London mercer and silkman who supplied Elizabeth I
Ambrose Smith or Smythe (died 1584) was a London
mercer in
Cheapside and silkman who supplied
Elizabeth I
Smith was a son of John Smith (died 1545) of
Withcote, near
Oakham, in
Leicestershire, and Dorothy Cave, a sister of
Ambrose Cave.
John Leland visited their "right goodly house" at Withcote in 1539, "one of the fairest houses in Leicestershire".[1]
His older brother Roger Smith (died 1603) inherited the estate, but Ambrose bought it from him in 1575.[2] Roger Smith married Frances Griffin, a daughter of
Thomas Griffin of
Dingley.[3]
Withcote Chapel remains from the Tudor mansion of the Smith family, the
stained glass windows were commissioned by Ambrose Smith's grandmother and her second husband
Roger Ratcliffe
Ambrose Smith supplied velvet, satin, taffeta, and sarsenet to Queen Elizabeth.[4]