Thomas Smythe (customer)

Thomas Smythe
Thomas 'Customer' Smythe
Spouse(s)	Alice Judde
Issue Andrew Smythe John Smythe Thomas Smythe (died 1625) Henry Smythe Richard Smythe Robert Smythe Symon Smythe Elizabeth Smythe Mary Smythe Joan Smythe Katherine Smythe Alice Smythe Ursula Smythe
Father	John Smythe
Mother	Joan Brouncker
Born	1522
Died	7 June 1591
Buried	Ashford, Kent

Thomas Smythe or Smith of London, Ashford and Westenhanger, Kent, (1522–1591) was the collector of customs duties (also known as a "customer") in London during the Tudor period and a Member of Parliament for five English constituencies. His son and namesake, Sir Thomas Smythe, was the first governor of the East India Company, treasurer of the Virginia Company, and an active supporter of the Virginia colony.

Thomas Smythe, born in 1522, was the second son of John Smythe (d.1538), a substantial yeoman and clothier of Corsham Wiltshire, and Joan Brouncker, the daughter of Robert Brouncker of Melksham, Wiltshire. John Smythe left Thomas a farm in the Hundred of Amesbury, Wiltshire, of the value of £20 per annum. After his father's death, Thomas, at the age of approximately 16, moved to London to seek his fortune.

Thomas joined his father's merchant guild, the Haberdashers, and then the Worshipful Company of Skinners, which may account for his close connection with Sir Andrew Judde, Lord Mayor of London in 1550, whose daughter Alice he married circa 1554.

In the reign of Mary I of England, Smythe purchased the Office of the Customs from one Mr. Cocker for £2,500. He was confirmed in his appointment at the Customs on the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, and he continued in the office for 11 years. In 1567 he appears to have incurred her Majesty's severe displeasure, having been accused of issuing privy warrants leading to a £6,000 loss; his friend William Cecil, Lord Burghley intervened and helped Smythe escape imprisonment. Cecil persuaded the Queen to be lenient, arguing that if Smythe was allowed more time he would repay this loss, but if he were imprisoned her Majesty would be the loser.