Constituency Dates
East Grinstead 1747 – June 1750
Family and Education
b. 1705, 1st s. of Henry Smythe of Old Bounds by Elizabeth, da. of Dr. John Lloyd, canon of Windsor. educ. Kensington (Mr. Coxe); St. John’s, Camb. 1 July 1721, aged nearly 16; I. Temple 1724, called 1729, bencher 1747. m. May 1733, Sarah, da. of Sir Charles Farnaby, 1st Bt., of Kippington, Kent, 1s. suc. fa. 1706. Kntd. 7 Nov. 1750.
Offices Held

Steward and judge of court of palace of Westminster 1740 – 50; K.C. 1747; baron of the Exchequer June 1750; serjeant-at-law 1750; commr. of the great seal Nov. 1756 – June 1757, Jan. 1770 – Jan. 1771; chief baron of the Exchequer 1772 – 77; P.C. 3 Dec. 1777.

Address
Main residences: Old Bounds, Bidborough; Sutton at Hone, Kent.
biography text

In 1733 Smythe, a practising lawyer, was recommended to Sir Philip Yorke by the Duke of Dorset as

a very sensible young fellow and I hope will deserve any favour you are pleased to show him; he is related to the Duke of Newcastle and my Lord Leicester; he is not easily distinguished by his surname which is a very common one, but his christian name is not so.122 Sept. 1733, Add. 35585, f. 193.

He was brought in by the Duke as a Whig for East Grinstead in 1747, vacating his seat in 1750 on being made a baron of the Exchequer. In April 1754 he declined promotion in another court writing: ‘I am so well pleased with the court in which I am placed, that I have at present no desire of removing from it.’ He again declined promotion on the death of the lord chief baron in 1755.2To Hardwicke, 27 Apr. 1754, 20 Sept. 1755, Add. 35592, f. 331; 35593, f. 254.

He died 2 Nov. 1778.

Author
J.B.L.
Volume
Commons 1715-1754
Notes
  • 1. 22 Sept. 1733, Add. 35585, f. 193.
  • 2. To Hardwicke, 27 Apr. 1754, 20 Sept. 1755, Add. 35592, f. 331; 35593, f. 254.