Sir Herbert Croft, 1st Baronet ( – 3 November 1720) was a British politician.

Family

Croft was the only son of the Right Reverend Herbert Croft, Bishop of Hereford and Anne Browne, the only daughter of the Very Rev. Dr. Jonathan Browne and Anne Barne Lovelace. Her half-brothers were Richard Lovelace (1618–1657) an English poet in the seventeenth century and

Francis Lovelace Francis Lovelace (c. 1621–1675) was an English Royalist and the second Governor of New York colony. Early life Lovelace was born circa 1621. He was the third son of Sir William Lovelace (1584–1627) and his wife Anne Barne of Lovelace Plac ...

(1621–1675), who was the second governor of the

New York Colony The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the Uni ...

appointed by James, Duke of York (later King James II). The great nephew of both

George Sandys George Sandys ( "sands"; 2 March 1578''Sandys, George''
in: ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' online ...

(2 March 1577 – March 1644), the traveller, colonist and poet, and of Sir Edwin Sandys (9 December 1561 – October 1629), an English statesman and one of the founders of the London Company, he was also the great great grandson of Cicely Wilford and the

Most Reverend The Most Reverend is a style applied to certain religious figures, primarily within the historic denominations of Christianity, but occasionally in some more modern traditions also. It is a variant of the more common style "The Reverend". Anglic ...

Dr. Edwin Sandys, an Anglican church leader who successively held the posts of the Bishop of Worcester (1559–1570),

Bishop of London A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

(1570–1576), and the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

(1576–1588), one of the translators of the

Bishops' Bible The Bishops' Bible is an English translation of the Bible which was produced under the authority of the established Church of England in 1568. It was substantially revised in 1572, and the 1602 edition was prescribed as the base text for the King ...

Life

Croft matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford in April 1668, and entered the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in the same year. Sir Herbert was created a baronet in 1671, and served as member of Parliament for

Herefordshire Herefordshire () is a county in the West Midlands of England, governed by Herefordshire Council. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthsh ...

in 1679 and 1690 to 1698. He was appointed

High Sheriff of Herefordshire This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centurie ...

in 1682. He inherited

Croft Castle Croft Castle is a country house in the village of Croft, Herefordshire, England. Owned by the Croft family since 1085, the castle and estate passed out of their hands in the 18th century, before being repurchased by the family in 1923. In 1957 ...

from his father in 1691. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Archer of

Umberslade Hockley Heath is a large village and civil parish in the Arden area mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, incorporating the hamlet of Nuthurst, with a history dating back to the year 705 AD as a wood owne ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, by whom he had two sons:

Archer Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

, his successor and Francis, the grandfather of the 5th and 6th baronets. He is buried at the Parish Church of St. Michael, Croft.

References

*Burke's Peerage and Baronetage * {{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Herbert, 1st Baronet 1650s births 1720 deaths Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford Baronets in the Baronetage of England High Sheriffs of Herefordshire English MPs 1679 English MPs 1690–1695 English MPs 1695–1698