Sir John Croft, 1st Baronet, DL, FRS (1778–1862) was an English diplomat, and spy for

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

Life

He was born in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, Portugal, the son of John Croft, merchant, and Henrietta Maria, daughter of

James Tunstall James Tunstall (1708?–1762) was an English cleric and classics scholar. Life The son of James Tunstall, an attorney at Richmond, Yorkshire, he was born about 1708. He was educated at Slaidburn grammar school under Bradbury, and was admitted a s ...

. He was educated in a British school run by an Anglican clergyman Dr. Bell, who taught his pupils fluency in six languages. In 1795, at his father's request, Jack (his nickname), joined the family Port house. Five years later he sailed to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

to become a scientist. His first work was as an assistant to

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several Chemical element, e ...

, the inventor of the miners'

safety lamp A safety lamp is any of several types of lamp that provides illumination in places such as coal mines where the air may carry coal dust or a build-up of flammable gases, which may explode if ignited, possibly by an electric spark. Until the d ...

. In 1803 he went to assist the botanist

Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English Natural history, naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the European and American voyages of scientific exploration, 1766 natural-history ...

. Croft was later admitted to the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, with recommendations by Davy and Banks and

Peter Mark Roget Peter Mark Roget ( ; 18 January 1779 – 12 September 1869) was a British physician, natural theologian, Lexicography, lexicographer, and founding secretary of The Portico Library. He is best known for publishing, in 1852, the ''Roget's Thesau ...

. In 1814 he was also appointed an Associate of The Royal Academy of Science in Lisbon. In 1810 in the midst of the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

s he met Charles Stuart, the British Minister to Portugal, who invited him to undertake a six-month

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence). A person who commits espionage on a mission-specific contract is called an ...

operation along the entire north coast of Spain from Corunna to the French border. His task was to organise a network of agents to report details of French troop movements to Stuart who, in turn, would sort them and pass them to Wellington. The following year Charles Stuart appointed Croft as the joint leader of the British Government Distribution Fund whose challenge was to provide aid to desolate Portuguese villagers in the war-torn villages. He quickly took charge of the operation and with his team of 16 volunteers provided blankets, clothing, food, medicines, livestock, etc. to 77,000 families. In 1814 the Portuguese Regent awarded him the

Order of the Tower and Sword The Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit (), before 1917 the ancient and most noble order of the Tower and of the Sword, of valour, loyalty and merit (), is one of the four former ancient Portuguese milita ...

, four years later he was awarded a

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 ...

, and in 1854 Portugal remembered him again with the title of Barão da Serra da Estrela (''Serra d'Estrella'' in old Portuguese writing). Letters and documents confirming this history are contained in the archives of The Fladgate Partnership,

Vila Nova de Gaia Vila Nova de Gaia (; ), or simply Gaia, is a city and a municipality in Porto District in Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region, Portugal. It is located south of the city of Porto on the other side of the Douro River. The city proper had a populati ...

, Portugal and the Croft family records, as well as in the

Factory House The British Factory House (), also known as the British Association House, is an 18th-century Neo-Palladian building located in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern Portugal, Portuguese centre of Porto, associated with the influence of Britain in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, John British spies Deputy lieutenants of Kent Fellows of the Royal Society Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom 1778 births 1862 deaths People from Porto