Sir Francis Crane was the founder of Mortlake Tapestry Works

Mortlake Tapestry Works

Mortlake Tapestry Works were established alongside the River Thames at Mortlake, then outside, but near west London in 1619 by Sir Francis Crane.-Royal Patronage:...

  at Mortlake

Mortlake

Mortlake is a district of London, England and part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes with East Sheen inland to the south. Mortlake was part of Surrey until 1965.-History:...

 on the south bank of the river Thames in South West London

South West (London sub region)

The South West is a sub-region of the London Plan corresponding to the London Boroughs of London Borough of , Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth. The sub region was established in 2008. The south west has a population of 1,600,000 and is the location...

.

Life

The tapestry works almost ruined Crane, as it involved him in considerable outlay of capital for an inadequate return, and in 1623 he was forced to appeal to the King, James I

James I of England

James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 for financial help. James I died in 1625 and Crane was given much more favourable terms by the new King, Charles I, whose secretary he had been since 1617. He sat in the Parliaments of 1614 and 1621 as MP for Penryn

Penryn (UK Parliament constituency)

Penryn was a parliamentary borough in Cornwall, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of England from 1553 until 1707, to the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800, and finally to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to until 1832...

 and that of 1624 for Launceston

Launceston (UK Parliament constituency)

Launceston, also known at some periods as Dunheved, was a parliamentary constituency in Cornwall which returned two Members of Parliament to the British House of Commons from 1295 until 1832, and one member from 1832 until 1918...

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In 1629 the King gave him the Manor of Stoke Bruerne

Stoke Bruerne

Stoke Bruerne is a small village and civil parish in South Northamptonshire, England about north of Milton Keynes and south of Northampton.-History:...

 in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

, where he built Stoke Park

Stoke Park Pavilions

Stoke Park Pavilions are all that remain of the stately house and grounds of Stoke Park near the village of Stoke Bruerne, Northamptonshire, England, approximately south of Northampton and north of Milton Keynes.- Stoke Park :...

, a fine Palladian house, possibly with assistance from Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...

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Crane's brother, Richard Crane, was created a baronet

Baronet

A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...

in 1643.