John Cradock
Encyclopedia
John Cradock (c. 1708 - 10 December 1778) was an English churchman, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin from 1772.
, where he graduated B.A. in 1728, Cradock was elected to a fellowship of his college, which he held with the rectory of Dry Drayton
, Cambridgeshire
. The degree of B.D. was conferred on him in 1740, and that of D.D. in 1749.
, London, and chaplain to John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
. Cradock's portrait appears in a painting by William Hogarth
entitled "A View of Covent Garden Market". Accompanying the Duke of Bedford to Ireland on his appointment to the office of lord-lieutenant, he was soon after promoted, on 11 November 1757, to the bishopric of Kilmore; and having held that see for fourteen years, he was translated to the archbishopric of Dublin, by patent dated 5 March 1772. In 1777 he was attacked by Patrick Duigenan
in his Lachrymae Academicae, who censured Cradock as Visitor of Trinity College, Dublin
, for having spoken favourably of Provost John Hely-Hutchinson.
Bishop Cradock seems to have been a helpful man even to Roman Catholics, if we are to believe the testimony of Major Edward Magauran who visited the bishop in the Spring of 1767 ("Memoirs of Major M’Gauran", Volume I, Page 134, London 1786). The major was born in Ballymagovern, County Cavan on 16 April 1746, the grandson of Colonel Bryan M’Gauran, the Chief of the Clan McGovern who fought in the Battle of the Boyne for King James II against William III of Orange. At the time of his visit to the bishop, Edward M’Gauran was then serving as an ensign in General Loudon’s Austrian Regiment of Foot. He needed his pedigree proved by a respectable witness in Ireland and he states as follows; "My relations being numerous, and dispersed throughout the kingdom, I was several months employed in collecting their attestations , which I found was necessary to have corroborated by the testimony of Dr. Reilly, the Titular Bishop of Kilmore, who was then absent: I applied to Dr. M’Guire, the Catholic Bishop of Dromore, then at the house of Mr. Robert M’Guire of Tempo; He refused to grant me my request, although he knew my pretensions to be just. Exasperated by his duplicity, which was injurious to my purpose and his tenets, I set off, and travelling all night, arrived the next morning at Kilmore, the seat of Dr. Craddock, the Protestant Bishop, who signed my certificate, which was followed by the dignified clergy, and the nobility of the neighbourhood, which I thought an ample indemnification for my recent disappointment".
Background and education
Born at Donington, Shropshire, England about 1708, he was the eldest son of the Reverend William Cradock, Principal Official, Prebendary, Sacrist, Lecturer & Reader of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton and also Rectory of Donnington. Cradock's brother was the Reverend Thomas Cradock (1717–1757), Clerk, A.M. Principal Official, Prebendary, Sacrist, Lecturer & Reader of the Collegiate Church of Wolverhampton and also Vicar of Penn. Having received his education at St John's College, CambridgeSt John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, where he graduated B.A. in 1728, Cradock was elected to a fellowship of his college, which he held with the rectory of Dry Drayton
Dry Drayton
Dry Drayton is a village and civil parish about 5 miles northwest of Cambridge in Cambridgeshire, England. It covers an area of .-History:...
, Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...
. The degree of B.D. was conferred on him in 1740, and that of D.D. in 1749.
Career
He became rector of St Paul's, Covent GardenSt Paul's, Covent Garden
St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church designed by Inigo Jones as part of a commission by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1631 to create "houses and buildings fitt for the habitacons of Gentlemen and men of ability" in Covent Garden, London, England.As well...
, London, and chaplain to John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey...
. Cradock's portrait appears in a painting by William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
entitled "A View of Covent Garden Market". Accompanying the Duke of Bedford to Ireland on his appointment to the office of lord-lieutenant, he was soon after promoted, on 11 November 1757, to the bishopric of Kilmore; and having held that see for fourteen years, he was translated to the archbishopric of Dublin, by patent dated 5 March 1772. In 1777 he was attacked by Patrick Duigenan
Patrick Duigenan
Patrick Duigenan , Irish lawyer and politician, was the son of a Leitrim Catholic farmer named O'Duibhgeannain.Through the tuition of the local Protestant clergyman, who was interested in the boy, he got a scholarship in 1756 at Trinity College, Dublin, and subsequently became a fellow...
in his Lachrymae Academicae, who censured Cradock as Visitor of Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
, for having spoken favourably of Provost John Hely-Hutchinson.
Bishop Cradock seems to have been a helpful man even to Roman Catholics, if we are to believe the testimony of Major Edward Magauran who visited the bishop in the Spring of 1767 ("Memoirs of Major M’Gauran", Volume I, Page 134, London 1786). The major was born in Ballymagovern, County Cavan on 16 April 1746, the grandson of Colonel Bryan M’Gauran, the Chief of the Clan McGovern who fought in the Battle of the Boyne for King James II against William III of Orange. At the time of his visit to the bishop, Edward M’Gauran was then serving as an ensign in General Loudon’s Austrian Regiment of Foot. He needed his pedigree proved by a respectable witness in Ireland and he states as follows; "My relations being numerous, and dispersed throughout the kingdom, I was several months employed in collecting their attestations , which I found was necessary to have corroborated by the testimony of Dr. Reilly, the Titular Bishop of Kilmore, who was then absent: I applied to Dr. M’Guire, the Catholic Bishop of Dromore, then at the house of Mr. Robert M’Guire of Tempo; He refused to grant me my request, although he knew my pretensions to be just. Exasperated by his duplicity, which was injurious to my purpose and his tenets, I set off, and travelling all night, arrived the next morning at Kilmore, the seat of Dr. Craddock, the Protestant Bishop, who signed my certificate, which was followed by the dignified clergy, and the nobility of the neighbourhood, which I thought an ample indemnification for my recent disappointment".