Without Further Proof
The possibility that our Peter Smith descends from Swallowfield Manor is something that genealogists have tossed around for close to 50 years. Contained within the tome Swallowfield and its’ Owners are found several Smyths of note. Perhaps one of them is a grandparent of Peter.
Henry Smith, alias Neville
On page 120 of Swallowfield and its’ Owners we find this reference to a Henry Smith.
“Sir John Backhouse’s widow, Flora (nee Henshaw), remarried Henry Smith, alias Neville of Holt, Esquire, of co. Leicester. He was the second son of Sir Henry Neville of Billingbear, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir John Smith, Kt., of Ostenhanger, Kent, and was a widower with children, his first wife having been daughter and heir of Richard Staverton.”
In this 1600s use of the term ‘alias’ Henry was indicating that his mother was a Smith and his father a Neville. If I followed that model today, I would be Steve Weiherman, alias Smith, using my mother’s maiden name as my own last name. Honestly, I don’t get it, but then I have never been charged with heresy, pursued by English clerics, nor have I laid claim to another person’s wealth.
At first Neville and his kin are an interesting prospect in terms of our lineage. An initial examination of the life of Henry Neville revealed that he died without child. Thus, we are not descended from Henry Neville, alias Smith. I did a quick grab of Neville family ancestors from whom Henry Neville descended. Nada. They are not Smiths. They are Nevilles. Does that close the door on our Peter? God, I hope not. That would hurt.
Henry Neville’s wife, Elizabeth was the daughter of Sir John Smith of Ostenhanger. Does Peter descend from this John Smith with his ties to Swallowfield? The best hope would be to track down any DNA Sir John left on the face of the earth.
Dr. Edward Swayne, alias Smith
There are several other links to Smiths in the Swallowfield text: The Backhouse family doctor responsible for Flora Henshaw Backhouse Neville was Dr. Edward Swayne, alias Smith. The Swallowfield Church may contain a clue related to the life and death of Dr. Swayne, alias Smith.
On the south wall of the nave outside is a small stone with an inscription to Edward Swayne, ‘Chirurgeon,’ who died 15 February 1650, aged fifty-nine. Next to the stone is a stone sundial, said to have been put there by the same Edward Swayne. There is a slab in the churchyard to Thomas Huxley, who died in 1685.
The Surgeon was age 59 in 1650 putting his birth circa 1591. That was a test of the limits of my math skills. Men born in 1590 could be married with children as early as 1615 and fathering children for decades thereafter. Dr. Swayne was in a position to be more likely a father or grandfather to our Peter Smith Sr and this would be assuming that his offspring chose his alias (Smith) for a surname. Was Swayne related to Sir John Smith of Ostenhanger?
Richard Smyth, Keeper of the King’s Garments
There are references to the previously discussed Richard Smyth, the man responsible for the garments of King Henry VIII and the King’s forest at Swallowfield. I have given him enough attention already. Let him get back to preparing the King’s silk underware.
Summary for Swallowfield leads:
I am just not feeling it. I am digging into these leads and nothing is really creating that “Aha!” moment. It would be wrong to assume that Peter Smith descends from Richard Smyth. It would be also be wrong to assume that Richard Smyth (Yeoman of the King’s Robes) necessarily descends from the Smyths of the West Country of England. But historians of previous centuries have contributed a whole lot of literature and research indicating a strong possibility.
When I reach a dead end when tracing family history I must be honest enough to point out the dead end. At the same time, I feel an obligation to future family historians to point out the avenues I traveled, the leads I followed, the dead-end streets and the rabbit holes into which I dove. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of knowing oneself as Socrates suggested and knowing one’s roots as Billy Bob Thornton offered in Bad Santa. We are nothing more than a blip on the radar screen of life, a dot in the matrix. But, it is important for humankind to connect the dots if we are to escape the grasp of past patterns and elude the fault lines that litter the tectonic plate of life.
The Smyths of Swallowfield arrived in the Berkshire hills over the centuries from three different locations: The West Country, Yorkshire and London. Let’s start with the Smyths of London. There are two who plated their meals and donned their capes in Swallowfield.
