Thomas Smiley | |
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Smiley Armorial Ensign | |
Born | c1660 Lanarkshire, Scotland |
Died | 1689 Derry, Northern Ireland |
Nationality | Scots-Irish |
Occupation | Williamite Defender |
Known for | Siege of Derry |
Smiley Ensign draft with motto | |
---|---|
"Viribus Virtus" | |
Nationality | Scots-Irish |
Known for | Siege of Derry |
Thomas Smiley (c. 1660 – 1689) was a Williamite defender during the Siege of Derry.
The Siege of Derry was the first major event in the Williamite War in Ireland. The siege was preceded by a first attempt against the town by Jacobite forces on 7 December 1688 that was foiled when 13 apprentices shut the gates. The second attempt began when James II himself appeared before the walls on 18 April 1689 and lasted 105 days until 1 August. It ended after ships bringing food broke through to the town. The siege is commemorated yearly by the Protestant community.
Thomas Smiley was the son of Presbyterian Minister Thomas Smiley (born c1630) in Scotland. Minister Smiley moved his family to County Donegal, Ireland about 1670 as part of the Plantation of Ulster.
County Donegal is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. Donegal County Council is the local council and Lifford the county town.
The Plantation of Ulster was the organised colonisation (plantation) of Ulster – a province of Ireland – by people from Great Britain during the reign of King James VI & I. Most of the colonists came from Scotland and England, and had a different culture to the natives. Small private plantations by wealthy landowners began in 1606, while the official plantation began in 1609. Most of the land colonised was forfeited from the native Gaelic chiefs, several of whom had fled Ireland for mainland Europe in 1607 following the Nine Years' War against English rule. The official plantation comprised an estimated half a million acres (2,000 km²) of arable land in counties Armagh, Cavan, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Tyrconnell and Londonderry. Land in counties Antrim, Down and Monaghan was privately colonised with the king's support.
Thomas Smiley (the son) married his wife Ann (1663-1731) about 1679, and they had four children; John, Rose, William, and Francis. Rose remained in Ireland, while the three sons set sail for America in the early 1700s.
The Smiley Family originated from Lanarkshire, Scotland; where their surname was Smylie, Smyly or Smaillie, and other versions exist as well. The family name changed to Smiley in Ireland, as family members settled near Derry in the 17th century. [1]
Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark is a historic county in the central Lowlands of Scotland.
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name Daire meaning "oak grove". In 1613, the city was granted a Royal Charter by King James I and gained the "London" prefix to reflect the funding of its construction by the London guilds. While the city is more usually known colloquially as Derry, Londonderry is also commonly used and remains the legal name.
Thomas Smiley died in battle during the Siege of Derry in 1689. As a Williamite defender of the city, he helped to prevent the fall of the city to King James II, which allowed time for the Royal Navy of William III of England to arrive and lift the siege. [2]
A Williamite is a follower of King William III of England who deposed King James II in the Glorious Revolution. William, the Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic, replaced James with the support of English Whigs.
William III, also widely known as William of Orange, was sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672 and King of England, Ireland and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. As King of Scotland, he is known as William II. He is sometimes informally known in Northern Ireland and Scotland as "King Billy".
In recognition of Thomas's courage in battle, the Smiley Family was awarded an Armorial Ensign by William Hawkins, Esq., Ulster King of Arms about 1700. [3]
This ensign was confirmed and duly recorded in 1815 by the Crown; through Sir William Betham, Knight Deputy of Ulster, King of Arms. [4]
King of Arms is the senior rank of an officer of arms. In many heraldic traditions, only a king of arms has the authority to grant armorial bearings and sometimes certify genealogies and noble titles. In other traditions, the power has been delegated to other officers of similar rank.
Key elements of the ensign include: a Chevron (insignia) which denotes military valor, an armored arm upon the Crest (heraldry) which signifies strength or power, and iron dart heads Pheon indicating defence of Crown property.
The motto of the crest "Viribus Virtus" translates as "Valor in Arms" or "Virtue with Power".
Despite the fact that Thomas Smiley died in battle, his legacy extends through his three sons that settled in America in the 1700s. They established the bloodlines that subsequently have grown to many thousands of Smiley descendants. [5]
John Smiley settled in Pennsylvania, William Smiley settled in Virginia, and Francis Smiley settled in New Hampshire.
Several sons of these settlers served as soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. [6] [7]
Thomas Smiley's biography was written by Oliver H. White in 1949. This biography was compiled into the book Genealogy of Smiley family and descendants (1971) by Jane Myrtle Hinkhouse, which may be found in the Library of Congress. [8] [9] In addition, the Library of Congress produced a microfilm record of this book in 1985. [10]
The biography details the notability of Thomas Smiley that was recorded by the Crown of England following the Siege of Derry in 1689.
