John Croke
Encyclopedia
Sir John Croke was Speaker of the English House of Commons
between October–December 1601. He was a lawyer and judge by profession, and was Recorder
of London. Croke won the City of London
constituency in his election to the 1601 parliament, and was the last Speaker before the death of Elizabeth I
, in 1603.
in 1570, and received a call to the bar
shortly after, becoming a "distinguished member". He was rewarded for his service as a lawyer with a silver gilt
from the Lord Chancellor
, Sir Christopher Hatton
(d. 1591). Upon his father's death in 1584, he was deeded the Chilton
manor house his grandfather had built, and Studley
Priory, which he had purchased. Croke built his own manor house at Studley, though he moved his family to Chilton after his father's death.
Croke sat in the Windsor constituency
in 1585, and was first elected for the City of London in 1597. He was made Lent Reader of the Inner Temple in 1596. He became Treasurer in 1598, and was subsequently appointed Recorder. Croke, in an era when intimidation of counsel
was frequent, was noted for his 'discretion' in court. In 1602, Croke was involved in a divisive witchcraft case of the era, in which he performed a series of a tests on the 14-year-old accuser, Mary Glover, and the defendant, Elizabeth Jackson; he came to the conclusion that Glover was bewitched after witnessing her reaction to a disguised Jackson, and her unresponsiveness to heat, which left visible burns. The evidence obtained was used in trial, though Sir Edmund Anderson was principal judge; Jackson was convicted to one year's imprisonment, but was released early.
He was elected Speaker unanimously in 1601. Manning, in his work on the Commons' speakers, repeats the recommendation given by William Knolles
, Comptroller of the Household
, for Croke to hold the office:
One early incident in Croke's tenure saw him come to the defence of a Member's right to be heard, after Serjeant Heale met with much disapprobation and mocking for defending Elizabeth's access to grants in the strongest terms – "Yea, she hath as much right to all our lands and goods as to any revenue of the crown."
Manning relates how, in his short time as Speaker, he was able to influence Elizabeth to support a bill against the granting of monopolies entitled, "An Act for the explanation of the common law in certain letters patent". This, and similar pieces of legislation, were seen to overstep the Crown's prerogative, and Elizabeth, opposed to their fragmentation or suspension, was against the bill, though ignorant of the abuses that monopolies had brought. The House was almost wholly in favour the proposals, although they were referred to a committee. However, the day after this had been announced, Croke, in his capacity as Speaker, arose from his chair and informed the House of a meeting he had been called to with Elizabeth, in which she told of her desire to "defend her people from all oppressions" after having seen evidence of abuses. The committee of the House was adopted, and a motion was passed asking for an address by the Speaker expressing their gratitude, which Croke duly delivered.
On a bill for "resorting to Church" (to compel attendance) which received 105 "ayes" and 106 "nays", Sir Edward Hobbie, who was of the former, claimed the Speaker's vote. It was debated whether he had a voice, and Croke, after hearing the arguments of Sir Walter Raleigh
(who opposed Croke's intervention) amongst others, decided that he did not. This established a precedent that the Speaker only has a casting vote in cases where the vote is tied, as Croke summed up his position by saying he "was foreclosed of his voice by taking that position which it had pleased them to impose on him" and that he was to be "indifferent to both parties."
Croke was responsible for the introduction of more stringent measures over what MPs could bring to parliament, as he prohibited the wearing of spur
s, and sought to impose similar restrictions on carrying rapier
s. Other events of note in this parliament included The Golden Speech
by Elizabeth (where she revealed it would be her last parliament), and the passing of a number of grants, which Manning says were evidence of the "liberality evinced by Parliament ... after Elizabeth's promise to revoke the subsidies." Upon the dissolution of parliament, Croke's speech to Elizabeth, "full of the accustomed flattery", was interrupted: after Croke declared that "The peace of the kingdom had been defended by the mighty arm of their dread and sacred Queen" (alluding to the Essex Rebellion) she retorted, "No; but by the mighty of God, Mr. Speaker."
