John Henry Smyth (20 March 1780 – 20 October 1822) was a Whig member of Parliament for Cambridge University from 9 June 1812 until his death.
Smyth was born on 20 March 1780. He was one of four sons and two daughters born to Lady Georgiana FitzRoy (1757–1799) and John Smyth (1748–1811), who served as MP of Pontefract from 1783 to 1807. He was also Lord of the Admiralty, Lord of the Treasury, Master of the Mint, and a Commissioner of the Board of Trade. [1]
His paternal grandparents were John Smyth and the former Bridget Foxley (daughter of Benjamin Foxley of London). His maternal grandparents were Hon. Anne Liddell (daughter of Henry Liddell, 1st Baron Ravensworth) and Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, the Prime Minister from 1768 to 1770. [2]
Smyth was educated at Eton College and then Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied Classics, and the Middle Temple. [3]
Before he was elected to Parliament, Smyth was Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department in Pitt's government at his father's request, from July 1804 to February 1806. [3] [4] His father sought to have him elected to Parliament in 1802. [4] He stood for election in the Cambridge University constituency in 1811 when his uncle vacated his seat on joining the Lords, but he lost to Henry Temple, Lord Palmerston 451–345. Although he had served Pitt and his father was a Conservative, the younger Smyth had become a Whig at university and sat for that party when finally elected unopposed the following year when the other Cambridge University seat also became vacant. [4] As an MP from 1812, he supported reduced military spending, reduced taxation, and the end of the slave trade, and he joined the finance committee in 1819. [3] [4] He was unwell during his last term in office and lived in Hastings for several months in the hope of recovering his health, but he died there in October 1822. [3]
He was a Captain of the South-West Yorkshire yeomanry, [3] and a governor of Wakefield Grammar School from 1811. [5]
Smyth was twice married. His first marriage was to Sarah Caroline Ibbetson, daughter of Henry Ibbetson of St. Anthony's, on 5 July 1810, but she died the following year on 29 May 1811 aged just 25. [3] From his father, Smyth inherited Heath Hall, Wakefield, Yorkshire. [6]
Three years later on 18 April 1814, he was remarried to his cousin Lady Elizabeth Anne FitzRoy, daughter of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton and the former Charlotte Maria Waldegrave. They had two sons and four daughters: [2]
He was buried in the same vault as his first wife Sarah, in the church of the parish of St. Peter at Warmfield in Kirkthorp, where they were married. [6]
Through his son John, he was a grandfather of Diana Smyth, who married Henry Lascelles, 4th Earl of Harewood. [2]
Through his second son Henry, he was a great-grandfather of Sir John Smyth, 1st Baronet, recipient of the Victoria Cross. [2]
Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton,, styled Earl of Euston between 1747 and 1757, was a British Whig statesman of the Georgian era. He is one of a handful of dukes who have served as prime minister.
Brigadier Sir John George Smyth, 1st Baronet,, often known as Jackie Smyth, was a British Indian Army officer and a Conservative Member of Parliament. Although a recipient of the Victoria Cross, his military career ended in controversy.
George Henry FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton, KG, styled Earl of Euston until 1811, was a British peer and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1782 to 1811 when he succeeded to the Dukedom.
Major Henry Somerset, 7th Duke of Beaufort, KG, styled Earl of Glamorgan until 1803 and Marquess of Worcester between 1803 and 1835, was a British peer, soldier, and politician.
Lt.-General Godfrey Bosville Macdonald, 3rd Baron Macdonald of Sleat was a Scottish aristocrat.
General Lord Charles FitzRoy was a British Army officer and politician.
Thomas Levett, was an Oxford-educated Lincoln's Inn barrister, judge of the Admiralty for the Northern Counties and High Sheriff of Rutland. But Levett's chief accomplishment was as antiquarian, preserving a centuries-old chartulary kept by Cluniac monks at their Pontefract, Yorkshire abbey, and then turning it over to Yorkshire medieval scholar Roger Dodsworth for publication.
Edward Miller Mundy was an English landowner and Tory politician who was MP for the Derbyshire constituency.
William Henry Leatham was a British banker, poet and Liberal politician.
John Smyth was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1783 to 1807.
Thomas Wood was an English Tory and later Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1806 to 1847.
Sir George Wombwell, 2nd Baronet was an English first-class cricketer with amateur status who played for the Marylebone Cricket Club.
Admiral Lord William FitzRoy, was an officer of the British Royal Navy who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and also as a Member of Parliament.
Abraham Wildey Robarts, of Hill Street, Berkeley Square, Middlesex, was an English politician and banker.
Major-General Henry Smyth CB was a British Army officer who became General Officer Commanding Western District.
Anne FitzPatrick, Countess of Upper Ossory was an English noblewoman and the first wife of Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. Grafton divorced her while serving as prime minister. She was a noted correspondent of Horace Walpole.
John George Smyth JP DL MP was a Conservative member of Parliament for the City of York from August 28, 1847 to July 11, 1865.
Charlotte FitzRoy, Countess of Euston, was the wife of George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton. Although she is sometimes referred to as "Duchess of Grafton", her husband did not inherit the dukedom until 1811, after his wife's death.
Heath Hall, Heath, Wakefield, West Yorkshire is a country house dating from 1709. Originally called Eshald House, the estate was purchased by John Smyth whose nephew engaged John Carr of York to reconstruct the house between 1754 and 1780. In the 19th century, the house was remodelled by Anthony Salvin. Heath Hall is a Grade I listed building.
Elizabeth FitzRoy, Duchess of Grafton was the second wife of Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton. They married on 24 June 1769 at Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, England, three months after his divorce.