Sir James Smyth, 1st Baronet (c. 1686 – 28 February 1717) was a

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

in the

Baronetage of Great Britain Baronets are hereditary titles awarded by the Crown. The current baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier, existing baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland and Great Britain. To be recognised as a baronet, it is necessary ...

. He was the only son of Alderman Sir James Smyth, a London draper and

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

, 1684–85, by his second wife, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of Arthur Shirley of

Isfield Isfield is a small village and civil parish in the Wealden District of East Sussex in England, located north-east of Lewes.OS Explorer map Eastbourne and Beachy Head Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publish ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

. Alderman Smyth was the second son of Sir Robert Smyth, 1st Baronet of Upton, Essex. He married Elizabeth Shirley in June 1682, and died aged 72 on 9 December 1706. Cokayne, George Edward (1906)
Complete Baronetage
'. Volume V. Exeter: W. Pollard & Co. . pp. 23–24 James Smyth was born about 1686, and matriculated at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, on 16 September 1702 aged 16. He succeeded to his father's estate in December 1706, and was created a baronet on 2 December 1714. He was

Sheriff of Sussex The office of Sheriff of Sussex was established before the Norman Conquest. The Office of sheriff remained first in precedence in the counties until the reign of Edward VII when an Order in Council in 1908 gave the Lord-Lieutenant the prime office ...

, 1714–15. He married Mirabella, daughter of Sir Robert Legard,

Master in Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of eq ...

. She died on 21 February 1714, aged 29. James Smyth died aged 31 on 28 February 1717. Both were buried with his parents at

West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...

; he was succeeded by his only son, Robert. Sir Robert Smyth, 2nd Baronet, was born about 1709. He married Louisa Caroline Isabella, youngest daughter of

John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol John Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol (27 August 1665 – 20 January 1751) was an English Whig politician. John Hervey was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, the son of Sir Thomas Hervey. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridg ...

, on 23 September 1731. She died on 11 May 1770 aged 55, and was buried at West Ham. He died on 10 December 1783 aged 74, and was buried alongside his wife. He was succeeded by his only son, Hervey. Sir Hervey Smyth, 3rd Baronet, was born in 1734. He became

Page of Honour A Page of Honour is a ceremonial position in the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. It requires attendance on state occasions, but does not now involve the daily duties which were once attached to the office of page. The only ...

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; ; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Em ...

, and was aide-de-camp to General

James Wolfe Major-general James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the French at the Battle of the Plains of ...

at the siege of Quebec in 1759, becoming afterwards Colonel in the Foot Guards. He died unmarried aged 77 on 2 October 1811, when the baronetcy became extinct. His only sister Anna Mirabella Henrietta, born in 1738, married William Beale Brand, of Polsted Hall, Suffolk, in 1761.

References

1680s births 1717 deaths Year of birth uncertain Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of Great Britain High sheriffs of Sussex {{GreatBritain-baronet-stub