He was knighted in the first year of James I
's reign, and was made a serjeant-at-law
, acting as serjeant for the King. Croke was also made deputy to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
, Sir George Hume
, in 1604. As serjeant, one of his functions was to bring messages and bills from the Lords
to the Commons. Croke was mentioned in one of the most famous parliamentary libels
of the period, The Censure of the Parliament Fart, which recounted the audible emission of the MP Henry Ludlow in 1607:
After also serving as a Welsh judge, he was made one of the justices of the Court of King's Bench
in 1607. He performed judicial duties for nearly thirteen years, and died on 23 January 1620.
. His father was an MP in the Commons for the borough of Southampton
in 1571, and the county of Buckinghamshire
the following year, and in several other parliaments. His paternal lineage included most of the royal families in Europe. Croke's mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Sir Alexander Unton. His brother, Henry, was barrister-at-law and had several children by his wife Bennet (née Honywood). Croke married Catherine, daughter of Sir Michael Blount
. Of their sons, Sir Henry was MP for Christ Church
, Charles entered the Holy Orders
, and Unton
sat for Wallingford
in 1626 and 1640, was a barrister and sergeant-at-law by profession, and a sympathiser with the Roundhead
s. Croke's issue
was left to his eldest son, also Sir John, who was MP for Shaftesbury
. His son, again called (Sir) John, inherited Chilton
, of which he was Baronet
, and "through his impudent, litigious, and vindicative disposition, completely dissipated his inheritance" (Burke). After selling Chilton, he died in prison, and the issue passed to his only son, Sir Dodsworth Croke. Dodsworth Croke lived in poverty, and died issueless, in old age, in 1728.
Speaker of the British House of Commons
The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdom's lower chamber of Parliament. The current Speaker is John Bercow, who was elected on 22 June 2009, following the resignation of Michael Martin...
between October–December 1601. He was a lawyer and judge by profession, and was Recorder
Recorder (judge)
A Recorder is a judicial officer in England and Wales. It now refers to two quite different appointments. The ancient Recorderships of England and Wales now form part of a system of Honorary Recorderships which are filled by the most senior full-time circuit judges...
of London. Croke won the City of London
City of London (UK Parliament constituency)
The City of London was a United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1950.-Boundaries and boundary...
constituency in his election to the 1601 parliament, and was the last Speaker before the death of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, in 1603.
Life
Croke spent the early part of his career as a lawyer. He entered the Inner TempleInner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in 1570, and received a call to the bar
Call to the bar
The Call to the Bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party, and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received a "call to the bar"...
shortly after, becoming a "distinguished member". He was rewarded for his service as a lawyer with a silver gilt
Gilding
The term gilding covers a number of decorative techniques for applying fine gold leaf or powder to solid surfaces such as wood, stone, or metal to give a thin coating of gold. A gilded object is described as "gilt"...
from the Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
, Sir Christopher Hatton
Christopher Hatton
Sir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...
(d. 1591). Upon his father's death in 1584, he was deeded the Chilton
Chilton, Buckinghamshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, about north of Thame in Oxfordshire. Chilton parish includes the hamlet of Easington .-Manor:The toponym "Chilton" is derived from the Old English for "young man's farm"...
manor house his grandfather had built, and Studley
Studley
Studley is a large village and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. Situated on the western edge of Warwickshire near the border with Worcestershire it is southeast of Redditch and northwest of Stratford. The Roman road of Ryknild Street, now the A435, passes...
Priory, which he had purchased. Croke built his own manor house at Studley, though he moved his family to Chilton after his father's death.
Croke sat in the Windsor constituency
Windsor (UK Parliament constituency)
Windsor is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. In its modern form, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post system of election.-Boundaries:...
in 1585, and was first elected for the City of London in 1597. He was made Lent Reader of the Inner Temple in 1596. He became Treasurer in 1598, and was subsequently appointed Recorder. Croke, in an era when intimidation of counsel
Counsel
A counsel or a counselor gives advice, more particularly in legal matters.-U.K. and Ireland:The legal system in England uses the term counsel as an approximate synonym for a barrister-at-law, and may apply it to mean either a single person who pleads a cause, or collectively, the body of barristers...
was frequent, was noted for his 'discretion' in court. In 1602, Croke was involved in a divisive witchcraft case of the era, in which he performed a series of a tests on the 14-year-old accuser, Mary Glover, and the defendant, Elizabeth Jackson; he came to the conclusion that Glover was bewitched after witnessing her reaction to a disguised Jackson, and her unresponsiveness to heat, which left visible burns. The evidence obtained was used in trial, though Sir Edmund Anderson was principal judge; Jackson was convicted to one year's imprisonment, but was released early.
