Thomas Smith (diplomat)

Sir Thomas Smith (23 December 1513 – 12 August 1577) was an English scholar, parliamentarian and diplomat.

Early life

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Born at Saffron Walden in Essex, Smith was the second son of John Smith of Walden by Agnes, daughter of John Charnock of Lancashire. The Smiths of Essex are said to be descendants of Sir Roger de Clarendon, an illegitimate son of the Black Prince. He was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he became a Fellow in 1530,^[1] and, in 1533, was appointed a public reader or professor. He lectured in the schools on natural philosophy, and on Greek in his own College. In 1540, Smith went abroad, and, after studying in France and Italy and taking a degree in law at the University of Padua, he returned to Cambridge in 1542.^[2]

He took the lead in the reform of the pronunciation of Greek, his views being universally adopted after considerable controversy. He and his friend, Sir John Cheke, were the great classical scholars of the time in England. In January 1543/44 he was appointed the first Regius Professor of Civil Law. He was vice-chancellor of the university the same year^{[43 or 44?]}. In 1547, he became Provost of Eton College and Dean of Carlisle Cathedral.^[2]

Sir Thomas was an early convert to Protestantism, which brought him into prominence when

He was returned as Member of Parliament for Liverpool in 1559. It became clear that he supported the religious settlement and Confessions of Westminster (1560), sitting on two committees of Inquiry. When an expert handler^[clarification needed] of the son of the King of Sweden visiting Westminster, he was sent in 1562 as ambassador to France as an emerging diplomatic talent; he remained in France from September 1562 with experienced envoy Sir Nicholas Throckmorton.

In 1572, Smith again went to France in the same capacity for a short time. However Smith came to dagger blows with Throckmorton over character and policy differences. He finally returned home in disgrace after suffering illness in April 1566. Nonetheless, Smith remained one of Elizabeth's most trusted Protestant counsellors.

Smith, who was also a Member of Parliament for Essex in 1571 and 1572, died on 12 August 1577 at Hill Hall in Essex.^[3][5]

Marriages and heirs

Smith married twice. First he wed Elizabeth Carkeke, daughter of a London printer, April 15, 1548; she died in 1553.

Smith had no issue by either marriage, although he had one illegitimate son named Thomas, who was killed during the failed Ards settlement. His heirs were his younger brother, George, and George's son, Sir William Smith (died 12 December 1626) of Theydon Mount, Essex.^[10] Sir William Smith's daughter, Frances Smith, married Sir Matthew Brend, owner of the land on which the first and second Globe Theatres were built.^[11] Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was brought up in Smith's house and his early education was supervised by him.^[12]

Works

Sir Thomas Smith's book De Republica Anglorum: the Maner of Gouernement or Policie of the Realme of England,^[13] written between 1562 and 1565, was first published in 1583.^[14] In it, he described England as a mixed government and a commonwealth, and stated that all commonwealths are of mixed character.

Smith also authored De recta & emendata lingvæ Anglicæ scriptione, dialogus (Correct and Improved English Writing, a Dialogue, 1568).^[14][15]

Notes

Bibliography

• Armitage, David (2000), The Ideological Origins of the British Empire, p. 238.
• Berry, Herbert (1987), Shakespeare's Playhouses, New York: AMS Press, pp. 82–8.
• Collins, Arthur (1741), The English Baronetage, vol. III, Part I, London: Thomas Wotton, p. 344, retrieved 18 April 2013.
• Dewar, Mary (1964), Sir Thomas Smith; A Tudor Intellectual in Office, London: The Athlone Press.
• Richardson, Douglas (2011), Everingham, Kimball G. (ed.), Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, vol. II (2nd ed.), Salt Lake City,
  ISBN 978-1449966386{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link
  ).

Attribution:

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Smith, Sir Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 269–270.

Further reading

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• OCLC 15137519
  .

Government offices
Preceded by William Honnyng Sir Thomas Chaloner	Clerk of the Privy Council 1547–1548 With: William Honnyng Sir Thomas Chaloner	Succeeded by Armagil Wade
Political offices
Preceded by Sir William Paget Sir William Petre	Secretary of State 1548–1549 With: Sir William Petre	Succeeded by Nicholas Wotton Sir William Petre
Preceded by Sir William Cecil	Secretary of State 1572–1576 With: Sir Francis Walsingham 1573–1576	Succeeded by Sir Francis Walsingham
Preceded by The Lord Howard of Effingham	Lord Privy Seal 1573–1576	Succeeded by Sir Francis Walsingham