Webmaster Notes
This is an interesting document. It appears to contain a "potted history" of the Raymond family at Belchamp Walter.
The date of the manuscript is 1910, Major R. H. Raymond Smythies. I get the impression that there is more than a measure of a family that has emigrated to the US and is recalling their past.
The second link about the 40th Somerset Regiment does not make sense in relation to the text of the records. The common factor is Major R. H. Raymond Smythies (the written addition to the 40th says Captain)
The text on archive.org gives a pretty good account of the events at Belchamp Hall. The note in the introduction about the fact that the pedigree was a little obscure around the year 1600 and that further research be stopped and to publish what he had.
The Smythies at Belchamp Walter have at least two incarnations, the first with William Smythies who resigned as vicar (1643) and secondly Margaret Charlotte Montague Smythies, daugther of Francis Smythies, who married Samuel John St.Clere Raymond in 1844.
Samuel John St.Clere Raymond was the first son of John Mayne St.Clere Raymond and Francis Smythies was a member of infuencial family of Smythies in Colchester.
There is a definite irony that a past descendant resigned at the time of the Civil War (1643) only for a Raymond to marry a Smythies in 1844.
I find it strange that the portraits of Sir William and Lady Harris came to my attention from this document and the present owner of the Hall seems to be unaware of the document and the artist that painted the portraits.
The history of the Harris family and also that of the Astley's is also unknown by the present owner.
I am still at a loss when it comes to St. Clere Raymond and his marriage to Anne Warkham in 16?? St. Clare was the father of John Raymond II and grandfather of John Raymond III.
Henry Yeats Smythies
While the connection of the Symthies and Raymond family is not clear in the records of the Raymond family and that of Belchamp Hall, the account from the Records of the Smythies family mention Belchamp Hall and the portraits that were there when they had a connection. Some of these paintings, a Gainsborough and at least one by John Simpson have been sold (I do have some records of the sales from the hall somewhere)
I need a section on Henry Yeats Smythies and John Simpson.
The Isabella Raymond here is not the same as Lady Isabella Dundonald - G4 as opposed to F3 (who first married John Mayne)
Records of the Smythies family
The document was found making a search for Anne Warkham. The copy
of Records of the Smythies family is held by: The Allen County Public Library.
It was printed by: Mitchell Hughes And Clarke, 140 Wardour Street, London. Privately Printed. 1912.
Complied by Major R. H. Raymond Smythies, Author of "Historical Records of the 40th Regiment",
ETC - 1910/1911
The search for Anne Warkham revealed no additional information on the reasons why St. Clere Rayond
was disinherited and the estate passed to his son John Raymond III.
However, the Records did reveal the possible reason that William Smythies "resigned" as vicar of
Belchamp Walter in 1643. As seen in the Introduction the information
that the Major had compiled was lacking,
in his determination, for the years around 1600. The pubication in the hope that a reader would provide this missing information
was a little optimistic. Publication in 1912 and my further research in 2023 is a testiment to this.
The sources of information on the family trees (pedigrees) appears to be common with the
Freer research and other sources
that I have found. Very little of the information comes from the histories of the village and the church as
described by
Samuel Phillip Raymond, but the connections between the Raymond and the Smythies families are not mentioned.
Top
The Introduction
The first portion of these Records to appear in print was the Exemplification of Arms and Grant of Crest to
George Smythes of Wyke Court in the county of Somerset, which document, with an illustration of the arms,
crest, and mantling, was reproduced in the March, 1809, number (Part XI., First Series) of Miscellanea
Genealogica et Heraldica, as stated on page 1 herein. Over forty years afterwards the Editor of this leading Genealogical Journal again offered the hospitality of its pages to place on record further information connected
with the Smythies Family, and this time the contribution was of much greater length and importance, for it embraced the Pedigree and the Genealogical Notes relating to it. which, by the courtesy of the Proprietors of the Journal,
are reproduced in this volume.
The first part of the Pedigree was published in December 1910, and the last part of the Genealogical Notes in December 1911, the whole
being included in Volume IV., Fourth Series, of the periodical. A comparison of the Pedigree and Notes in Miscellanea Genealogica
et Heraldica with those in this book will, however, shew that certain small errors which appeared in the first publication have been corrected herein, and entries relating to recent events, such as the marriage of Evelyn Arthur
Smythies (B 23), and the birth of his son Bertram Evelyn Smythies, have been added, thus making the record more accurate and up-to-date.
Very great care has been taken to ensure the reliability of all statements, and though to quote the authority for every date and name has not been found practicable, the sources from which all the most important data have been derived are given in the genealogical or other notes.
