SMYTHE, Sir John II (c.1592-1632), of Leeds Castle, Kent

According to Chamberlain, Smythe’s knighthood in 1617 was a precondition of his marriage to Mary Franklin, who brought him a substantial dowry of £4,000. The union was possibly not childless as is usually supposed, for the financial records of Mary’s brother, Sir John Franklin*, include payments during the mid-1620s for the education of a boy named John Smith.8 Soc. Antiq. ms 133, ff. 1-2v, 4v, 5. Despite his lack of a university training, Smythe, who may have been the John Smith ‘of London’ licensed to travel abroad for three years in 1610, was evidently well educated. In 1623 he lent a number of French and Italian manuscripts to John Howell*, who also borrowed a copy of a work by Balzac from him two years later.9 J. Howell, Epistolae Ho-Elianae, 18, 92-3.

Returned for Mitchell to the first and second Caroline Parliaments, Smythe probably owed his seats to the influence of his cousin, Sir Richard Buller*, who belonged to the same Cornish gentry faction as John Arundell*, the borough’s principal patron. Smythe left no trace on the records of either session.10 Arch. Cant. xx. 78-9; Vivian, Vis. Cornw. 57. He succeeded to his patrimony in 1628, but played only a minor role in local government. In his will of 30 Dec. 1631 he appointed Sir John Franklin one of his overseers.11 PROB 11/162, f. 136. He died without male heir five months later, aged 40, and was buried at Leeds Castle. His widow subsequently married Anthony Crofts*. Smythe’s two sisters, who were his coheirs, sold Leeds Castle to Sir Thomas Culpeper*.12 W. Copinger, Suff. Manors, i. 406; C. Wykeham Martin, Leeds Castle, Kent, 156.