Sir Thomas Smythe (1558-1625)
This guy, Tom, had money. SO. It would be really cool if we could stake a claim to his fortune as his descendants. But good luck with that. About the only connection you’re going to find is his estate/home in Swallowfield.
Thomas Smythe was your prima ballerina dancing the two-step in the markets of London. Talk about a cash cow! This guy had golden teats. He was the treasurer (CFO) of the Virginia Company, the investors who sent everyone off to Jamestown and disastrous conditions. He had a brother John Smythe (1556-1608) who served as the High Sheriff of Kent and was the father of a Thomas Smythe, 1st Viscount of Strangford. Thomas was the auditor for the city of London and treasurer of the St Bartholomew Hospital. He was a bean counter extraordinaire. He was the first CEO of the East India Company (1600) and a member of Parliament. He shifted his attention to the Muscovy Company and began scoring contracts for big bucks with the Tsar of Russia. The East India Company tugged at him to return to their corporate office and the guy couldn’t say ‘no’. He was the Stephen Jobs of the 17th century. They couldn’t live with him and couldn’t profit without him.
Smythe had the kind of profile that sort of fits into the generations of our ancestors at that time. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist he was funding the British exploration of the New World. The attempts by Whittington ancestors: Drake, Grenville, Gilbert and Raleigh were part of the strategic planning that was hatched in Smythe’s office. They were key players in the exploration of the American coastline and spread of the British empire. The one explorer credited with really spearheading the British settlement of the east coast of our nation was Bartholomew Gosnold. Gosnold settled into Jamestown in the very first year and was drown soon thereafter in the James River. Decades later Gosnold descendants shared a property line with Peter Smith.
Before his death, Thomas Smythe faced a large-scale investigation into the way he acquired his wealth. He was accused of theft, embezzlement, fraud, money laundering, shady deals and various forms of extortion. This guy would be fun to claim if we wanted to develop a Wall Street shark profile for our family.
So where does this tale go in terms of offspring? Because… Well, you know. If we want to claim access to present day family fortunes, we’re going to have come up with the pedigree chart, bloodline and DNA sample. And again. Good luck with that.
Thomas Smythe was married three times. History indicates the first two wives probably died young and without children. His third wife, Sarah Blount, gave birth to at least four children: a daughter who died unmarried in 1627 and three sons: Sir John and two others, the details on whom I am still seeking. Before I start tracking these two lost souls down I must ask myself: With such great wealth stored away in London vaults, why would any of these children or future generations leave the comfort and prominence they held in England? There are answers to that question.
They may have been ardent protestants who had been shorted in their father’s will and possessed of a frantic need to run away from the Darth Vader of the Church of England (Archbishop Laud). Such brooding upstarts were looking for a chance to build their own fortunes in Virginia. At a later date we also find numerous wealthy aristocrats (Cavaliers), members of the Church of England, fleeing the wrath of the Puritanical Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell turned the tables on Laud and did so with an equal vengeance and sense of malice. So, circumstances in the chaotic life of Britain did give families pause and reason to give up everything for a new venture and greater freedom.
If looking into this Smyth family for ancestral ties, I would explore the sons of the father of Sir Thomas, otherwise known as Thomas ‘Customer’ Smyth and his six sons. Perhaps one of them is the “John” who fathered Peeter Smith. I didn’t mean ‘John’ in the street sense of the word. Peeter Smith did have a father named ‘John’ whose name shows up in those infamous LDS files stashed in the mountains of Utah. But, at this point we are grasping at straws. Desperate to find a cash cow and access to the deep pockets of Fleet Street, we can try one more piece of evidence, that home in Swallowfield…
In 1600, the CFO for England’s initial efforts to colonize the New World, Sir Thomas Smyth, maintained a residence in Swallowfield. His family enjoyed the pastoral escape from the London scene and prospered in Swallowfield. He had been born and raised in the hill country around Swallowfield. When the pressures of micromanaging, a multinational conglomeration got the better of him he slipped away to Swallowfield. He was responsible for the East India Company, Muscovy Company, London Company, Bermuda Company and Virginia Company. He imported furs from Muscovy, spices from the Orient, tea from India and tobacco from the colonies. He sent boatloads of migrants to America and still had time for a game of croquet at his manor house in Swallowfield. There was nothing like a moment’s respite in the woodlands of the Berkshire hills. He could pretend to enjoy a great hunt, skewer a lamb on the barbie and connive his way through the demands of London’s top shelf investors. If kissing the ass of the King or Queen became too much Smyth could always find relief in Swallowfield.