He was elected Speaker unanimously in 1601. Manning, in his work on the Commons' speakers, repeats the recommendation given by William Knolles
William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury
Sir William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury, KG, PC was an English nobleman at the court of Queen Elizabeth I and King James...
, Comptroller of the Household
Comptroller of the Household
The Comptroller of the Household is an ancient position in the English royal household, currently the second-ranking member of the Lord Steward's department, and often a cabinet member. He was an ex officio member of the Board of Green Cloth, until that body was abolished in the reform of the local...
, for Croke to hold the office:
One early incident in Croke's tenure saw him come to the defence of a Member's right to be heard, after Serjeant Heale met with much disapprobation and mocking for defending Elizabeth's access to grants in the strongest terms – "Yea, she hath as much right to all our lands and goods as to any revenue of the crown."
Manning relates how, in his short time as Speaker, he was able to influence Elizabeth to support a bill against the granting of monopolies entitled, "An Act for the explanation of the common law in certain letters patent". This, and similar pieces of legislation, were seen to overstep the Crown's prerogative, and Elizabeth, opposed to their fragmentation or suspension, was against the bill, though ignorant of the abuses that monopolies had brought. The House was almost wholly in favour the proposals, although they were referred to a committee. However, the day after this had been announced, Croke, in his capacity as Speaker, arose from his chair and informed the House of a meeting he had been called to with Elizabeth, in which she told of her desire to "defend her people from all oppressions" after having seen evidence of abuses. The committee of the House was adopted, and a motion was passed asking for an address by the Speaker expressing their gratitude, which Croke duly delivered.
On a bill for "resorting to Church" (to compel attendance) which received 105 "ayes" and 106 "nays", Sir Edward Hobbie, who was of the former, claimed the Speaker's vote. It was debated whether he had a voice, and Croke, after hearing the arguments of Sir Walter Raleigh
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh was an English aristocrat, writer, poet, soldier, courtier, spy, and explorer. He is also well known for popularising tobacco in England....
(who opposed Croke's intervention) amongst others, decided that he did not. This established a precedent that the Speaker only has a casting vote in cases where the vote is tied, as Croke summed up his position by saying he "was foreclosed of his voice by taking that position which it had pleased them to impose on him" and that he was to be "indifferent to both parties."
Croke was responsible for the introduction of more stringent measures over what MPs could bring to parliament, as he prohibited the wearing of spur
Spur
A spur is a metal tool designed to be worn in pairs on the heels of riding boots for the purpose of directing a horse to move forward or laterally while riding. It is usually used to refine the riding aids and to back up the natural aids . The spur is used in every equestrian discipline...
s, and sought to impose similar restrictions on carrying rapier
Rapier
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks, used mainly in Early Modern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.-Description:...
s. Other events of note in this parliament included The Golden Speech
The Golden Speech
The Golden Speech was delivered by Queen Elizabeth I of England to 141 Members of the Commons , on November 30th, 1601. It was a speech that was expected to be addressing some pricing concerns, based on the recent economic issues facing the country...
by Elizabeth (where she revealed it would be her last parliament), and the passing of a number of grants, which Manning says were evidence of the "liberality evinced by Parliament ... after Elizabeth's promise to revoke the subsidies." Upon the dissolution of parliament, Croke's speech to Elizabeth, "full of the accustomed flattery", was interrupted: after Croke declared that "The peace of the kingdom had been defended by the mighty arm of their dread and sacred Queen" (alluding to the Essex Rebellion) she retorted, "No; but by the mighty of God, Mr. Speaker."
He was knighted in the first year of 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...
's reign, and was made a serjeant-at-law
Serjeant-at-law
The Serjeants-at-Law was an order of barristers at the English bar. The position of Serjeant-at-Law , or Sergeant-Counter, was centuries old; there are writs dating to 1300 which identify them as descended from figures in France prior to the Norman Conquest...
, acting as serjeant for the King. Croke was also made deputy to the Chancellor of the Exchequer
Chancellor of the Exchequer
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is the title held by the British Cabinet minister who is responsible for all economic and financial matters. Often simply called the Chancellor, the office-holder controls HM Treasury and plays a role akin to the posts of Minister of Finance or Secretary of the...
