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 The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

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 Pla ...

(1621–1675), who was the second governor of the New York Colony 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 The Virginia Company of London (sometimes called "London Company") was a division of the Virginia Company with responsibility for colonizing the east coast of North America between latitudes 34° and 41° N. History Origins The territory ...

, he was also the great great grandson of Cicely Wilford and the

Most Reverend The Most Reverend (abbreviated as The Most Revd or The Most Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. It is a variant of the mor ...

Dr. Edwin Sandys, an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church leader who successively held the posts of the

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

(1559–1570),

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

(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 the ...

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

Bishops' Bible The Bishops' Bible is an English edition 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 Ja ...

Life

Croft 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 ...

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 entitled to Call to the bar, call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple (with whi ...

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

Herefordshire Herefordshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England, bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh ...

in 1679 and 1690 to 1698. He was appointed High Sheriff of Herefordshire in 1682. He inherited

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 ...

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

Umberslade Hockley Heath is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. The village is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, southeast of Birmingham from Solihull town centre and north of St ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, 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 modern ...

, 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