CROSSE, Sir John, 2nd Bt. (?1700-62), of Westminster, and Rainham, Essex

Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1754-1790, ed. L. Namier, J. Brooke., 1964
Available from Boydell and Brewer

Constituency

Dates

1727 - 1734
19 May 1735 - 1747
1754 - 1761

Family and Education

b. ?1700, 2nd but o. surv. s. of Sir Thomas Crosse, 1st Bt., M.P., by Jane, da. of Patrick Lambe of Stoke Poges, Bucks. educ. Westminster 10 Jan. 1715, aged 14; Ch. Ch. Oxf. 21 Feb. 1717, aged 16. m. 15 July 1746, Mary Godfrey of Westminster, s.p. suc. fa. 27 May 1738.

Offices Held

Biography

Crosse had sat for Wootton Bassett and Lostwithiel as a Treasury candidate. In a letter to Bute of 18 Nov. 17611 he explained how he came to stand for Westminster:

It has been my lot, my Lord, ever since the year 1727 ... to have taken a pretty considerable share in the conduct of the public business of Middlesex and Essex, the two counties where my estates lie, but more particularly of the City and Liberty which has the honour of being the place of his Majesty’s birth and residence. As my late father had often been chosen for Westminster in his lifetime I was in consequence of that thought of as a proper person to be nominated as a candidate to represent them in the last Parliament, which I did with ... the strongest approbation and protection of his late Majesty.

When asked by Henry Pelham to stand at the general election of 1754, Crosse ‘declared he would not put up more than £500, and, as this was insufficient, Pelham tried to find someone who would go the length of £2000 but, having failed, accepted Crosse’s offer’.2 Crosse and Edward Cornwallis stood on a joint interest against Lord Middlesex and General Oglethorpe, put up solely ‘to occasion money to be spent’; their expenses came to almost £2300, of which Crosse paid £500 and the remainder came from secret service money.

There is no record of any speech or vote by Crosse in this Parliament, but presumably he supported Administration. In 1761 he declined to stand because of ill health,3 and he died 12 Mar. 1762.

Ref Volumes: 1754-1790

Author: John Brooke

Notes

  • 1. Bute mss.
  • 2. Namier, Structure, 199.
  • 3. Crosse to Newcastle, 28 Jan. 1761, Add. 32918, f. 106.