, Sir George Hume
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar
George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar, KG, PC was, in the last decade of his life, the most prominent and most influential Scotsman in England. His work lay in the King's Household and in the control of the State Affairs of Scotland and he was the King's chief Scottish advisor...
, in 1604. As serjeant, one of his functions was to bring messages and bills from the Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
to the Commons. Croke was mentioned in one of the most famous parliamentary libels
Libel (poetry)
Libel is a verse genre primarily of the Renaissance, descended from the tradition of invective in classical Greek and Roman poetry. Libel is usually expressly political, and balder and coarser than satire...
of the period, The Censure of the Parliament Fart, which recounted the audible emission of the MP Henry Ludlow in 1607:
After also serving as a Welsh judge, he was made one of the justices of the Court of King's Bench
Court of King's Bench (England)
The Court of King's Bench , formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was an English court of common law in the English legal system...
in 1607. He performed judicial duties for nearly thirteen years, and died on 23 January 1620.
Family and issue
Croke's father, also Sir John Croke, was born in 1531, and was a knight of ChiltonChilton, Buckinghamshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, about north of Thame in Oxfordshire. Chilton parish includes the hamlet of Easington .-Manor:The toponym "Chilton" is derived from the Old English for "young man's farm"...
. His father was an MP in the Commons for the borough of Southampton
Southampton (UK Parliament constituency)
Southampton was a parliamentary constituency which was represented in the British House of Commons. Centred on the town of Southampton, it returned two Members of Parliament from 1295 until it was abolished for the 1950 general election....
in 1571, and the county of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire (UK Parliament constituency)
Buckinghamshire is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of England then of the Parliament of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1885.Its most prominent member was...
the following year, and in several other parliaments. His paternal lineage included most of the royal families in Europe. Croke's mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Sir Alexander Unton. His brother, Henry, was barrister-at-law and had several children by his wife Bennet (née Honywood). Croke married Catherine, daughter of Sir Michael Blount
Michael Blount
-Life:He was born in Mapledurham House, Oxfordshire to Sir Richard Blount He was High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire in 1576, then of Oxfordshire in 1586 and 1597. He was elected the Member of Parliament for Winchelsea in March 1553 and Marlborough in 1563...
. Of their sons, Sir Henry was MP for Christ Church
Christchurch (UK Parliament constituency)
Christchurch is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Centred on the town of Christchurch in Dorset, it elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
, Charles entered the Holy Orders
Holy Orders
The term Holy Orders is used by many Christian churches to refer to ordination or to those individuals ordained for a special role or ministry....
, and Unton
Unton Croke
Unton Croke was an English judge and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1628 and 1640. He supported the Parliamentarian cause during the English Civil War....
sat for Wallingford
Wallingford (UK Parliament constituency)
Wallingford was a constituency in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It was a parliamentary borough created in 1295, centred on the market town Wallingford in Berkshire . It used to return two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons; this was cut to one in 1832, and...
in 1626 and 1640, was a barrister and sergeant-at-law by profession, and a sympathiser with the Roundhead
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
s. Croke's issue
Issue (legal)
In law, issue can mean several things:*In wills and trusts, a person's issue are his or her lineal descendants or offspring. These are distinguished from heirs, which can include other kin such as a brother, sister, mother, father, grandfather, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, or cousin.*In...
was left to his eldest son, also Sir John, who was MP for Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Shaftesbury was a parliamentary constituency in Dorset. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1295 until 1832 and one member until the constituency was abolished in 1885....
. His son, again called (Sir) John, inherited Chilton
Chilton, Buckinghamshire
Chilton is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England. It is in the west of the county, about north of Thame in Oxfordshire. Chilton parish includes the hamlet of Easington .-Manor:The toponym "Chilton" is derived from the Old English for "young man's farm"...
, of which he was Baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
, and "through his impudent, litigious, and vindicative disposition, completely dissipated his inheritance" (Burke). After selling Chilton, he died in prison, and the issue passed to his only son, Sir Dodsworth Croke. Dodsworth Croke lived in poverty, and died issueless, in old age, in 1728.