Sir Archer Croft, 2nd Baronet (c. 2 March 1683 – 10 December 1753), of

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

, near Leominster, Herefordshire, was a British 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 ...

from 1722 to 1734.

Early life

Croft was the eldest son of

Sir Herbert Croft, 1st Baronet Sir Herbert Croft, 1st Baronet ( – 3 November 1720) was an English 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 an ...

and his wife Elizabeth Archer, daughter of Thomas Archer, MP of Umberslade, Warwickshire. He matriculated at

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

on 15 April 1702. In 1720 he succeeded to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

on the death of his father on 3 November. He married Frances Waring, daughter of Brigadier-General Richard Waring of Dunston Park, Berkshire on 10 January 1723.

Career

Croft stood unsuccessfully for

Leominster Leominster ( ) is a market town in Herefordshire, England; it is located at the confluence of the River Lugg and its tributary the River Kenwater. The town is north of Hereford and south of Ludlow in Shropshire. With a population of almos ...

at the

1713 British general election The 1713 British general election was held on 22 August 1713 to 12 November 1713, to elect members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the Parliament of Great Britain. It produced further gains for the governing Tory party. Since 1710 R ...

. He was returned as Member of Parliament for Leominster at the top of the poll at the

1722 British general election The 1722 British general election elected members to serve in the House of Commons of the 6th Parliament of Great Britain. This was the fifth such election since the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. Tha ...

. On the death of King George I in 1727 he expected Walpole to be ousted by Sir Spencer Compton whom he backed. On Walpole's continuance in office Croft wrote an apology and begged for a post in the Treasury. However he was defeated at the

1727 British general election The 1727 British general election returned members to serve in the House of Commons of the 7th Parliament of Great Britain to be summoned, after the merger of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. The election was trigg ...

although returned on the Treasury interest for

Winchelsea Winchelsea () is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earli ...

at a by-election in 1728. He was also returned as MP for

Bere Alston Bere Alston is a village in West Devon in the county of Devon in England. It forms part of the civil parish of Bere Ferrers. The village is reported to have a population of 2,259 (2021 Census) History and geography With a population of a ...

on the Drake interest at a by-election on 2 March 1728 and chose to sit at Bere Alston. He then applied for posts through Mrs Clayton, the Queen's favourite, but was unsuccessful. In Parliament, he made a number of speeches for the government and was rewarded with a post as Lord of Trade in 1730. At the 1734 general election, he was unable to find a seat. However he was allowed to retain his post as Lord of Trade until the fall of Walpole in 1742 when he resigned with a pension of £1,000 a year.

Death and legacy

Croft died on 10 December 1753, having had three sons and a daughter. He was succeeded in the baronetcy by his son Archer Croft.

References

*''Burkes Peerage and Baronetage'' 1683 births 1753 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Bere Alston British MPs 1722–1727 British MPs 1727–1734 {{England-GreatBritain-MP-stub