William Smyth

The Right Reverend

William Smyth
The Right Reverend; William Smyth
Bishop of Lincoln
Church	Roman Catholic
Appointed	6 November 1496
Term ended	2 January 1514
Predecessor	John Russell
Successor	Thomas Wolsey
Previous post(s)	Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield
Orders
Consecration	3 February 1493; by John Morton
Personal details
Born	c. 1460; Farnworth, Widnes, Lancashire
Died	2 January 1514; Buckden Palace

William Smyth (or Smith) (c. 1460 – 2 January 1514) was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1493 to 1496 and then Bishop of Lincoln until his death. He held political offices, the most important being Lord President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. He became very wealthy and was a benefactor of a number of institutions. He was a co-founder of Brasenose College, Oxford and endowed a grammar school in the village of his birth in Lancashire.

Early life and education

Smyth was born in the south Lancashire village of Farnworth in the parish of Prescot, which now falls within the town of Widnes in the Borough of Halton. Smyth was the fourth son of Robert Smyth of Peel Hall.^[1]^[2] He was allegedly brought up during his youth^[3] at nearby Knowsley Hall, the home of Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby. At this time Stanley was married to his second wife Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond.^[4] Lady Margaret was the mother of the future Henry VII by her previous marriage to Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond,^[5] and she was to have an important influence in Smyth's life.^[6]

Smyth went to the University of Oxford.^[7] His college is uncertain, being either Oriel or Lincoln, or both in succession.^[8] In 1476 he gained the degree of bachelor of canon law and by 1492 he had received the degree of bachelor of civil law.^[6]

Ecclesiastical life

On 24 September 1485, one month after the battle of Bosworth and the consequent accession to the throne of Henry VII, Smyth was given the benefice of the deanery of Wimborne, Dorset, where Lady Margaret's parents were buried. On 20 October 1485 he was made a canon and prebendary of St Stephen's Chapel in the Palace of Westminster, where he became dean in 1490.^[6] He later obtained the livings of Combe Martin, Devon, of Great Grimsby^[9] and on 14 June 1492 he was instituted as rector of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.^[10] It is not possible to be sure about all his preferments because of his common name.^[6]

On 1 October 1492 he became bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and was consecrated on 3 February 1493 by Archbishop Morton.^[6] On 6 November 1496 he was translated to the diocese of Lincoln.^[11]

Political life

On 20 September 1485 Smyth gained a place in the Court of Chancery as keeper of the hanaper which gave him a salary for life.^[12] In 1486 he obtained a grant for the custody of the daughters of Edward IV.^[6] In 1493 Smyth was appointed a member of Prince Arthur's Council of Wales and the Marches. In 1500 he was made Chancellor of the University of Oxford.^[6]

Prince Arthur died in April 1502 and in August of that year Smyth became Lord President of the council, giving him full responsibility for the exercise of royal power in Wales. He continued to hold this post until at least 1512 or, possibly, until his death. By August 1502 he was no longer Chancellor of Oxford University.^[6]

Philanthropy

In November 1495 Smyth refounded the hospital of St John the Baptist in Lichfield and added to it a school for poor children.^[6] In 1500 he founded the Cuerdley Chapel which was added to the south aisle of St Luke's Church, Farnworth for the use of his tenants from Cuerdley.^[8] The nearby village of Cuerdley was the seat of the very ancient Smith family of Cuerdley his armorial progenitors^[13] from which the renowned Captain John Smith also claimed his lineage.^[14] He purchased land including a footpath from the village to the church to allow entry for his tenants by a separate door to avoid contact with the residents of Farnworth at the time of the plague.^[15] In 1507 he made an endowment of £350 to found a grammar school in Farnworth, the village of his birth.^[16]