When you peruse the man’s resume and read the history of the decades in which he ruled the British economy you find yourself thinking: he didn’t know what in hell it was like to slow down for even a minute. I doubt that he enjoyed a commute from the Berkshire hills. But he did maintain a residence there and one I am sure his family enjoyed. If nothing else the place provided his kids an escape from the idiosyncratic behaviors of a British bean counter bent on controlling the universe.
Thomas Smyth understood world trade, shipping on the high seas and marketing. He was a wheeler dealer of the highest caliber. His skills were legendary. He established England’s trade relationships with Russia and India, vast distances across the globe. He purchased Sir Walter Raleigh’s rights to own ‘Virginia’ (aka: America). He invested large amounts of time and energy in his corporate effort to develop this new world holding. He attracted numerous corporate investors to that cause but initial attempts in Jamestown were colossal failures. Profits were hard to come by and Smythe’s strategies were called into question by investors and the king himself.
Smythe saw no need to bring Christianity to the Native Americans (as the monarch hoped to do), just kill them. This tactic led to continued bloodshed as attacks and counter attacks eventually resulted in the near annihilation of Jamestown in 1622. It also went a long way toward irritating the hell out of Captain John Smith who understood military power, but preferred diplomacy in a New World strategy. Captain John had no idea how many Natives could be living out there in the hills. Thomas Smyth preferred genocide for the masses. This conflict in policy led to Smyth’s demise as a corporate head. Pending scandals related to his fiscal operations exposed him to a series of charges until his death in 1625. Thomas was a chip off the old block. His father, Thomas ‘Customer’ Smyth, had also been a major player in the London market place.
Thomas ‘Customer’ Smyth 1522-1595
His nickname, ‘Customer’, implied that he was the collector of customs in London. He was the tax collector. I would imagine he was despised. You can find the account of his rise and fall as an entrepreneur online. He and his son each had remarkable, yet tragic success. They each paid a price for the wealth they accumulated. Important to this narrative is the fact that Customer Smyth was born of John Smyth and raised in the Berkshire hills. Specifically, his father John was a yeoman and clothier in Corsham, Wiltshire. Father, John, left a 100-acre farm in Amesbury, Wiltshire to young Thomas when Thomas was all of 16 years of age. Thomas ‘Customer’ Smyth left the hill country at about that same time of his father’s death and joined the haberdashery guild of London. From that point forward, he made the right connections, married into the Lord Mayor’s family and made his fortune, created his scandals and died miserably drained of his wealth by Queen Elizabeth. Thomas Smyth had thirteen children, including 6 males, all of whom reached adulthood, married and had children. There may be a Peter Smith that crawled out into the world from one the available wombs in the house.
Smyths in the West Country
Smyths also arrived in Swallowfield from the West Country in a gradual, yet compelling manner, over the centuries. These clan members went from peasant sheepherders to landed aristocracy and major players in the wool textile industry. In the 15th and 16th century they were engaged as clothiers, makers of fine garments for the aristocracy of England and Europe. One doesn’t have to be jacked up on arabica coffee to follow the steady evolution from sheepherders to weavers to textile manufacturers and clothiers to Richard Smyth, Yeoman of the King’s Robes and Thomas Smyth, haberdasher turned shipping magnate and world trade tycoon.
