Henry Smyth's tomb in Wandsworth parish church
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Henry Smyth's tomb in Wandsworth parish church by Stephen Craven as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
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Henry Smyth's tomb in Wandsworth parish church
Image: © Stephen Craven Taken: 6 Sep 2010
The monument is in the chancel of All Saints church. Henry Smyth, born in May 1548 in Wandsworth, was a salt merchant by trade. He was a successful businessman, acquired land in various parts of England during his lifetime, and created a number of charitable trusts for the relief of the poor. Henry Smith died in 1628 leaving his Trustees the sum of £2,000 which formed the basic endowment of the Henry Smith (Kensington Estate) Charity. The charity is still flourishing - see their website http://www.henrysmithcharity.org.uk/ The lengthy wording on the black plaque below the monument lists the specific bequests (mostly of £1000) to each of the principal towns of Surrey: Croydon, Kingston, Guilford, Darkin, Farneham, Ryegate, Richmond and Wandsworth [spelling taken from the monument, showing how some of those names have changed].
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.45747
Longitude
-0.19532