{"id":2608,"date":"2024-05-19T10:27:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-19T10:27:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?p=2608"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:23:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T14:23:15","slug":"bishop-thomas-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/","title":{"rendered":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bishop Thomas Smith was a key figure in the history of Carlisle Cathedral. What isn\u2019t widely known is that he had a sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Smith led quite a life for \u2018an Appleby lad\u2019 \u2013 teaching at Oxford University; living through the Civil War; serving Charles II as chaplain after the Restoration; becoming tutor to a widow\u2019s childen; marrying her; serving various ecclesiastical posts in Cumbria and Durham; being widowed; marrying again; being elected Bishop of Carlisle; rebuilding Rose Castle, and; donating a library and a lot of silver plate to the cathedral, which visitors can see today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also donated large sums of money to the poor, to colleges and chapels, to schools, to Carlisle Library and Register Office, and many more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total donations listed in one record amount to \u00a35,226. We\u2019re talking about \u00a31million in today\u2019s values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bishop Thomas Smith \u2013 background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Smith was born on December 21, 1614, at Whitewall, Ashby. His father\u2019s name was John; his mother\u2019s isn\u2019t recorded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas attended Appleby Grammar School and it was from there, aged just 15, that he \u2018went up\u2019 to Oxford, graduating with a BA at Queen\u2019s College in 1635, and an MA in 1639.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He taught at the college after, but didn\u2019t like Oxford under Oliver Cromwell\u2019s Commonwealth. So he returned north to become domestic chaplain to the Fletchers of Hutton-in-the-Forest. Specifically, he served as chaplain to the widowed Lady Catherine Fletcher, whose sons he\u2019d taught at Oxford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His wives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lady Catherine Fletcher, n\u00e9e Dalston, was a daughter of Sir George Dalston, sheriff of Cumberland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her first husband, Sir Henry Fletcher raised, chiefly at his own expense, a regiment for the royal service in the Civil War, and fell fighting at the skirmish of Rawton Heath, near Chester, in 1645.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Catherine was said to have been a lady of great resolution and courage, who endured sequestration, imprisonment, plundering etc from the rebels with \u2018a brave and masculine spirit\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Smith and Lady Catherine were married in 1655. She died on April 16, 1676.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas went on to marry Ann Wrench, n\u00e9e Baddely. She was the widow of Richard Wrench, late prebendary of Durham Cathedral. She died at Rose Castle in 1698.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas Smith had been elected Bishop of Carlisle in 1684. He died on April 12, 1702, at Rose Castle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gravestones of Bishop Thomas Smith and his second wife Ann can be found in the cathedral \u2013 under the wooden chairs used by the congregation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A building in the grounds bears his name above the door: \u2018Thomas Carliol. AD 1699\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His \u2018daughter\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are family trees on Ancestry which assert that Thomas Smith fathered a child in Jamaica, in 1635! Furthermore, they seem to think Lady Catherine was the girl\u2019s mother!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to think Thomas might have popped over to the Caribbean on a gap year after graduating. But it\u2019s a huge slur on Lady Catherine, suggesting she\u2019d gone over there with him and had a child, before returning to the UK to marry Sir Henry three years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His brother<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thomas had a brother, William Smith, who remained in Appleby, where he was elected mayor in 1673. His will, written in 1677, includes ‘my nephew Thomas Fawell and his brother Richard’ and ‘my niece Elizabeth Caile’. Thomas, along with William’s widow Dorothy, is named as an executor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His sister<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They also had a sister. Her name was Isabel, and when she was buried at Temple Sowerby in 1679, it was recorded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Isabel Fawell, of Temple Sowerby, widow, sister to Dr Thomas Smyth, dean of Carlisle, was buried Dec 18.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Fawells were tanners at Temple Sowerby, and moderately prosperous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At one point, Thomas Smith made a donation to the Guild of Tanners in Carlisle. I\u2019d guess his interest in that, of all guilds, was through his sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isabel Fawell married Thomas Fawell at Newbiggin by Appleby, on November 24, 1647. Thomas Fawell died in 1676 and mentions: \u2018my brother William Smith of Appleby\u2019 (ie Thomas Smith\u2019s brother).