Facts regarding people now living, or only recently deceased, have been in most cases ascertained from the people themselves or their
nearest relations, or are within the personal knowledge of the Compiler.
Wills, official records, legal deeds, parish registers, standard books of reference, and family documents have been the main sources
of information regarding the past, and useful additional information has been obtained from such publications as county histories,
The Gentleman's Magazine, and The Ipswich Journal.
In " Supplementary Data " several references which could not be used in the Pedigree, or which have not yet been fully investigated,
are given. These, it is thought, may be of use to some genealogist in the future, if such should be found, who is desirous of
amplifying still further the records of the Smythies Family. Every year the labours of the searcher are being
reduce kinds of records, public and private, which for centuries have been hidden away in cellars or lumber-rooms, unclassified
or even unknown, many of them only decipherable by experts and requiring an enormous amount of time, patience, and knowledge to
make them available for purposes of
research. It seems probable that amongst these may be found the information which is still lacking to make the Smytines Pedigree at
the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries more
clear. Indications are not wanting that the Chancery Proceedings of that period, if thoroughly searched, might yield the information
required, and the useful publications of The Parish Eegister Society might at any
time give valuable help in the direction needed.
The introduction concludes including the following:
In these circumstances it seemed best to stop further research for the present and publish at once the records
already collected, leaving to the future the task of elucidating those details in the early part of the
Pedigree shortly before and after the year 1600 which still remain obscure.
More especially did this seem desirable, since the very fact of the publication might be the means of
obtaining the desired information.
Samuel John St. Clere Raymond and Margaret Charlotte Montague Smythies
Samuel John St. Clere Raymond was the oldest son of John Mayne St. Clere Raymond and the father of Samuel Philip St. Clere Raymond.
Samuel John St. Clere Raymond married Margaret Charlotte Montague Smythies in 1884 and died in 1900 at age 40 (See newspaper article Suffolk Free Press - April 11, 1900)
Samuel John St. Clere Raymond was the great grand father of the present owner of Belchamp Hall.
Henry Yeats Smythies
There are some extracts from The Records of the Symthies that need to be reproduced here.
Henry Yeats Smythies, son of Humphrey Smythies (A 52), whose birth is recorded in the South Moreton Register, was for many years Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and on relinquishing the office of Bursar, which he had for some time held, lie was presented with a silver cake-basket [now in possession of his grandson Major Raymond Smythies (A 70)], on which are engraved the Emmanuel College arms, the Smytliies arms (On a field argent a chevron azure between three oak-haves vert, each charged with an acorn or), and the following inscription : " Magisteret Socii Coll. Eman. Henrico Yeats Smytliies, S.T.B., in limsarii munere obeundo Streuuo ac fideli D. ]).!). amcccx." In the previous year he had received preferment as Vicar of the valuable living of Stanground-cum-Farcet, co. Hunts, in the gift of Emmanuel College, which he held till his death.
He married Isabella Raymond, the granddaughter of his aunt Ann Bridges (A 53). This formed the second link between the Smytliies and Raymond families. A mural monument on the south wall of the chancel of Stanground Church bears the following inscription : —
" Within this church are deposited the remains of the Reva Henry Yeats Smythies, B.D., formerly Fellow and Bursar of Emmanuel College in the University of Cambridge and thirty-three years Vicar of this Parish. He was an active magistrate for the County of Huntingdon and Liberty of Peterborough, the duties of which office he fulfilled for many years with honor to himself and benefit to the public. He was born at South Moreton in the County of Berks Feb. 15, 17C3, and died June 20th, 1842, Leaving a Widow and Seven Children, at whose desire this tablet was erected in testimony of their respect for his integrity of character and gratitude for his affectionate kindness as a Husband and Parent. Isabella, Relict of the above, died September 8th, 1858, aged 74 years, and lies buried at Woking in the County of Surrey."
A head-and-shoulders portrait in oils on canvas of Henry Yeats Smytliies and a half-length portrait of Isabella his wife (30 in. by 25 in.) by John Simpson* are now in possession of their grandson Major Raymond Smythies (A 70).
The following research is from Burke and Ruvigny - who are both known to make things up.
The pedigree of Isabella Raymond, wife (and first-cousin once removed) of Henry Yeats Smythies, is recorded in Burke's " Landed Gentry," Burke's " Royal Descents," Ruvigny's " Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal " (Mortimer- Percy Volume, Part I.), etc.
The Isabella Raymond here is not the same as the Isabella Raymond (Countess Dundonald)
