John Crawley (MP)

The Right Honourable John Crawley
Member of Parliament for Marlborough
In office 1737–1747 Serving with Francis Seymour, Sir John Hynde Cotton, Bt
Preceded by	Edward Lisle Francis Seymour
Succeeded by	Sir John Hynde Cotton, Bt John Talbot
High Sheriff of Bedfordshire
In office 18 December 1735 – 18 January 1737
Preceded by	Thomas Groome
Succeeded by	Francis Jessop
Personal details
Born	(1703-04-26)26 April 1703
Died	9 September 1767(1767-09-09) (aged 64)
Spouse	Susannah Sambrooke ​ ​ (after 1740)​
Relations	Samuel Dashwood (grandfather) Samuel Crawley (grandson)
Children	4
Parent(s)	Richard Crawley Sarah Dashwood

John Crawley (26 April 1703 – 9 September 1767) was an English landowner and politician.

Early life

Crawley was born on 26 April 1703 in an old Luton family.[1] He was the eldest son of Sarah (née Dashwood) Crawley, and Richard Crawley, Registrar of the Admiralty and MP for Wendover.[2][3] Among his siblings were Sarah Crawley and Samuel Crawley, British consul in Smyrna.

His maternal grandparents were Anne (née Smith) Dashwood (a daughter of John Smith of Tedworth and sister to John Smith, Chancellor of the Exchequer)[4][5] and Sir Samuel Dashwood, Lord Mayor of London and MP for the City of London.[6] His paternal grandparents were Mary (née Clutterbuck) Crawley (a daughter of London merchant Richard Clutterbuck) and Francis Crawley of Northaw, Baron of the Exchequer (son of Sir Francis Crawley, who was appointed Justice of the Common Pleas by the king in 1632, but was disabled by Parliament).[3]

Career

He succeeded to his father's estates in 1712. He was High Sheriff of Bedfordshire from 1735 to 1737.[1] In 1740, Crawley built Stockwood House in Luton,[7] which his father bought in 1708.[8]

In 1734, Crawley unsuccessfully contested Great Bedwyn as a Tory on the interest of the Bruce family, who had a long connection with Bedfordshire. Three years later Lord Bruce was able to provide him with a seat at Marlborough until 1747, after which he did not stand. In Parliament he voted against the Administration in all recorded divisions.[1]

Personal life

On 29 May 1740, Crawley married Susannah Sambrooke, a daughter of Sir Samuel Sambrooke, 3rd Baronet, of Bush Hill, Edmonton. Her brother was Sir Jeremy Sambrooke, 4th Baronet, MP for Bedford.[9][10] Together, they were the parents of two sons and two daughters, including:[1]

• John Crawley (1743–1815), who married Elizabeth Hawley, a daughter of Dr. James Hawley of Leybourne Grange;[11] her brother was Sir Henry Hawley, 1st Baronet.[12]
• Susanna Crawley (1744–1830), who married the Rev. John Keet.[13][14]
• Sarah Crawley, who in 1784 married Thomas Halsey of Gaddesden Place, MP for Hertfordshire.[10][15]
• Samuel Crawley (d. 1805), who bought the Dunham estate and married Eliza Rankin, heiress of Ragnall Hall, in 1788.[16]

Crawley died on 9 September 1767. His estates were inherited by his eldest son John.[1] Upon John's death in 1815, the estates passed to his nephew, Samuel Crawley. His estate, Stockwood House, was demolished in 1964 and, today, is the site of Stockwood Park.[17]

Descendants

Through his daughter Sarah, he was a grandfather of Sarah Halsey (d. 1864), who inherited the Halsey family estates and married Rev. John Fitz Moore and Joseph Thompson Whately (both of whom adopted the surname Halsey), MP for St Albans.[18] Sarah's daughter, Georgiana Theodosia Halsey, married Col. Leopold Grimston Paget (youngest son of Berkeley Paget, MP, and a grandson of Henry Paget, 1st Earl of Uxbridge). Sarah's son Thomas Plumer Halsey, MP for Hertfordshire, whose descendants became the Halsey baronets.[19]

Through his younger son Samuel, he was a grandfather of Samuel Crawley (1790–1852), who inherited the Stockwood, Dunham and Ragnall estates. He served as MP for Honiton and Bedford.[8][18]

References

1. "CRAWLEY, John (1703-67), of Stockwood Park, Luton, Beds." www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
2. Blaydes, Frederic Augustus (1889). Bedfordshire Notes and Queries. A. Ranson. p. 325. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
3. "CRAWLEY, Richard (1666-1713), of Doctors' Commons and Northaw, Herts". www.historyofparliamentonline.org. History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
4. Joseph Lemuel Chester; Church of England. Province of Canterbury. Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury at London (1886). Allegations for marriage licences issued from the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury at London, 1543 to 1869. Harleian Society. p. 113.
5. Arthur Collins (1768). The Peerage of England; Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom Etc. Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected, and Continued to the Present Time. - London, H. Woodfall 1768. H. Woodfall. pp. 494–.
6. "Dashwood, Sir Samuel (c.1643–1705), of Bishopsgate, London and Mortlake, Surr., History of Parliament Online". Retrieved 26 May 2015.
7. "Stockwood House Luton, History of Stockwood House". www.1stairporttaxis.co.uk. 1ST Airport Taxis. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
8. Thorne, R. G. (1986). The House of Commons. Boydell & Brewer. p. 524. ISBN 978-0-436-52101-0. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
9. Burke, Sir John Bernard (1838). A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England, by J. and J.B. Burke. p. 451. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
10. Raineval, Melville Henry Massue marquis de Ruvigny et (1994). The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal: Being a Complete Table of All the Descendants Now Living of Edward III, King of England. The Isabel of Essex volume : containing the descendants of Isabel (Plantagenet) Countess of Essex and Eu, with a supplement to the three previous volumes. Genealogical Publishing Company. pp. 22, 281, 282. ISBN 978-0-8063-1434-1. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
11. The Connoisseur. Hearst Corporation. 1920. p. 46. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
12. Burke, Bernard (1865). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire. Harrison. p. 557. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
13. The Solicitors' Journal & Reporter. Law Newspaper Company. 1859. p. 96. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
14. Nichols, John (1971). The Hundred of East Gascote. p. 218. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
15. Cussans, John Edwin (1881). History of Hertfordshire. E. P. Publishing. p. 128. ISBN 978-0-85409-835-4. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
16. Chapmen, John Henry (1888). The Register Book of Marriages Belonging to the Parish of St. George, Hanover Square, in the County of Middlesex. Mitchell & Hughes. p. 6. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
17. "Bedford Today". bedfordtoday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2006-06-14.
18. Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and Ireland. H. Colburn. 1875. pp. 294, 568. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
19. Debrett's Baronetage, Knightage, and Companionage: In which is Included Much Information Respecting the Collateral Brances of Baronets, and the Issue of Knights. Dean & Son. 1921. p. 333. Retrieved 9 November 2022.

Parliament of Great Britain
Preceded by Edward Lisle Francis Seymour	Member of Parliament for Marlborough 1737–1747 With: Francis Seymour 1737–1741 Sir John Hynde Cotton, Bt 1741–1747	Succeeded by Sir John Hynde Cotton, Bt John Talbot
Honorary titles
Preceded by Thomas Groome	High Sheriff of Bedfordshire 1735–1737	Succeeded by Francis Jessop