In 1902, the Reverend Compton Reade, discussed the history of St. Mary’s of Oxford:
“John le Smyth was a member for Chard, co. Somerset, in 1327, and probably the first of his name in England to acquire social distinction. Of his blood is assumed to be Robert, Mayor of Exeter in 1469, who had the honour of entertaining King Edward IV, with his Consort, during his year of office. Between 1469 and 1553, when William Smyth was mayor, there are no traceable family links, but since they were wool-staplers in the chief towns of Devonshire and Dorset, from whose ports the wool was shipped to Flanders, the probabilities are in favour of the Smiths holding a commanding position in the trade. The Flemish merchants in the later middle ages were paying such large prices for English wool, that men of the highest social status, such as the Dormers and Grenvilles, embarked in the trade. At all events we note, about the Reformation period, that the Smiths of the West, while retaining their connection to Exeter, had already advanced from being mere yeoman to become large and influential landowners. Wool indisputably was the source from whence their wealth accumulated, and it is affirmed that already they had begun to manufacture cloth on their own account. This may be; but a profitable and extensive export trade was the making of the West, and incidentally of its notable manufacturers, the Smiths.”
Family crests and seals used in transactions were symbols important in identifying people and families in olde England. The merchant’s mark found on the seal of William Smyth in 1436 links him to the family wool trade, either as a merchant or manufacturer of cloth. William resided in the English community of Devizes. The village of Devizes is a scant 45 miles to the west of Swallowfield and we find William only two centuries prior to the birth of Peter Smith. Devizes was and is a part of Wiltshire County. Swallowfield was, at one time, subject to the governance of Wiltshire County.
Again, it has been recorded that merchants in Devizes were exporting their manufactured goods, identified as “cloth of Ghent” to the French village of St. Omer. Also found in these ancient records is evidence that the Smythe and Covyntre families were closely aligned in the Devizes community, corporation and Church of St. Mary. During the time of Henry V, one Robert Smyth served as Mayor in 1417-18. Terms for officials, be they mayors, constables, or members of Parliament were short: no more than a year of two. During his stint on earth, Robert was noted as a major benefactor of the church. Deeds indicate that he donated a large chunk of land to the St. Mary’s parish. That would have made my Grandmother Mary proud to know that Smiths had made such a notable contribution to her namesake church. This pattern of a Catholic family playing a significant role in the church, community and clothing industry carried forward to Richard Smyth of Swallowfield of King Henry VIII’s court.
Keep in mind that we are merely talking in general terms about possible ancestors and the evolution of a family name and heritage. No specific evidence of linkage from one generation to the next has been found. The patterns are interesting to note and worthy of further exploration.
Some believe Peter of Yeocomico was descended from Welsh parents. There are Smiths from Wales who came into the country at that time. I have made efforts to track down Welsh families who may have given birth to our guy. But Welsh history and geography blends together with British bloodlines in the Welsh Marches. The Border Lords and their families roamed the hills and vales of Wales and British West Country with abandon. The sheep were more likely to commit to a range and border than were their keepers.
Other Notable Possibilities Beyond Berkshire
Captain John Smith
I have found many desperate people linking our Peter Smith to Captain John Smith, the British explorer who made Jamestown famous and put the face of Pocahontas on a box of Wheaties. The Captain never married, never fathered a child from which we could descend. Scratch his name from your list. Don’t even think about it. I am exercising my power as a Gatekeeper.
Captain Roger Smith
Others point their tree toward Captain Roger Smith at Jamestown. He did leave descendants and a colorful history in terms of his relationship with John Rolfe, Pocohantas, Jane Pierce and other notables from the early Jamestown settlement.
This guy operated with a bit of mojo for a man of his time. He was born in 1567 in England to a guy named John Smith and wife Thomasine Mannynge, aka Manning. Thomasine was from Devon, England and she descended from the family that includes the irrepressible author of naughty bits, Geoffrey Chaucer. It would be really cool if we could find a valid link to old Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales. But I am afraid his lineage dwindled down to nothing and calling him uncle would be about the best we could do under any circumstance.
