Viscount Strangford was a title in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

. 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 instru ...

1600–1601, also M.P. for

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(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 hamlet in Canada England *The ...

(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 envelo ...

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

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, the

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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 in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great B ...

, 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 and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

and the

Young England 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, with the philanthropy of '' noblesse oblige'' as the basis for its paternalistic ...

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 of England, House of Commons in 1660. Smythe was the son of Thomas Smythe, 1st Viscount Strangford of Westenhanger ...

(1634–1708) *Endymion Smythe, 3rd Viscount Strangford (died 1724) * Philip Smythe, 4th Viscount Strangford (1715–1787) *Lionel Smythe, 5th Viscount Strangford (1753–1801) *

Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford (31 August 178029 May 1855) was a British diplomat. Early life He was the son of Lionel Smythe, 5th Viscount Strangford (1753–1801) and Maria Eliza Philipse. In 1769, his sixteen-year-old ...

(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