Thomas Smiley | |
|---|---|
 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.
Thomas Smiley was the son of Presbyterian Minister Thomas Smiley (born c. 1630) in Scotland. Minister Smiley moved his family to County Donegal, Ireland about 1670 as part of the Plantation of Ulster.
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]
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]
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]
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. [5]
The motto of the crest "Viribus Virtus" translates as "Valor in Arms" or "Virtue with Power". [5]
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. [6]
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. [7] [8]
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. [5] [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 one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland ; the remaining three are in the Republic of Ireland.
The Ulster Scots, also called Ulster Scots people or Scotch-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 approximately half from Northern England and half Protestant Presbyterian Lowland Scottish settlers, the largest numbers coming from Dumfries and Galloway, Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, Ayrshire, Scottish Borders, Northumberland, Cumbria, Yorkshire, and to a much lesser extent, from the Scottish Highlands. Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. The majority of people living in Northern Ireland are British or Irish citizens.
George Walker was an English soldier and Anglican priest. He was joint Governor of Londonderry during the Siege in 1689. He was killed at the Battle of the Boyne while going to the aid of the wounded Duke of Schomberg.
The siege of Derry in 1689 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. This was an act of rebellion against James II.
The Williamite War in Ireland, was a conflict between Jacobite supporters of deposed monarch James II and Williamite supporters of his successor, William III. It is also called the Jacobite War in Ireland, Williamite Conquest of Ireland, or the Williamite–Jacobite War in Ireland.
The coat of arms of Ireland is blazoned as Azure a harp Or, stringed Argent. These arms have long been Ireland's heraldic emblem. References to them as being the arms of the king of Ireland can be found as early as the 13th century. These arms were adopted by Henry VIII of England when he ended the period of Lordship of Ireland and declared Ireland to be a kingdom again in 1541. When the crowns of England, Scotland and Ireland were united in 1603, they were integrated into the unified royal coat of arms of kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland. The harp was adopted as the emblem of the Irish Free State when it separated from the United Kingdom in 1922. They were registered as the arms of Ireland with the Chief Herald of Ireland on 9 November 1945.
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.
Claud Hamilton, 4th Earl of Abercorn PC (Ire) (1659–1691) was a Scottish and Irish peer who fought for the Jacobites in the Williamite War. He went with King James to Derry in 1689 and tried to negotiate the surrender of the town with Adam Murray. He raised a regiment of horse that he led in the defeats of Newtownbutler in 1689 and Aughrim in 1691. He was killed when the ship that should have brought him to France was intercepted by a Dutch privateer.
James Hamilton, 6th Earl of Abercorn, PC (Ire) was a Scottish and Irish peer and politician. Appointed a groom of the bedchamber to Charles II after the death of his father in battle, he took the Williamite side at the Glorious Revolution and on 21 March 1689 supplied Derry with stores that enabled the town to sustain the Siege of Derry until it was relieved on 1 August. Shortly after inheriting a Scottish and Irish peerage from a second cousin, he was created a viscount in Ireland for his services to the Williamite cause.
The Break of Dromore took place on 14 March 1689 near Dromore, County Down in the early stages of the Williamite War in Ireland. It featured Catholic Jacobite troops under Richard Hamilton and Protestant Williamite militia led by Hugh Montgomery and Arthur Rawdon.
Events from the year 1689 in England.
The O'Neill dynasty is a lineage of Irish Gaelic origin, that held prominent positions and titles in Ireland and elsewhere. As Kings of Cenél nEógain, they were historically the most prominent family of the Northern Uí Néill, along with the O'Donnell dynasty. The O'Neills hold that their ancestors were kings of Ailech during the Early Middle Ages, as descendants of Niall of the Nine Hostages.
The following is a list of Irish counties' coats of arms. In the majority of cases these are arms assigned to county councils created by the Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 or later legislation, either by the Chief Herald of Ireland in what is now the Republic of Ireland or by the College of Arms in Northern Ireland. All but two county councils in the Republic have a coat of arms. In Northern Ireland county councils were abolished in 1973, but the traditional arms are still occasionally used.
William Stewart, 1st Viscount Mountjoy (1653–1692), was an Anglo-Irish peer and soldier.
Alexander Stewart (1746–1831), known as Alexander Stewart of Ards, was an Irish landowner and member of parliament.
The Alexanders of Menstrie, also known as the House of Alexander, are a sept of Clan MacAlister of Scotland. 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.
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.
Robert Ramsay was a Scottish Jacobite soldier noted for his service during the Williamite War in Ireland. A Roman Catholic and veteran of the "French Brigade" which served in the Third Anglo-Dutch War under the Duke of Monmouth, Ramsay held the post of Adjutant-General of Foot in the English Army prior to the deposition of James II in the 1688 Glorious Revolution.
Reverend James McGregor was a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian minister who led a migration from the Bann Valley in Ireland, to Nutfield, New Hampshire, in 1718.