Philip Sydney Smyth (14 March 1715 – 29 April 1787) was a Church of Ireland clergyman and fourth Viscount Strangford in the Peerage of Ireland. He succeeded to the viscountcy on 8 September 1724.

Career

Ecclesiastical

He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin.Alumni Dublinenses: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593–1860)" Burtchaell, George Dames/Sadleir, Thomas Ulick (Eds) p767: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935 King George II appointed him Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin in 1746 but the chapter successfully argued that the Crown was not the patron, and he was dispossessed.Cotton 1849 p.334 He was successively Prebendary of Killaspugmullane in Cork Cathedral;”Fasti ecclesiae Hibernicae: the succession of the prelates and members of the Cathedral bodies of Ireland Vol I” Cotton, H p256: Dublin, Hodges,1850 Precentor of Elphin (1746–52);”Fasti ecclesiae Hibernicae: the succession of the prelates and members of the Cathedral bodies of Ireland Vol IV” Cotton, H p138: Dublin, Hodges,1850 Dean of Derry (1752–69);”Fasti ecclesiae Hibernicae Vol III p334 (ibid) and Archdeacon of DerryJournal Article "The Estate of the Diocess of Derry." Part IX. Archdeacons of Derry (Continued) George Downham and William Alexander Reynell Ulster Journal of Archaeology Second Series, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Oct., 1897), pp. 56-64 (1769–74).Cotton 1849 p.338

Political

He sat in the Irish House of Lords until 1784, when he was excluded by Act of Parliament after being tried and convicted of corruption for soliciting a bribe of £200 from the applicant in a court case that was pending before the House. The scandal was exacerbated by the fact that it came less than two years after the Irish Lords had regained final appellate jurisdiction from the British House of Lords.

Family In 1741 Strangford married Mary, daughter of Anthony Jephson, MP for Mallow They had six children: Mary-Anne (1745–1823) and Anne-Philippa (1749–1830), both unmarried; Robert, Philip, and Frances, who all died young; and finally Lionel (1753–1801), who also took holy orders before succeeding as 5th Viscount.

References Sources

Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol IV 1898 Alumni Dublinenses : a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860) Cracroft's Peerage: The Complete Guide to the British Peerage

Citations