Sir Thomas Crewe (or Crew) (1565 – 31 January 1634), of Stene, between

Farthinghoe Farthinghoe is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. It is located on the A422 road about north-west of Brackley and south-east of Banbury. The origin of the village's name is uncertain. Possibly, 'hill-spur of the dwe ...

and

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, from Oxford and from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the inter ...

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

, was an English

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 o ...

and lawyer, and served as

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

from 1623 to 1625. He was a son of John Crewe and Alicia, a daughter Humphrey Manwaring of

Nantwich Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...

. Crewe was a member of

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, and a

serjeant-at-law A Serjeant-at-Law (SL), commonly known simply as a Serjeant, was a member of an order of barristers at the English and Irish Bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law (''servientes ad legem''), or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are wri ...

. He went to

Woodstock Palace Woodstock Palace was a royal residence in the English town of Woodstock, Oxfordshire. Henry I of England built a hunting lodge here and in 1129 he built of walls to create the first enclosed park, where lions and leopards were kept. The lodge b ...

in September 1603, where the royal family had gone to avoid plague in London, and sent a letter of news and business to

Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury Mary Talbot, Countess of Shrewsbury (1556–1632) (née Cavendish) was the wife of Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. Life Family Born Mary Cavendish, she was the daughter of Sir William Cavendish, who died when she was about a year old, ...

. The business concerned the marriage of her daughter

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

to the

Earl of Pembroke Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...

.Edmund Lodge, ''Illustrations of British History'', vol. 3 (London, 1791), p. 185. He entered Parliament in 1604 as Member for

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

, and was later MP for Northampton (1621–2), Aylesbury (1623–1625) and Gatton (1625). In 1621 he drew attention to himself by defying the

King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

, declaring the liberties of Parliament to be "matters of inheritance". In 1623 he was knighted, and in the Parliament summoned that year (which first assembled in February 1624) he was elected Speaker; he served in that capacity in the two Parliaments known to history as the Happy Parliament and the

Useless Parliament The Useless Parliament was the first Parliament of England of the reign of King Charles I, sitting only from June until August 1625. It gained its name because it transacted no significant business, making it 'useless' from the king's point of ...

. In 1633, he was appointed a member of the ecclesiastical commission. He died the following year. Crewe's son,

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 * Secon ...

, followed him into Parliament, and was raised to the peerage as

Baron Crew Baron Crew, of Stene in the County of Northampton, was a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 20 April 1661 for the politician John Crew. He was the son of Sir Thomas Crewe, Speaker of the House of Commons. Lord Crew was succeed ...

in 1661 for his role in bringing about the Restoration. Sir Thomas Crew married Temperance Bray, daughter of Reynold Bray and Hon. Anne Vaux. He lived at Stene, Northamptonshire, and died on 31 January 1633.

References

*''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' (1930) *''Burke's Extinct Peerage'' (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831

* Mark Noble (biographer), Mark Noble, ''Memoirs of several persons and families... allied to or descended from... the Protectorate-House of Cromwell'' (Birmingham: Pearson & Rollason, 1784

1565 births 1634 deaths Members of Gray's Inn People from West Northamptonshire District Members of the Parliament of England for Bere Alston Speakers of the House of Commons of England English MPs 1604–1611 English MPs 1621–1622 English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 {{17thC-England-MP-stub