Roger Smith married Jane Pierce whose previous husband John Rolfe had been the husband of Pocahontas before she met her demise in England. John Rolfe’s mother was Dorothea Mason of the George Mason family of Doegs Neck. Roger Smith’s plantation at James City was overrun by the Native population at the time of the notorious massacre of Jamestown in 1622. He survived, and he and Jane had one son John (1630-1692) who died in Charles City, VA.The Pierce family saga is interwoven with the lives of several other of our ancestors. Jane’s father, William Pierce, came to the colony on board the Sea Venture, along with our great grandfather (ggf7), Stephen Hopkins, later of Pilgrim/Plymouth Colony fame. The Sea Venture and other ships included our own sea captain James Davis and his brother, Robert. Shakespeare wrote an entire play, The Tempest, about the tragic voyage of the Sea Venture dashing up on the rocks of Bermuda in hurricane force winds. Not only Hopkins, but the Davis family as well was party to this tragic misadventure. As were John Rolfe, William Pierce and his family.
Add to this excitement the presence of Pocahontas and you have quite a saga. Imagine the status one could claim! It would create awe and wonder at the workplace water cooler on a dull Wednesday afternoon if I could announce “I found Pocahontas in my bloodline last night!” Anyway, I digress. I share my workplace with my puppy and the water cooler is a kitchen sink. The only bloodline of interest to Murphy is road or winterkill found in the forest.
Pocahontas is already found in our family tree, via the Fleming family into which Peter of Yeocomico’s children intermarried three times. We can claim Pokey as a distant cousin many times removed and once by death. Save that for another day. I am still looking for Peter Smith’s father or grandfather. If Roger Smith’s son John surfaces with offspring in Virginia, we might have something to go on. Who knows? His DNA may explode from the cheek swab of a 63-year-old man who works a bowling alley and dines at a hot dog truck on the south side of Spartanburg, SC. Stranger things have happened when people subject their spittle to a DNA test.
Nicholas Smith
Behind door number four we have Nicholas Smith, a Cavalier. Nicholas established his successful plantation in Westmoreland County and documents link him directly to a Peter Smith. In fact, some folks have dubbed him ‘grampa’ and added him to their family tree as our Peter Smith’s father. These folks completely ignore efforts by many to give Peter of Yeocomico a father named “Peter” or “Peeter” with two ‘e’s’ in the middle. It is okay to think outside the nebulous parameters being established by our cousin’s attempts to find a great grandparent in our line of descent. But the research efforts of several veteran cousins provide food for thought.
Nicholas Smith died circa 1730 and leaves a will on the table for posterity that identifies three sons: Nicholas Jr, Peter and James. Right away we do have a problem. The James Smith in the Nicholas Smith Last Will was alive and well in 1730. Our Peter Smith of Yeocomico did have a brother named James whom we met briefly in a previous chapter. Our brother James died circa 1706 and his daughter Hanna Breel surrendered her interest in her father’s land to Peter of Yeocomico. The Peter Smith identified in the will of Nicholas was a very young man in 1730 and our Peter was a grandfather in the latter years of his life. This is a strike against the possibility of posting Nicholas as Peter’s father. It would be premature however, to dump Nick’s resume into a circular file. He was a wealthy, large plantation owner in the Yeocomico/Cople Parish neighborhood. With that surname of Smith, and several sons he may offer some insight into the development of a wider family tree replete with our Peter’s brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. We may be able to use his family lineage to learn more about our own tree.
There are a number of other Smiths living in the Great Neck of Westmoreland in the 1640’s and through the end of that century. Many of these guys could have been a father or grandfather to our Peter of Yeocomico. Upon close examination guys like Robert, Richard and William fail as prospects when their wills fail to mention a Peter as a son. The authors of these Smith family wills line out their children for us in thoughtful manner and legalese as they bequeath silverware, curtains, cattle and slaves.