Also in 1507 Smyth founded a fellowship in Oriel College, Oxford, and gave manors to Lincoln College. Around the same time he and Sir Richard Sutton set out to found a new college in Oxford. They rebuilt Brasenose Hall, added other existing halls to it, and having obtained a charter in 1512, called it "The King's haule and college of Brasennose".^[9] This is now Brasenose College. Smyth's intention at the college was to benefit clergy from the north of England. The twelve fellows of the college were to have been born in the diocese of Coventry and Lichfield, or to have come from Lancashire, and particularly from the area of his birthplace. He gave to the college his lands of Cold Norton and, by his will, a considerable legacy of lands, plate, vestments, manuscripts and books.^[6]

Reputation and legacy

Smyth's ecclesiastical, legal and political duties resulted in his having a very busy life, only at times being resident in his diocese. He was very wealthy and was described by Hugh Latimer as being one of the "unpreaching prelates"; no sermons by him survive.^[6] He indulged in nepotism. Matthew Smyth was the first principal of Brasenose College,^[9] a William Smyth was archdeacon of Northampton and then of Lincoln and another William Smyth was appointed to St John's Hospital at Lichfield.^[6]

William Smyth died on 2 January 1514^[11] at Buckden Palace, now in Cambridgeshire, one of the residences of the bishops of Lincoln. In addition to bequests to Brasenose College and Lincoln Cathedral, he made provision for a hospital at Banbury. He is buried in Lincoln Cathedral.^[6]

Citations

^ Poole, p21
^ Fishwick, Henry; Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson) (1909). Memorials of Old Lancashire (1909). v2: p. 262
^ Wise, Charles (1891). Rockingham Castle and the Watsons, p. 191.
^ Poole, p. 22
^ E. M. G. Routh, (1924) Lady Margaret: A Memoir of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond & Derby, Mother of Henry VII, London: Oxford University Press e-text
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Bowler, Margaret. "Smith, William (d. 1514)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25920. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714, Smith-Sowton
^ ^a ^b Foster, Alan (1981). A History of Farnworth Village and its Parish Church. pp. 25–28.
^ ^a ^b ^c One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smyth, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 283.
^ Poole, p25
^ ^a ^b Fryde, et al., p. 256
^ Poole, p. 23
^ Reade, Compton (1904). The Smith family : being a popular account of most branches of the name--however spelt-- from the fourteenth century downwards, with numerous pedigrees now published for the first time. pp. 36, 98 and 143.
^ Churton, Ralph (1800),The lives of William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton. p. 5
^ Poole, p. 75
^ Poole, p. 27

References

Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Poole, Charles (1906). Old Widnes and its Neighbourhood. Widnes: Exors. of T.S. Swale.

Academic offices
Preceded by John Morton	Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1500–1502	Succeeded by Richard Mayew
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by John Hales	Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield 1492–1496	Succeeded by John Arundel
Preceded by John Russell	Bishop of Lincoln 1496–1514	Succeeded by Thomas Wolsey

[1] Poole, p21

[2] Fishwick, Henry; Ditchfield, P. H. (Peter Hampson) (1909). Memorials of Old Lancashire (1909). v2: p. 262

[3] Wise, Charles (1891). Rockingham Castle and the Watsons, p. 191.

[4] Poole, p. 22

[5] E. M. G. Routh, (1924) Lady Margaret: A Memoir of Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond & Derby, Mother of Henry VII, London: Oxford University Press e-text

[dnb-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m Bowler, Margaret. "Smith, William (d. 1514)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/25920. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[7] Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714, Smith-Sowton

[foster-8] Foster, Alan (1981). A History of Farnworth Village and its Parish Church. pp. 25–28.

[eb-9] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smyth, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 283.

[10] Poole, p25

[f256-11] Fryde, et al., p. 256

[12] Poole, p. 23

[13] Reade, Compton (1904). The Smith family : being a popular account of most branches of the name--however spelt-- from the fourteenth century downwards, with numerous pedigrees now published for the first time. pp. 36, 98 and 143.

