Herbert Croft (bishop)

Herbert Croft bishop of Hereford about 1670 by an unknown artist
this portrait is in the hall at Croft Castle

Herbert Croft (1603–1691) was an English churchman, bishop of Hereford from 1661.

Life

Croft was born 18 May 1603 at Great Milton, Oxfordshire, his mother being then on a journey to London, the third son of Sir Herbert Croft and his wife Mary, daughter of Sir Anthony Bourne of Holt Castle. He married, before 8 April 1645, Anne Browne, the only daughter of the Very Rev. Dr. Jonathan Browne^[1] and Anne Barne Lovelace. Her half-brothers were Richard Lovelace (1618–1657) an English poet in the seventeenth century and Francis Lovelace (1621–1675), who was the second governor of the New York colony appointed by the Duke of York and of Albany (later King James II & VII.^[2]

After being for some time, like his father who had converted, a member of the Roman Catholic Church, he returned to the Church of England about 1630, and in 1644 was appointed chaplain to Charles I, and obtained within a few years a prebendary's stall at Worcester, a canonry of St George's Chapel, Windsor (1641–1662), and the deanery of Hereford (1644–1661), all of which preferments he lost during the Civil War and Commonwealth.

By Charles II he was made bishop of Hereford in 1661 and also dean of the Chapel Royal (1668–1669) from which position he preached to the King. Becoming disillusioned with court life he returned to his Hereford see. Despite his youthful adherence to that faith, he was noted for exceptional severity towards Roman Catholics, especially during the Popish Plot. No doubt for this reason, at the outset the Plot Titus Oates claimed that the Jesuits had marked Croft for assassination: why the Jesuits should be anxious to kill a man who lacked any influence at Court was a question which probably did not occur to Oates, who was a stranger to the Court and to polite society.

Works

Croft was the author of many books and pamphlets, several of them against the Roman Catholics; and one of his works, entitled The Naked Truth, or the True State of the Primitive Church (London, 1675), was celebrated in its day, and gave rise to prolonged controversy.

Family

His son Herbert was created a baronet in 1671, and was the ancestor of Sir Herbert Croft, 5th Baronet, the 18th century writer.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Burke's Peerage and Baronetage

↑ Jonathan Browne, Doctor of Laws. Browne matriculated at Gloucester Hall, Oxford 13 October 1620, aged 19, and received the degree of B. C. L. 1624/5, D. C. L. 1630 and L. L. D. He held the following preferments: rector of Shelly, Essex, 1621; rector of St. Faith's, London, 1628; rector of Hertingfordbury, Herts, 1630; president of Sion College, 1636-1637; canon of Hereford Cathedral,1636; dean of Hereford Cathedral 1636; canon of Westminster Abbey 1639. He outlived his wife and died December, 1643, and his will (undated and unregistered) was proved 8 April 1645 (Oxford Wills; Prerogafive Court of Canterbury, 1645).
↑ She was also the great granddaughter of Cicely Wilford and the Most Reverend Dr. Edwin Sandys, an Anglican church leader who successively held the posts of the Bishop of Worcester (1559-1570), Bishop of London (1570-1576), and the Archbishop of York (1576-1588). He was one of the translators of the Bishops' Bible. She was also the grand nephew of Sir Francis Walsingham and a 2nd cousin of Frances Walsingham.

Church of England titles
Preceded by Nicholas Monck	Bishop of Hereford 1661–1691	Succeeded by Gilbert Ironside

Deans of Hereford

High Medieval	Ralph Geoffrey Richard Hugh de Breusa Hugh de Mapenor Henry Thomas de Bosebir Ralph de Maidstone Stephen Thorne Ancelin/Anselm Giles de Avenbury John de Aqua-Blanca

Late Medieval	Stephen de Ledebury Thomas Trilleck William de Feriby William Bermingham John de Middleton John Harold John Prophet Thomas Felde John Bagshaw John Stanwey Henry Shelford John Berew Richard Pede Thomas Chaundler Oliver King John Hervey

Early modern	Reginald West Thomas Wolsey Edmund Frowcester Gamaliel Clifton Hugh Curwen Edmund Daniel John Ellis John Watkins Charles Langford Edward Doughtie Richard Montagu Oliver Lloyd Silvanus Griffiths Daniel Price John Richardson Jonathan Brown Herbert Croft Thomas Hodges George Benson John Tyler Robert Clavering John Harris Edward Cresset Edmund Castle John Egerton Francis Webber Nathan Wetherell

Late modern	William Leigh George Grelton Robert Carr Edward Mellish Edward Grey John Merewether Richard Dawes George Herbert Wentworth Leigh Reginald Waterfield Hedley Burrows Robert Price Norman Rathbone Peter Haynes Robert Willis Michael Tavinor

Deans of the Chapel Royal

Late Medieval	John de Wodeford John de Leek Thomas de Lynton John Boor Richard Kyngeston Richard Prentys Edmund Lacy Robert Gilbert Richard Praty John Croucher Robert Ayscogh William Say William Dudley John Gunthorpe William Chauntre Richard Hill Thomas Jane Richard Nikke Geoffrey Simeon

Early modern	William Atwater William Day Lancelot Andrewes William Laud Richard Steward Gilbert Sheldon George Morley Herbert Croft Walter Blandford Henry Compton Nathaniel Crew Henry Compton (again) John Robinson William Talbot Edmund Gibson

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 22484848 LCCN: n84233432

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