James Crowdy was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

-born official in Newfoundland. He was Speaker of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador

Speaker of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Speaker of the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador is the presiding officer of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly.The current Speaker of the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly is Ross Wiseman, who was uncontested for the role following the 2011 General...

 from 1843 to 1848.

Crowdy served as clerk of the Council and colonial secretary

Chief Secretary

The Chief Secretary is the title of a senior civil servant in members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and, historically, in the British Empire. Prior to the dissolution of the colonies, the Chief Secretary was the second most important official in a colony of the British Empire after the...

 for Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island

Cape Breton Island is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It likely corresponds to the word Breton, the French demonym for Brittany....

 from 1814 until 1820, when it became part of Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

. In 1831, with his wife Elizabeth, he came to St. John's

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...

 as clerk of the Council and colonial secretary for Newfoundland. In 1832, he was named to the colony's Council. In 1836, Crowdy failed to ensure that the great seal was attached to the election writs issued in that year, which led to the invalidation of the results of the election and undermined the authority of representative government in the colony. This was viewed with suspicion since Crowdy was opposed to representative government in Newfoundland. Around the same time, he married Caroline Augusta, the daughter of John Dunscombe

John Dunscombe

John Dunscombe was a merchant and political figure in Newfoundland. He was a member of the Executive Council for Newfoundland from 1833 to 1842....

; his first wife had died in 1836. In 1843, the elected assembly and appointed Council were combined and Crowdy was elected speaker. The assembly and Council became separate bodies again in 1848 and Crowdy was again named to the Council. He served briefly as colonial administrator in 1852. He resigned from the Council in 1855 and returned to England. Crowdy died in Newton Abbot

Newton Abbot

Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England on the River Teign, with a population of 23,580....

, Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

in 1867.