James Smith (1587-1667)

James Smith (1587–1667, alias James Smyth) of Hammersmith, Middlesex, was an Alderman of the City of London a member of the Worshipful Company of Salters and a Governor of Christ's Hospital in London. His monument survives in St Paul's Church, Hammersmith. He was the grandfather of Sir John Smith, 1st Baronet, of Isleworth.

He was born in 1587 in the parish of Cookham, Berkshire. In the town of Maidenhead in the parish of Cookham he erected almshouses for the poor.

He married twice:

In the town of Maidenhead, then in the parish of Cookham, Berkshire, in which parish he was born, in 1659 he built eight almshouses of two rooms each for eight poor men, aged over 50 and parishioners of Cookham, and their wives. He endowed it with Norden's Farm, a 116-acre estate in the parish of Bray, the rental receipts from which were to be paid to the Worshipful Company of Salters which then distributed sums to the residents in amounts and at times as set down in the foundation deed. The Almshouses still operate today under the management of the Salters Company.

He died on 10 October 1667, aged 80.

He donated two silver chalices to Hammersmith Chapel, with London hall-mark of 1656, 77¾ inches high and 4¾ inches in diameter, each with a paten 6 inches in diameter, each one engraved with the arms of Smith: Azure, a lion or on a chief argent a mullet between two roundels gules. They are engraved with the following inscription:

His monument was erected in the Chapel of St. Paul, in the hamlet of Hammersmith, built in 1631, then a chapel of ease of Fulham parish church. It was demolished and rebuilt in 1882 as St Paul's Church, Hammersmith, in which his monument was re-erected. The monument was described as follows by Falkner (1839):

His monument displays the following inscription:

...
Wikipedia