William Crocker (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

14th c.), living during the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377), of Crocker's Hele in the parish of

Meeth Meeth is a small village roughly north-northwest of Okehampton and west-northwest of Exeter. It lies to the west of the River Torridge. In the past, ball clay mines were a major source of employment in the village, lying just to the west, howev ...

, Devon, was a

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 ...

. His descendants were the prominent Crocker family seated at Lyneham in the parish of

Yealmpton Yealmpton () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about from Plymouth. Its name derives from the River Yealm that flows through the villag ...

, Devon until 1740. William Crocker is the earliest member of the family recorded in the

Heraldic Visitations Heraldic visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms (or alternatively by heralds, or junior officers of arms, acting as their deputies) throughout England, Wales and Ireland. Their purpose was to register and regulate the c ...

of Devon, although one of his ancestors is known to have been

Richard Crocker Richard Crocker ( fl. 1335) of Devon, England, was a Member of Parliament for Tavistock in Devon in 1335. His descendants were the prominent Crocker family of ''Crocker's Hele'' in the parish of Meeth, Devon, later seated at Lyneham in the pari ...

(fl.1335) of Devon, England, a

for

Tavistock (UK Parliament constituency) Tavistock was the name of a United Kingdom constituencies, parliamentary constituency in Devon between 1330 and 1974. Until 1885 United Kingdom general election, 1885 it was a parliamentary borough, consisting solely of the town of Tavistock, Devo ...

in Devon in 1335. The earliest known Devonshire seat of the Crocker family was ''Crocker's Hele'', in the parish of

, (in 2016 a 7-acre solar farm) which in the 14th century was abandoned by William's grandson John II Crocker in favour of Lyneham in the parish of

, Devon, which he had inherited from his wife Alice Gambon, daughter and heiress of John Gambon of Lyneham. The Crocker family is believed to be one of the most ancient in Devon, reputedly of Anglo-Saxon origin, very rare for English gentry who mostly descend from Norman invaders who took part in the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

of 1066. According to ''"that old saw often used among us in discourse"'', the traditional rhyme related by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

(d.1723):

''"Crocker, Cruwys, and Coplestone'',
''When the Conqueror came were at home"''

The last male of the Crocker family of Lyneham was Courtenay Crocker (d.1740), several times MP for Plympton. The Cruwys family in 2014 still resides in its ancient

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

Cruwys Morchard __NOTOC__ Cruwys Morchard is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of the county of Devon in England. It is located about four to five miles west of Tiverton along the road to Witheridge. The parish covers about of land ...

where, despite the traditional rhyme which seeks to give it Anglo-Saxon origins, it is first recorded in the reign of King

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

(1199-1216), or possibly a little earlier. The senior branch of the Coplestone family died out in the male line in 1632, but the Coplestones of

Bowden Bowden may refer to: Places Australia * Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland * Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide * Bowden railway station Canada * Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta England * Bowden ...

in the parish of

Ashprington Ashprington is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of Devon, England. The village is not far from the River Dart, but high above it, and is about three miles south of Totnes. There is a local pub, hotel and phonebox. The civ ...

survived a further century until the death without progeny of

Thomas Coplestone Thomas Coplestone (1688–1748) of Bowden, Yealmpton, Devon, was a British landowner and Whig politician who sat in the House of Commons for 29 years from 1719 to 1748. Origins Coplestone was baptized on 25 May 1688 the eldest son of John Coples ...

(1688-1748), MP, whose heirs in 1753 sold Bowden to William Pollexfen Bastard of Kitley.Risdon, Tristram (d.1640), Survey of Devon, 1811 edition, London, 1811, with 1810 Additions, p.389

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, William 14th-century English MPs Members of the pre-1707 English Parliament for constituencies in Devon People from the Borough of West Devon