Ulster is a province in the north of the island of Ireland. It is made up of nine counties, six of which are in Northern Ireland and three of which are in the Republic of Ireland. It is the second largest and second most populous of Ireland's four provinces, with Belfast being its biggest city. Unlike the other provinces, Ulster has a high percentage of Protestants, making up almost half of its population. English is the main language and Ulster English the main dialect. A minority also speak Irish, and there are Gaeltacht in southern Londonderry, the Gaeltacht Quarter of Belfast and in Donegal, where 25% of the total Gaeltacht population of Ireland is located. Lough Neagh, in the east, is the largest lake in the British Isles, while Lough Erne in the west is one of its largest lake networks. The main mountain ranges are the Mournes, Sperrins, Croaghgorms and Derryveagh Mountains.
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon, surcoat, or tabard. The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement which in its whole consists of shield, supporters, crest, and motto. A coat of arms is traditionally unique to an individual person, family, state, organization or corporation.
The Ulster Scots, also called Ulster Scots people or, outside the British Isles, Scots-Irish (Scotch-Airisch), are an ethnic group in Ireland, found mostly in the province of Ulster and to a lesser extent in the rest of Ireland. Their ancestors were mostly Protestant Presbyterians Lowland Scottish migrants, the largest numbers coming from Galloway, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire and the Scottish Borders, with others coming from further north in the Scottish Lowlands and, to a much lesser extent, from the Highlands.
The Williamite War in Ireland (1688–1691), was a conflict between Jacobites and Williamites over who would be monarch of the three kingdoms of Ireland, England and Scotland. It is also called the Jacobite War in Ireland or the Williamite–Jacobite War in Ireland.
Robert Lundy,, was a Scottish army officer best known for serving as Governor of Londonderry during the early stages of the Siege of Derry.
Ireland during the period 1536–1691 saw the first full conquest of the island by England and its colonization with Protestant settlers from Great Britain. This established two central themes in future Irish history: subordination of the country to London-based governments and sectarian animosity between Catholics and Protestants. The period saw Irish society transform from a locally driven, intertribal, clan-based Gaelic structure to a centralised, monarchical, state-governed society, similar to those found elsewhere in Europe. The period is bounded by the dates 1536, when King Henry VIII deposed the FitzGerald dynasty as Lords Deputies of Ireland, and 1691, when the Irish Catholic Jacobites surrendered at Limerick, thus confirming British Protestant dominance in Ireland. This is sometimes called the early modern period.
Events from the year 1689 in England.
Events from the year 1689 in Ireland.
The O'Neill dynasty is a group of families, ultimately all of Irish Gaelic origin, that have held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As Chiefs of Cenél nEógain, they are historically the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell, O'Doherty and the O'Donnelly clans. The O'Neills hold that their ancestors were Kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
Morrow is a surname of Scottish origins.
The Battle of Loup Hill was a minor skirmish fought on the slopes of Loup Hill in Kintyre on 16 May 1689 between Scottish Jacobite and government troops.
William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy (1653–1692), was an Anglo-Irish peer and soldier.
The Alexanders of Menstrie, also known as the House of Alexander, are a sept of Clan MacAlister of Scotland, itself a branch of Clan MacDonald. The family is said to descend from Somerled, Lord of the Isles. The seat of the clan was at Menstrie Castle in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire. Descendants of the Alexanders of Menstrie have become prominent in Ireland, England and the United States.
Ulster Protestants are an ethnoreligious group in the Irish province of Ulster, where they make up about 43% of the population. Many Ulster Protestants are descendants of settlers who arrived in the early 17th century Ulster Plantation. This was the colonisation of the Gaelic, Catholic province of Ulster by English-speaking Protestants from Great Britain, mostly from the Scottish Lowlands and Northern England. Many more Scottish Protestant migrants arrived in Ulster in the late 17th century. Those who came from Scotland were mostly Presbyterians, while those from England were mostly Anglicans. Since then, sectarian and political divisions between Ulster Protestants and Catholics have played a major role in the history of Ulster, and of Ireland as a whole. Ulster Protestants descend from a variety of lineages, including Lowland Scots, English, Irish, and Huguenots.
Smiley is a surname which may refer to:
The Siege of Carrickfergus took place in August 1689 when a force of Williamite troops under Marshal Schomberg landed and laid siege to the Jacobite garrison of Carrickfergus in Ireland. After a week the Jacobites surrendered, and were allowed to march out with the honours of war.
"The Crimson Banner" is a traditional Irish song, also known as "The Eighteenth of December" and "No Surrender!".