Edward Smith

Sir Edward Smith or Smythe (1602–1682) was an English-born politician, barrister and judge who held the offices of Chief Justice of the Irish Common Pleas and judge of the Irish Court of Claims. Family He was the second son of Edward Smythe, a barrister of Middle Temple, and his wife Katherine. The family's earlier history is uncertain, although it has been suggested that they were related to the Smythe Baronets of Eshe Hall, Durham, and also to Sir Thomas Smith (1513-1577), who was Secretary of State to Elizabeth I. Edward's sister, Arabella, described as "a lady of surpassing beauty and charm", married against both families' wishes a "wild young Oxford student" called Charles Howard, who later unexpectedly became the 3rd Earl of Nottingham. Historian Michael Quane says that Edward was a nephew of Erasmus Smith, a landowner and philanthropist in both England and Ireland (the Erasmus Smith Trust, which Erasmus Smith founded for the education of Irish children, survives to this day).