John Crew, 1st Baron Crew of Stene (1598 – 12 December 1679) was an English lawyer and politician, who sat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...

at various times between 1624 and 1660. He was a

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

and sided with the

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

cause during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. He was raised to a peerage as Baron Crew by Charles II after the Restoration.

Career

Crew was the son of Sir Thomas Crew of Nantwich, Cheshire and Steane and his wife Temperance Bray, daughter of Reynold Bray of Steane. His father was

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. Crew entered

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 Wale ...

in 1615 and matriculated at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

on 26 April 1616, aged 18. He was called to the bar in 1624.History of Parliament Online - Crew, John
/ref> In 1624, Crew was elected Member of Parliament for

Amersham Amersham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, in the Chiltern Hills, northwest of central London, south-east of Aylesbury and north-east of High Wycombe. Amersham is part of the London commuter belt. There ar ...

and was re-elected in 1625. He was elected MP for

Brackley Brackley is a market town and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. It is on the borders with Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, east-southeast of Banbury, north-northeast of Oxford, and ...

in 1626. In 1628 he was elected MP for

Banbury Banbury is an historic market town and civil parish on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. The parish had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding ...

and sat until 1629 when King Charles decided to rule without parliament for eleven years. In April 1640, Crew was elected MP for Brackley in the

Short Parliament The Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that was summoned by King Charles I of England on 20 February 1640 and sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640. It was so called because of its short session of only three weeks. After 11 years of per ...

. He was elected MP for

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

in November 1640 for the

Long Parliament The Long Parliament was an Parliament of England, English Parliament which lasted from 1640 until 1660, making it the longest-lasting Parliament in English and British history. It followed the fiasco of the Short Parliament, which had convened f ...

. He voted against the attainder of Strafford, but supported Parliament when Civil War came, although he was a moderate, suspicious of the Army and supported the

Self-Denying Ordinance The Self-denying Ordinance was passed by the Parliament of England, English Parliament on 3 April 1645. All members of the House of Commons or Lords who were also officers in the Parliamentary army or navy were required to resign one or the ot ...

. He was chosen chairman of the Commons Committee on Religion, was one of the parliamentary commissioners sent to negotiate with the Royalists at

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon, northwest of Charing Cross. Uxbridge formed part of the parish of Hillingdon in the county of Middlesex. As part ...

in 1645, and was one of those entrusted with the custody of the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Holdenby House Holdenby House is a historic country house in Northamptonshire, traditionally pronounced, and sometimes spelt, Holmby. The house is situated in the parish of Holdenby, six miles (10 km) northwest of Northampton and close to Althorp. It i ...

after the Scots handed him over to Parliament in 1647. However, the following year the army leaders, knowing that he would oppose the trial of the King, had him arrested and he was excluded from his parliamentary seat in

Pride's Purge Pride's Purge is the name commonly given to an event that took place on 6 December 1648, when soldiers prevented members of Parliament considered hostile to the New Model Army from entering the House of Commons of England. Despite defeat in the ...

. He returned to the Commons as MP for

in 1654 for the

First Protectorate Parliament The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government. It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the H ...

but was once again excluded by the government. Despite this, he was summoned by the

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

to sit in his new House of Lords, which first met in 1658. After the collapse of the restored Rump he resumed his seat in the briefly resurrected unpurged House, then was elected once more for

in the Convention Parliament. He was appointed to the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

, and was one of the delegation sent to meet Charles II at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

and arrange his return to the throne. On 20 April 1661, Crew was created Baron Crew of Stene in recognition of his efforts to promote the Restoration, and thereafter retired from active politics. A wealthy man, he had bought a large house in

Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...

during the 1650s, and was a well-regarded host;

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

, who was a retainer and poor relation of his son-in-law Edward Montagu and mentions him many times in his diaries, was a frequent guest. Crew died in 1679 and was buried at Steane, Northamptonshire.

Family

Crew married Jemima Waldegrave, daughter of Edward Waldegrave of

Lawford Lawford is a large village and civil parish in the Tendring district of northeast Essex, England. It is approximately northeast from the centre of Colchester and west of, and contiguous with, Manningtree. Mistley merges with the east side of ...

Hall in

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. Their children included: * Sir Thomas Crew (1624–1697), who succeeded his father in the peerage but died without male issue * Rev. Nathaniel Crew (1633–1721),

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

, who succeeded his older brother as 3rd Baron * Jemima, Countess of Sandwich (1625–1674), who married Edward Montagu, later

Earl of Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montag ...

, in 1642. * Anne, who married Sir Henry Wright, 1st Baronet, of

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Fo ...

. * Reverend Samuel Crew, died in 1660.

References

* ''Burke's Extinct Peerage'' (London: Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1831

*D. Brunton &

D. H. Pennington Donald Henshaw Pennington (15 June 1919 – 28 December 2007) was a historian of 17th-century England. He taught at Manchester and Oxford universities, becoming a tutor at Balliol College, Oxford in 1965. Donald was born in Marple, Greater Manche ...

, ''Members of the Long Parliament'' (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1954) *''Cobbett's Parliamentary history of England, from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to the year 1803'' (London: Thomas Hansard, 1808

* ''Concise Dictionary of National Biography'' (1930) * 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

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Crew, 1st Baron, John Crew 1598 births 1679 deaths 1 17th-century English landowners 17th-century English lawyers English lawyers English MPs 1624–1625 English MPs 1625 English MPs 1626 English MPs 1628–1629 English MPs 1640 (April) English MPs 1640–1648 English MPs 1654–1655 English MPs 1660 Members of Cromwell's Other House Burials in Northamptonshire