Records of the Smythies Family

One of the documents found in the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine - archive.org) is the Records of the Smythies Family.

I found the document after making searches for the names on the Alan Freer family tree of the The Descendants of William the Conqueror. I admit that I am a little confused as there is information in this document that don't correspond to that I found intially making simple searches for names that are commonly associated with Belchamp Walter.

I have a copy of the document on my main website and I have transcribed some of the text. I have a suspicion that there is someone else looking for the information that can be found there.

The content of this page is nothing to do with the Parish Council I am only using the webserver space to compose pages and to seperate out the accesses of the information on my main website.

I see accesses of pages on my main website that lead me to the conclusion that there is someone else looking for the information. I am also interested on how historical/geneological records are archived and where the source information is gathered.

Many of the documents that I have found on archive.org are those scanned from American University Accademic libraries. The original documents having been sold in the twentieth century. Now that we have the Internet and now Artificial Intelligence geological research is likely to get a lot more difficult. Difficult, with respect to determine fact from supposition and generative composition.

What I find strange

There is obviously a connection between the Smythies and the Raymond families. The pedigree compiled by Major R. H. Raymond Smythies in 1912. A large part of the pedigree concerns the Smythies family that emigrated to the United States (need to check dates here), however, Belchamp Walter, the Church and the vicar in 1611 (or 1623), Belchamp Hall - all feature in the document.

There are plates of the artwork currently in the Hall today, of particular interest are the portraits of Lord and Lady Harris.

Sir William Harris and Lady Frances Harris (nee Astley), ancestor and ancestress of Mrs. Henry Yeats Smythies and her descendants, are also profiled in the "Records".

Reverend William Smythies - vicar of Belchamp Walter 1623-1647

William Smythies resigned as vicar of St. Mary's Belchamp Walter in 1647. He then became the vicar at Gosfield.

The "Records" describe the birth of a son to William and Anne and that he "held the living of Walter Belchamp" in 1643.

None of this is recorded in the history of the Hall, church and village as told by the Raymonds. The 1964 church guide records the resignation of Reverend William Smythies but, obviously, not the reason. The 1964 church guide was written by Samuel Phillip Raymond (known as Philip by the village in the twentieth century) who was active in village affairs and described the features of the church along with a list of vicars and churchwardens.

Samuel John St. Clere Raymond

Samuel John St.Clere Raymond suceeded John Mayne St.Clere Raymond in 1893 and died in 1900 (Son of John Mayne St.Clere and Luisa Anne).

Samuel John St.Clere Raymond married Magaret Charlotte Montegue Smythies in 1884 and had 1 son Samuel Philip St.Clere Raymond (Philip Raymond).

Magaret Charlotte Montegue Smythies was the daughter of Frances Smythies of Colchester. It is not known if this Smythies was related to the William Smythies that was vicar in 1627. There were Smythies that ended up in America and I would presume that some remained in the UK. This will have to be checked in the "Records" (note: this is a local link).

Searches and Impressions for Sir William Harris

I have seen many of these of late. As I was observing on my page describing how things can be found on the Internet Archive I can't really see why there is a general interest in Sir William.

Apart from the reference to Sir William Harris commanding? a ship in the defence against the Spanish Armada in the "Records" I can't seen to find collabrative research on this matter. Thomas Wright mentions an "officer", but it is likely that he was getting his information from an owner of Belchamp Hall (1831/36). Samuel Millbank Raymond ("Squire Raymond").

The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal

When researching Samuel Millbank Raymond I came across the archive of "The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal".