Mr Ralph Smyth
(1831-1890)
20 May 1861
Volume 3, page 277, sitting number 3790.
Identified in the Silvy daybooks as 'Mr Ralph Smyth,' this is Ralph Smyth, 'late Captain 17th Foot, eldest son of Robert Smyth, Esq., of Gaybrook, County of Westmeath, [who married] the Hon. Selina Constance, fourth daughter of Vice-Admiral Somerville' on 6 August 1861 (Dublin Evening Mail, 7 August 1861).
Born in Dublin on 6 May 1831, he joined the 17th (The Leicestershire) Regiment of Foot as an Ensign (by purchase) on 22 November 1850. He retired with the rank of Captain.
He died on 20 November 1890, without issue, at Gaybrook, Mullingar, County Westmeath. His estate was valued at £6992.
‘It is with feelings of sincerest regret we announce this week the death of Captain Ralph Smyth, DL, of Gaybrook. The sad event took place yesterday morning about 10 o’clock. […] Perhaps no more estimable gentleman than the deceased could be found; he was singularly unobtrusive, charitable, and considerate, and amongst all classes of the community, notably amongst his tenantry, his loss will be deeply felt. The deceased was the eldest son of the late Robert Smyth, Esq., of Gaybrook, by his wife, Henrietta Frances, youngest daughter of the late Right Rev. Nathaniel Alexander, DD, Lord Bishop of Meath. He was born in 1831, and in 1861 married the Hon. Selina Constance, fourth daughter of Kenelm, 17th Lord Somerville. He was a JP and DL for Westmeath, and was late Captain in the 17th Foot. […] When news of his death spread in Mullingar, expression of genuine regret could be everywhere heard. Capt. Smyth was a gentleman who, so far as our knowledge goes, steered clear of politics, and thus no obstacle intervened to obscure the kindly traits of his generous nature. He was an estimable gentleman in every sense of the word, and was a liberal benefactor to local charities. His was the sympathetic, kind, and indulgent personality that always attracts, and truly can it be said that the deceased gentleman had hosts of friends and not one enemy. The poor people around Gaybrook will miss him very much, as any appeal from any of them was always sure of a response. […] During the whole troubled period of the agitation, not the least friction ever existed between Captain Smyth and his tenantry, a fact largely attributable to his great kindness and his ever watchful anxiety for the welfare of those under him. The deceased gentleman led more of a private than a public life, about the only meetings which he ever attended being those of the Mullingar District Asylum and the County Grand Jury. Colonel James Smyth, of Grangemore, Killucan, succeeds to the property’ (Westmeath Guardian, 21 November 1890).