Matthew Cradock (1584–1636) was an English wool merchant and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1621 and 1629. Cradock was the son of George Cradock of Stafford. He was the first mayor Stafford in 1614.Stafford Borough Council - In Touch with the Past
/ref> In 1615 he purchased the neglected Caverswall Castle. He built a mansion house retaining the old castle walls, to a design, it is said, of Robert Smythson or John Smythson. The three storey house has five bays each with stone mullioned and

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

ed windows. There is a castellated parapet and an entrance porch. Heritage Gateway, architectural description of listed building - Caverswall Castle
/ref> In 1621, Cradock was elected Member of Parliament for

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...

. He was re-elected MP for Stafford in 1624 and 1625. He was elected MP for Stafford again in 1628 and sat until 1629 when King Charles dispensed with parliament for eleven years. Cradock died in 1636 and was buried in the church of St Peter at

Caverswall Caverswall is a village and parish in Staffordshire, to the south west of Staffordshire Moorlands. In the middle of the 19th century there were about 1500 inhabitants. In the 1880s an urbanised part of the parish called East Vale was transferred ...

.Caverswall St Peter's
Cradock married Elizabeth Fowler daughter of Richard Fowler of Harnedge Grange, Shropshire on 28 April 1612. They had a daughter Mary and a son George, who entered the Inner Temple in 1632, and died in 1643. Cradock was said to be cousin of

Matthew Cradock Matthew Cradock (also spelled Craddock and Craddocke; died 27 May 1641) was a London merchant, politician, and the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Company. Founded in 1628, it was an organization of Puritan businessmen that organized ...

, a financial supporter of the Puritan migration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cradock, Matthew 1636 deaths Members of the Parliament of England (pre-1707) for Stafford Mayors of places in Staffordshire English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1628–1629 1584 births