Sir Herbert Croft, 9th Baronet

Sir Herbert Croft, 9th Baronet
Arms of Croft, of Croft Castle, Herefordshire: Quarterly per fess indented azure and argent, in the 1st quarter a lion passant guardant or[1]

Sir Herbert George Denman Croft, 9th Baronet, DL (25 July 1838 – 11 February 1902),[2] was an English Conservative Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1868 to 1874.

Biography

Croft was the son of Sir Archer Denman Croft (1801–1865), 8th Baronet and his wife Julia Barbara Corbet (1802–1864), widow of Athelstan Corbet and daughter of Major General John Garstin (1756–1820). He was educated at Eton College and at Merton College, Oxford, graduating BA in 1860 and MA in 1864. He was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1861 and went the Oxford Circuit. He inherited the baronetcy on the death of his father in 1865.

Throughout his life he evinced considerable interest in local affairs, and was a member of the county council, chairman of the Hereford county bench of magistrates, and deputy-chairman of the Court of quarter sessions. He was a J.P. and deputy lieutenant for Herefordshire and a lieutenant in the Herefordshire Militia.[3]

At the 1868 general election Croft was elected as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Herefordshire.[4] He held the seat until the 1874 general election, when he did not stand again.[4]

From 1892 until his death, he held the post of Inspector of Constabulary for the North of England.[5]

Croft died at his residence, Lugwardine Court, Herefordshire, 11 February 1902, at the age of 63.[5]

Family

Croft married in 1865, his cousin Georgiana Eliza Lucy Marsh, daughter and co-heiress of Matthew Henry Marsh, of Ramridge House, Hampshire, an MP for Salisbury. They had children:[6]

  • Herbert Archer Croft (1868–1915), who succeeded as 10th Baronet
  • Hugh Matthew Finnes Croft (b. 1874)
  • William Denman Croft (1879–1968)
  • Owen George Scudamore Croft (b. 1880)
  • Jasper Brodie Croft (b. 1884)
  • Janet Georgiana Croft, who married in 1891 Edward Archer Greathead, and had children.
  • Sybil Helen Croft, who married on 24 September 1902 Sir John Rumney Nicholson, CMG (1866–1939), son of Isaac Nicholson, and had children. They went to Singapore after the wedding, and on their return to the United Kingdom in 1919 he was knighted. They later settled in Underskiddaw.[7][8]
  • Lucy Barbara Croft, who married in 1899 Frederick Evelyn Cairnes, of Killester House, Raheny, co. Dublin, and had children.

References

  1. ^ Kidd, Charles, Debrett's peerage & Baronetage 2015 Edition, London, 2015, p. 306.
  2. ^ Leigh Rayment's Historical List of MPs – Constituencies beginning with "H" (part 2)
  3. ^ Debretts House of Commons and the Judicial Bench 1870
  4. ^ a b Craig, F. W. S. (1989) [1977]. British parliamentary election results 1832–1885 (2nd ed.). Chichester: Parliamentary Research Services. p. 396. ISBN 0-900178-26-4.
  5. ^ a b "Obituaries – Sir Herbert Croft". The Times. No. 36689. London. 12 February 1902. p. 10.
  6. ^ Debrett's peerage, baronetage and knightage, 1903.
  7. ^ "Marriages". The Times. No. 36884. London. 27 September 1902. p. 1.
  8. ^ ″Sir J. R. Nicholson′s death at Keswick″. Newcastle Evening Chronicle, 24 November 1939, p. 7.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Herefordshire
1868–1874
With: Sir Joseph Bailey, Bt
Michael Biddulph 		Succeeded by
Baronetage of England
Preceded by
Archer Croft
 Baronet
(of Croft Castle)
1865–1902 		Succeeded by
Herbert Croft