SMITH, William

A prominent Devizes merchant, William Smith was probably a kinsman of Richard† and Robert Smith†, who represented the borough in the Commons in the reigns of Henry IV and Henry V. Few details of his commercial activities have come to light, but it appears that he had trading contacts as far afield as Bishop’s Lynn in Norfolk. CP40/700, rot. 18; 724, rot. 352. It is possible that the involvement of the clothmen of Devizes in the inland trade was deemed to give them an insight into the economic circumstances of their neighbours, for in the late summer of 1430 Smith was among no fewer than three traders from his town included in the Wiltshire commission appointed to collect the second of two taxes granted by the Commons in the previous year’s Parliament (the others being Robert Chandler* and Thomas Coventre II*). CFR, xv. 331.

Having served as a tax collector, Smith may have been a natural choice to sit in the next Parliament, which was summoned later that year. Unfortunately the loss of the Devizes borough records makes it impossible to tell whether he had also held town office, but it is just possible that he was the man of this name who had attended the Wiltshire county court in October 1422 and had set his seal to the parliamentary election indenture. C219/13/1. Equally, it may have been in an official capacity that in early 1433 he joined with the former mayor, William Bremesgrove*, and John Coventre III* in suing the butcher John Rogger for the sum of £9. CP40/688, rot. 387d. On other occasions, he is encountered witnessing his neighbours’ transfers of property in Devizes. Wilts. Hist. Centre, Wilts. deeds, 212B/2279. Smith died on 1 June 1436, but not before making provision for the rebuilding of the ancient parish church of St. Mary, a work apparently completed within six months of his death. His executors, William Watkyns, Robert Letcomb and the chaplain Thomas Broun, were nevertheless engaged in the arduous task of recovering outstanding debts from across England for several years after his death. Smith was succeeded by his son Thomas, who established an obit for himself and his parents in the church his father had reconstructed. Wilts. Arch. Mag. ii. 252; VCH Wilts. x. 292; CP40/724, rot. 352. It was a different man who stood surety for the attendance of William Hendelove*, a Devizes Member, in the Commons of 1449 (Nov.): C219/15/7.