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The will of Bishop Thomas Smith includes: \u2018To Thomas Fawell twenty pounds; To Richard Fawell twenty pounds\u2019. These two were his nephews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Kaile, in the will, was n\u00e9e Fawell, and Thomas Smith\u2019s niece (sister of Thomas and Richard Fawell)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wood case<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have reams of paper from the National Archives, and from Kendal Archives: copies of a huge legal row that split the Fleming family of Rydal Hall (etc).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1738, four members of the Fawell family (along with three other men from Temple Sowerby) were basically ‘done out of’ \u00a3510 (about \u00a397k today), when the then Bishop of Carlisle, George Fleming (2nd baronet) and his son (archdeacon) William Fleming, sold them 400 oak trees at Rydal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They only took \u00a316-worth before an injunction stopped them taking any more. The reason being that Dorothy Fleming (widow of George\u2019s brother William, the1st baronet) claimed the wood wasn\u2019t George\u2019s or his son William\u2019s to sell. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if the Fawells got involved in a business deal with the Flemings as a kind of handed-down connection from great-uncle Bishop Thomas Smith \u2013 who one book says ‘took a great interest’ in George Fleming. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bishop Thomas Smith was a key figure in the history of Carlisle Cathedral. What isn\u2019t widely known is that he had a sister. Thomas Smith led quite a life for \u2018an Appleby lad\u2019 \u2013 teaching at Oxford University; living through the Civil War; serving Charles II as chaplain after the Restoration; becoming tutor to a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2609,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[432,234,431,430,189],"class_list":["post-2608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cumbrian-people","tag-bishop-of-carlisle","tag-carlisle-cathedral","tag-lady-catherine-fletcher","tag-rydal","tag-temple-sowerby"],"yoast_head":"\nBishop Thomas Smith & his sister - Cumbrian Characters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bishop Thomas Smith survived the Civil War, was Charles II's chaplain, and rebuilt Rose Castle. He hailed from Appleby \u2013 and he had a sister.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister - Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bishop Thomas Smith survived the Civil War, was Charles II's chaplain, and rebuilt Rose Castle. He hailed from Appleby \u2013 and he had a sister.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cumbrian Characters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-19T10:27:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T14:23:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"222\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GnaOxdown\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"HarrietP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister - Cumbrian Characters","description":"Bishop Thomas Smith survived the Civil War, was Charles II's chaplain, and rebuilt Rose Castle. He hailed from Appleby \u2013 and he had a sister.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister - Cumbrian Characters","og_description":"Bishop Thomas Smith survived the Civil War, was Charles II's chaplain, and rebuilt Rose Castle. He hailed from Appleby \u2013 and he had a sister.","og_url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/","og_site_name":"Cumbrian Characters","article_published_time":"2024-05-19T10:27:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-15T14:23:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":222,"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"HarrietP","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_site":"@GnaOxdown","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"HarrietP","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/"},"author":{"name":"HarrietP","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"headline":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister","datePublished":"2024-05-19T10:27:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:23:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/"},"wordCount":863,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg","keywords":["Bishop of Carlisle","Carlisle Cathedral","Lady Catherine Fletcher","Rydal","Temple Sowerby"],"articleSection":["Cumbrian people"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/","name":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister - Cumbrian Characters","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-05-19T10:27:45+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T14:23:15+00:00","description":"Bishop Thomas Smith survived the Civil War, was Charles II's chaplain, and rebuilt Rose Castle. He hailed from Appleby \u2013 and he had a sister.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Thos-Smith-will-1.jpeg","width":600,"height":222,"caption":"Bishop Thomas Smith, Cumbrian Characters, Bishop of Carlisle,"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/2024\/05\/19\/bishop-thomas-smith\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bishop Thomas Smith & his sister"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/","name":"Cumbrian Characters","description":"Family history is so much more than names and dates","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ca7d1ea06be5c263e8aaedf7f4af34c7","name":"HarrietP","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"HarrietP"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Harriet-CoA-avatar-1.jpg"},"description":"Journalist and amateur genealogist","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.pinterest.co.uk\/harrietpears\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GnaOxdown"],"url":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/author\/harriet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2658,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608\/revisions\/2658"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crimesofthecenturies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}