Bernard Smith (d. 1591)
Bernard Smith (c. 1522 – 1591) of Totnes in Devon was MP for Totnes in 1558. He was mayor of Totnes in 1549–50 and c. 1565–6, and was escheator of Devon and Cornwall in 1567–8. Origins He was the son of Walter Smith (d.1555), a merchant of Totnes, whose Easter Sepulchre type monument survives in the south chancel aisle of St Mary's Church, Totnes. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries Walter had purchased Totnes Priory and some of its lands which in 1544 he conveyed to feoffees for the uses of himself and his son Bernard. Bernard's sister Alice Smith was the wife firstly of John Hurst (d. 1555) (son of William Hurst (d. 1568), merchant of Exeter, thrice MP for Exeter) and secondly of John II Petre (d. 1581) of Exeter and Bowhay, MP for Exeter in 1554 and governor of the Exeter Merchant Adventurers. Career One of the earliest surviving recorded events of his career was his seizure in 1545 of a Spanish ship and its cargo which resulted in his censure by the Privy Council and an order for him to restore both to their owner. In several ventures he was a business partner of Christoper Savery