George Smith (MP for Exeter)

Sir George Smith (died 21 March 1619) of Madworthy-juxta-Exeter[2] and Madford House, Exeter, Devon, was a merchant who served as MP for Exeter in 1604,[3] was three times Mayor of Exeter and was Exeter's richest citizen, possessing 25 manors.[4] He was the grandfather of George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670) KG and of John Grenville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628–1701).

Arms of Smith of Exeter: Sable, a fess cotised between three martlets or[1]

Origins

He was the eldest son of John Smith (died pre 1581) of Borage (or Burridge), near Tiverton, a merchant who served as Sheriff of Exeter in 1565 and Mayor of Exeter in 1567/8, by his wife Alice Muttleberry, daughter of Alexander Muttleberry of Jordans, Somerset.[5][6]

Career

He rebuilt his Exeter townhouse in 1584 at a cost of £1,000.[7] His mercantile activities included dealing in tin, a noted product of Cornwall, and he invested in the colonizing voyage to North America undertaken by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1583.[8]

He was Sheriff of Exeter for 1583–84 and Mayor of Exeter for 1586–87, 1597–98 and 1607–08. He was knighted at Greenwich on 12 June 1604.

Marriages and children

George Smith married twice:[9]

  • Firstly on 30 September 1572[10] to Joan Walker (died post 1587), daughter of James Walker of Exeter, descended from the Mathew family of Wales.[11] By Joan he had the following children:
    • Sir Nicholas Smith of Larkbeare, Devon, who married Dorothea Horsey, daughter of Sir Raphe Horsey of Dorset, by whom he left male issue
    • Thomas Smith
    • Elizabeth Smith, wife of Sir Thomas Monk (1570–1627) of Potheridge, Devon, MP for Camelford in 1626. Their second son was George Monck, 1st Duke of Albemarle (1608-1670) KG
    • Jane Smith, wife of Richard Hening of Dorset.
  • Secondly in 1598 to Grace Viell (d.1645), widow of Peter Bevill of Killigarth, Cornwall and daughter and co-heiress of William Viell of Trevorder, Cornwall by his wife Jane Arundell, daughter of Sir John Arundell of Trerice, Cornwall. By Grace he had one daughter:
Heraldic achievement of Sir Bevil Grenville atop his monument in Kilkhampton Church, displaying arms of Grenville (Gules, three clarions or) impaling Smith of Exeter (Sable, a fess cotised between three martlets or)[12]

Death and burial

He died on 21 March 1619 and was buried in Exeter Cathedral. His heir was his son Sir Nicholas Smith. His will was disputed by his widow Grace and his son-in-law Sir Thomas Monck.[14]

References
  1. Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.502. As seen on 1714 mural monument to Sir Bevil Grenville (d.1643), husband of Grace Smith, in Kilkhampton Church, Cornwall; Vivian, p.691 appears to have ascribed to this family the wrong arms, namely those of Smith of Dartmouth (Vivian, p.693) and Smith of Totnes
  2. Vivian, p.569, pedigree of Monk of Potheridge
  3. SMITH, George (-d.1619), of Madford House, Exeter, Devon Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1604-1629, ed. Andrew Thrush and John P. Ferris, 2010
  4. Yerby & Hunneyball
  5. Yerby & Hunneyball
  6. Vivian, pp.691-2
  7. Yerby & Hunneyball
  8. Yerby & Hunneyball
  9. Vivian, pp.691-2
  10. England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
  11. Vivian, p.692
  12. Pole, Sir William (d.1635), Collections Towards a Description of the County of Devon, Sir John-William de la Pole (ed.), London, 1791, p.502
  13. "No. 1020". The London Gazette. 30 August 1675. p. 2.
  14. Yerby & Hunneyball

Sources
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