five Peerages in the United Kingdom. It comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Acts of Union 1800, Acts of Union in 1801, when it replaced the ...

, enabling him and his descendants to sit in the

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. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the seventh Viscount. He was a

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician, best known for his association with

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the creation o ...

and the

Young England {{about, the Conservative political group, imaginary military society, Edward Oxford Young England was a Victorian era political group with a political message based on an idealised feudalism: an absolute monarch and a strong Established Church, ...

movement. He died young and was succeeded by his younger brother, the eighth Viscount. He was a man of letters. The titles became extinct on his death in , although his widow, Viscountess Strangford, lived until 1887.

Viscounts Strangford (1628)

*Thomas Smythe, 1st Viscount Strangford (1599–1635) *

Philip Smythe, 2nd Viscount Strangford Philip Smythe, 2nd Viscount Strangford (23 March 1634 – 8 August 1708) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1660. Smythe was the son of Thomas Smythe, 1st Viscount Strangford of Westenhanger and Sturry, Kent and his wif ...

(1634–1708) *Endymion Smythe, 3rd Viscount Strangford (died 1724) *

Philip Smythe, 4th Viscount Strangford Philip Sydney Smyth (14 March 1715 – 29 April 1787) was a Church of Ireland clergyman and fourth Viscount Strangford in the Peerage of Ireland. He succeeded to the viscountcy on 8 September 1724. Career Ecclesiastical He was educated at Trinit ...

(1715–1787) *Lionel Smythe, 5th Viscount Strangford (1753–1801) * Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford (1780–1855) * George Augustus Frederick Percy Sydney Smythe, 7th Viscount Strangford (1818–1857) * Percy Ellen Algernon Frederick William Sydney Smythe, 8th Viscount Strangford (1825–1869) married Emily Anne Beaufort

References

* * Extinct viscountcies in the Peerage of Ireland Noble titles created in 1628 {{Ireland-stub