later years. Smythe himself gave as his reason for his retirement his age and his inability to bear the burden of high office. Although he wrote to the King, when announcing his retirement, that he intended to spend his last years in religious contemplation, he retained his seat in the Commons, and was reasonably diligent in attendance there until he stepped down as an MP in 1678. He died in February 1682; Whitchurch passed to his elder son Edward, who died in 1690, and then to his younger son who died in 1694. Neither son had any issue Smith is buried in the Church of St. John the Evangelist, Whitchurch. The inscription, written in rather difficult Latin, describes his career as a judge and justifies his opposition to the King during the Civil War. His virtues are described in the inscription at length: rich in honour and learning, devout, modest, courteous and honest. References |- |- 1602 births 1682 deaths People from Buckingham Members of the Middle Temple 17th-century English judges Members of the Privy Council of Ireland English MPs 1661–1679 Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Antrim constituencies Irish MPs 1661–1666 Chief Justices of the Irish Common Pleas Members of Parliament for the Isle of Wight Lawyers from Buckinghamshire