Elizabeth was die dogter van Richard Wortley en Elizabeth Boughton.
Constituency Dates
EYE 1624; DERBY 1626; BURY ST. EDMUNDS 14 May
1660
b. c.1590, 1st s. of Sir John Crofts†
of Little Saxham and West Stow by Mary, da. of Sir Thomas Shirley of Wiston,
Suss. M. (1) settlement 1 Nov. 1610, Elizabeth (d. 1 Oct. 1643), da. of Sir
Richard Wortley of Wortley, Yorks., 5s. (2 d.v.p.) 5da.; (2) Margaret (d. 26
May 1674), 1s. d.v.p. 3da. Kntd. 3 Feb. 1611; suc. fa. 1628.
Offices Held
Commr. of array, Suff. 1642, j.p. July
1660-d., dep. lt. c. Aug. 1660-d., commr. for assessment Aug. 1660-d.
Biography
Crofts’s ancestors are said to have
held manorial property in the reign of Edward I, but they were of little
account until the 16th century, when they acquired Little Saxham, which became
their principal residence. The first of the family to enter Parliament was his
father, who sat for Thetford in 1597. Although Crofts, a strong Anglican, was
named to the Suffolk commission of array, he remained inactive during the Civil
War. On the introduction of the Covenant in 1643 he wrote:
I hope God will in his mercy direct me
to some place of retreat, whereby I may avoid the having that tendered to me
which I am resolved and am bound in conscience never to subscribe unto.
In 1646 he had to surrender to the
sequestrators the portion due to his daughter, who had married the Cavalier Sir
Frederick Cornwallis without his consent; but this was returned to him when the
sequestration was lifted in 1648. His sister was the mother of Sir Henry
Bennet, and three of his sons were also in exile with Charles II. The eldest,
William, who took charge for a time of the upbringing of the future Duke of
Monmouth, then called ‘James Crofts’, was raised to the peerage in 1658.
Crofts, who owned property in Bury St. Edmunds, five miles from his home, stood for the borough at the general election of 1660 with Sir John Duncombe, another royalist sympathizer. After a double return they were seated on the merits of the election. Doubtless a court supporter, he was not an active Member of the Convention. He was appointed to nine committees, including those for settling the revenue in July and the Dunkirk establishment in September. On 28 Dec. he acted as teller for the bill empowering the corporation of London to raise money by assessment for the militia. He did not stand again, and made over the estate to his son, Lord Crofts, in 1664, reserving an annuity of £600 p.a. for himself and £5,000 for his widow. He was buried at Little Saxham on 31 Mar. 1667. On his son’s death in 1677 the estate passed to William Crofts. (http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/crofts-family/)
Kinders:
s.1. William CROFTS, geb. c 1611, oorl. 1677, Lord Crofts, Baron of Saxham, one of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber to Charles II x Lady Dorothy Hele, d.v. Sir John Hobart. Dorothy was the widow of Sir John Hele who was of Clifton Maybank Dorset. Dorothy (Hobart) Crofts died (no issue) and William Crofts next married Elizabeth Spencer the daughter of William Lord Spencer, of Wormleighton. Elizabeth died on 11 August 1672, without issue, and was buried at Saxham on 18th same month.
(http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/crofts-family/)
William Crofts, Lord Crofts, Baron of Saxham, one of the Gentlemen of the Bedchamber to Charles II. (http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/crofts-family/) By 1630 Crofts may have gone to court, where, according to Sir Edward
Hyde, he was ‘too much favoured’. In 1635 Crofts was sent on a mission to Elizabeth, queen of
Bohemia, at The Hague, and on his return she recommended him to Charles I and
Henrietta Maria for a position with one of the princes. However, in 1634 he had
quarrelled with George, Lord Digby, and in 1636 was expelled from court for a time.
Nevertheless, prior to the civil war he was appointed master of the horse to
James, duke of York, and captain of the guards to the queen. Crofts was one of
the king's servants declared by parliament, in February 1642, to be an enemy of
the state who should be removed from court. He was with the court during the
civil war and in March 1645 was granted several manors in Essex and Suffolk. In
1646 his aunt Eleanor Wortley married Robert Rich, second earl of Warwick,
commander of the parliamentarian fleet, and in 1648 Crofts was sent to persuade
him to negotiate with the royalists, but Warwick would not receive him. (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6727?docPos=8)s.2. John CROFTS
s.3. Edmund CROFTS, Jonk dood.
s.4. Charles CROFTS
CHARLES CROFTS was the son of Henry Crofts and Elizabeth Wortley and thus the brother of the above William who adopted James Duke of Monmouth. Charles, like his brother, was a member of the Stuart court in exile and on one occasion teased the Queen’s dwarf Jeffrey Hudson who did not take kindly to Crofts jests and challenged him to a duel. Unfortunately Jeffrey shot and killed Charles. (http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/crofts-family/)
s.5. Henry CROFTS. Jonk dood.
s.6. Elizabeth CROFTS
ELIZABETH CROFTS was the daughter of Henry Crofts and Elizabeth Wortley. She married Frederick Cornwallis, 1st Baron. He was an MP and Privy Counselor. (http://www.manfamily.org/about/other-families/crofts-family/)
s.7. Mary CROFTS. Jonk dood.
s.8. Hester CROFTS
s.9. Cicely CROFTS - Cicely was, by 1630, a maid of honour to the queen. (http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/6727?docPos=8) Jonk dood.
s.10. Katherine CROFTS
