John Derby Allcroft (19 July 1822 – 29 July 1893) was an English

philanthropic Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

entrepreneur,

evangelical Anglican Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

politician who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

from 1878 to 1880. Exterior of Stokesay Castle, 2006

Early life

Allcroft was born on 19 July 1822, the only son of Jeremiah Macklin Allcroft, merchant of Worcester and his wife Hannah Derby, daughter of Thomas Derby and niece of William Derby. His father was in partnership with

glove A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless glov ...

makers J W Dent & Co in a very successful business.

Career

Allcroft began work in his father's glove business which became Dent, Allcroft & Company. Under Allcroft, annual production quadrupled to over 12,000,000 pairs in 1884 and became the premier glove producer in the world. In 1867 he was able to buy the Stokesay Castle estate in Shropshire.Stokesay Court History
/ref> In 1865, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Astronomical Society (Whatever shines should be observed) , predecessor = , successor = , formation = , founder = , extinction = , merger = , merged = , type = NGO ...

but contributed no papers. He was a Commissioner of Lieutenancy for the City of London, Lord of the Manors of

Onibury Onibury is a village and civil parish on the River Onny in southern Shropshire, about northwest of the market town of Ludlow. The parish includes the hamlets of Walton and Wootton and was extended in 1967 to include parts from Clungunford and ...

and Stokesay and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of five livings. He was considered an eminent philanthropist, and was Treasurer and a Governor of

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

. In 1874 he purchased a smaller estate, Stone House, Worcestershire. Allcroft was also

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for Shropshire.

Public service

Allcroft stood unsuccessfully for parliament for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

in 1874. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for Worcester at a by-election in 1878 but lost the seat in the 1880 general election. View of Stokesay Court from the lawn

Philanthropy

Allcroft built a number of London churches, including

St Matthew's, Bayswater St Matthew's is a Church of England parish church, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, London, near the New West End Synagogue and Greek Orthodox Cathedral of Saint Sophia. It is a Grade II* listed building, executed in the Victorian ...

St Jude's Church, Kensington St Jude's Church, Courtfield Gardens, Kensington, London, was designed by architects George Godwin and Henry Godwin, and built between 1867–70; the tower and spire were constructed in 1879. It was built on the northern portion of Captain Rober ...

and St Martin's Church, Gospel Oak. On 6 March 1878 he laid the foundation stone at

St Simon's Church, Shepherd's Bush The Church of St Simon is a Church of England parish church in Shepherd's Bush, London. It was built circa 1879 - 1886, designed by architect Sir Arthur Blomfield in the Gothic Revival style with a tower. The church is located on the south sid ...

. Allcroft also had a house near today's

Heathrow Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...

called Harlington Lodge and was co-founder of the nearby

Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital Harlington, Harmondsworth and Cranford Cottage Hospital was established in 1884 and opened in 1885. History The cottage hospital, which was halfway between Harmondsworth and Cranford on the Sipson Sipson is a village in the London Borough ...

in 1884.

, report 1885. In 1889 Allcroft was able to begin work on his planned

Stokesay Court Stokesay Court is a country house and estate in the parish of Onibury (but named after Stokesay) in Shropshire, England. Described by John Newman, in the ''Shropshire'' volume of Pevsner's Buildings of England, as "the most grandiloquent Vic ...

on the Stone House estate. It was completed in 1892, six months before his death at the age of 71.

Family life

Allcroft married firstly in 1854 Mary Annette Martin, daughter of Rev. Thomas Martin, and secondly on 9 August 1864, Mary Blundell, daughter of John Blundell, of Timsbury Manor, Hampshire.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allcroft, John Derby 1822 births 1893 deaths Businesspeople from Shropshire Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1874–1880 Politicians from Worcestershire Fellows of the Royal Astronomical Society