Children, in laws, cousins, uncles and aunts are frequently identified in wills. If a name we are searching for is not found in a will we can conclude 1) no relation, 2) disinherited or 3) dead before the will went probate. I will pursue several of these suspects further as I take you, the reader, into the Westmoreland neighborhoods these crazy guys and gals called home. We have four different neighborhoods to explore along the coast of the Potomoc River as it makes its way out to sea:
1 Kinsale and the Yeocomico headwater at the east end of Westmoreland, adjacent to Northumberland
2 Colonial Beach and Pope’s Head
3 Doeg’s Head, also called Mason’s Neck
4 Bull Run
As Peter of Yeocomico established properties in all these areas we are talking about a wide range for the time period of 75 miles in length. This includes lands found at present day Kinsale to the south, through Mount Vernon, the Quantico Marine Base (Alexandria VA) and up the Occoquan River to Manassas. Found within the domain of Peter of Yeocomico were the properties of Nicholas Smith, Robert Smith, Richard Smith and William Smith. Some of whom I am certain, are related to Peter of Yeocomico and my father.
It was not unusual for the British aristocracy to possess far flung properties. In fact, it was an ordained practice established by William the Conqueror at the time of his Norman invasion of the British Isles in 1066. One of our ancestors, a 32 times great grandfather, Sir Roger de Montgomery, was assigned properties all over Normandy, England and Wales by the Conqueror. Roger became the fifth wealthiest man on the island. His kids squandered it away. I have nothing to show for it, other than these photographs of castles that could have, with the right attorneys, been mine. In William’s devious mind it made sense to put his most loyal warriors in possession, as landlords, of his vast lands. But William scattered their landholdings about the countryside so that they could never be in one place too long, consolidating their power, their base and alliances for the purposes of overthrowing his own position.
Remember, I don’t make any of this up. One of our relations, the Neales owned the land upon which the White House stands. We will come back to this irrepressible Irish family and the exploits of their hot, 15-year-old daughter Margaret whose seductions serve notice in Washington D.C. that the British weren’t the only ones who could burn the town down.
The Ending
I have frequently asked myself, ‘Why am I digging so deep into my grandfather Leb’s history?’ And I have found an answer.
There are economic issues in this country that are tied to generational wealth. We have our ‘Haves’ and we have our ‘Have Nots.’ We have our ‘one percent’ and we have our ’99 percent.’ Money begets money and money creates power. Citizens United, the infamous Supreme Court decision, extends the reach and control of the wealthy into our daily lives. There is old wealth in our nation and there will always be new wealth. Old wealth has been tied to a family name. I see it in every branch of a family tree in which the wealthy came into the new world accompanied by their servants and extended families. They acquired acres of plantation land, purchased slaves, bought merchant vessels, established a warehouse on the banks of a cypress laden river and passed that wealth along to the generations that follow, “to their heirs forever.”
My father had no idea that he had ancestors who were tied to that old wealth. He and his father before him had no idea that they descended from families that were part of the original power structure in the colonies. As our predecessors rolled their wagons over the Blue Ridge and into the Ohio River system or across the black dirt of the deep south, they became disconnected from that wealth and the influence it possessed. Old money on the East Coast maintained control of our nation’s destiny and grew in terms of power and prominence and acted in a manner that reduced the power of the blue-collar man, the working-class girl, the farm family and the seafaring fisher. As Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, “We can either have Democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we cannot have both.”
In my search for ancestors I have come to realize that there has been, in this nation, a psychological edge that is passed along from generation to generation along with the DNA, wealth and power. The operating style of the “One Percent” (The ‘Haves’) is a continuation of the Aristocratic sense of entitlement that pervaded the caste system of Europe. The human psyche of the ruling class of 1066 is prevalent in 2018.
Those who were made slaves, born into slavery and poverty over generations of time seek escape from the bounds imposed by self and society. If the yeoman of this country cannot free themselves from the control and manipulation of the One Percent, Democracy as it was designed by our Founding Fathers is doomed. Those who designed the Constitution created the pathway for a peaceful Revolution at the ballot box. We have the ability to right the wrongs, remedy the ills and correct the errors that have accumulated in our nation’s failed attempt to create a more perfect union. I leave this collection of ancestors on your doorstep as a record of their efforts to survive, thrive and flourish in the time that my God has given them; while your god was busy watching the plight of the Chicago Cubs, inventing pork rinds, the Kardashians and Trump. Connect the dots.