[14] Churton, Ralph (1800),The lives of William Smyth, Bishop of Lincoln, and Sir Richard Sutton. p. 5

[15] Poole, p. 75

[16] Poole, p. 27

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v t e Bishops of Lincoln
Leicester	Cuthwine Wilfrid Headda Aldwine Torhthelm Eadbeorht Unwona Wernbeorht Hræthhun Ealdred Ceobred see removed to Dorchester
Dorchester	Harlardus Wigmund Coenwulf Wynsige Æthelwold Oscytel united see: Leofwine Alnothus Æscwig Ælfhelm Eadnoth (I) Æthelric Eadnoth (II) Ulfus Normanus Wulfwig Remigius de Fécamp
High Medieval	Remigius de Fécamp Robert Bloet Alexander Robert de Chesney Geoffrey Plantagenet Walter de Coutances Hugh of Avalon William de Blois Hugh of Wells Robert Grosseteste Henry of Lexington Richard of Gravesend Oliver Sutton
Late Medieval	John Dalderby Anthony Bek Henry Burghersh Thomas Bek John Gynwell John Bokyngham Henry Beaufort Philip Repyngdon Richard Fleming William Grey William Alnwick Marmaduke Lumley John Chadworth Thomas Rotherham John Russell
Early modern	William Smyth Thomas Wolsey William Atwater John Longland Henry Holbeach John Taylor John White Thomas Watson Nicholas Bullingham Thomas Cooper William Wickham William Chaderton William Barlow Richard Neile George Montaigne John Williams Thomas Winniffe Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) Robert Sanderson Benjamin Lany William Fuller Thomas Barlow Thomas Tenison James Gardiner William Wake Edmund Gibson Richard Reynolds John Thomas John Green Thomas Thurlow
Late modern	George Pretyman (later Pretyman Tomline) George Pelham John Kaye John Jackson Christopher Wordsworth Edward King Edward Hicks William Swayne Nugent Hicks Aylmer Skelton Leslie Owen Maurice Harland Kenneth Riches Simon Phipps Bob Hardy John Saxbee Christopher Lowson Stephen Conway, Bishop of Ely (acting) David Court (acting) Stephen Conway

v t e Bishops of Lichfield (including precursor offices)
Mercia	Diuma Ceollach Trumhere Jaruman Chad, Bishop of the Mercians & the Lindisfaras
Lichfield	Winfrith Seaxwulf Headda Aldwine Witta Hemele Cuthfrith Berhthun Hygeberht (Archbishop of Lichfield) Ealdwulf Herewine Æthelwold Hunberght Cynefrith Tunberht Wulfsige Burgheard Eadberht Wulfred Wilferth Ælfwine Wulfgar Cynesige Wynsige Elphege Godwin Leofgar Brihtmær Wulfsige Leofwin Peter (became Bishop of Chester) Peter, Bishop of Chester
Coventry	Robert de Limesey, Bishop of Chester Robert de Limesey (previously Bishop of Chester) Robert Peche Roger de Clinton Walter Durdent Richard Peche Gerard la Pucelle Hugh Nonant Geoffrey de Muschamp William de Cornhill Alexander de Stavenby
Coventry & Lichfield	Alexander de Stavenby Hugh de Pateshull Roger Weseham Roger de Meyland Walter Langton Roger Northburgh Robert de Stretton Walter Skirlaw Richard le Scrope John Burghill John Catterick James Cary William Heyworth William Booth Nicholas Close Reginald Boulers John Hales William Smyth John Arundel Geoffrey Blythe Rowland Lee
Lichfield & Coventry	Rowland Lee Richard Sampson Ralph Baines Thomas Bentham William Overton George Abbot Richard Neile John Overall Thomas Morton Robert Wright Accepted Frewen Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) Accepted Frewen John Hacket Thomas Wood William Lloyd John Hough Edward Chandler Richard Smalbroke Frederick Cornwallis John Egerton Brownlow North Richard Hurd James Cornwallis Henry Ryder Samuel Butler
Lichfield	Samuel Butler James Bowstead John Lonsdale George Selwyn William Maclagan Augustus Legge John Kempthorne Edward Woods Stretton Reeve Kenneth Skelton Keith Sutton Jonathan Gledhill Clive Gregory (acting) Michael Ipgrave