Ranulph Crewe
Encyclopedia
Sir Ranulph Crewe (or Crew) (1558–1646) was an English judge and Chief Justice of the King’s Bench
.
, who is said to have been a tanner, by Alice, daughter of Humphrey Mainwaring. He attended Shrewsbury School
and, in 1576, Christ's College
, Cambridge
, but did not take a degree. He was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn
on 13 Nov. 1577, called to the bar on 8 Nov. 1584, returned to parliament as junior member for Brackley
, Northamptonshire, in 1597, elected a Bencher
of Lincoln's Inn
in 1600, and Autumn Reader there in 1602. The earliest reported case in which he was engaged was tried in the Queen's Bench in Hilary term 1597-8, when he acted as junior to the attorney-general, Coke
. In 1604 he was selected by the House of Commons
to state objections to the adoption of the new style of king of Great Britain in the conference with the lords
.
(7 April). He was knighted in June, and took the degree of serjeant-at-law
in July of the following year. In the address with which, according to custom, he opened the session in 1614, he enlarged upon the length of the royal pedigree, to which he gave a fabulous extension. In January 1614-15 Crewe was appointed one of the commissioners for the examination, under torture, of Edmond Peacham. Peacham was sent down to Somersetshire to stand his trial at the assizes. Crewe prosecuted, and Peacham was convicted. Crewe was a member of the commission which tried Weston for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
in 1615, and was concerned with Bacon
and Montague in the prosecution of the Earl
and Countess
of Somerset as accessories before the fact in the following year. In 1621 he conducted the prosecution of Henry Yelverton
, the attorney-general
, for certain alleged misdemeanors in connection with patents. The same year Crewe prosecuted Sir Francis Mitchell
for alleged corrupt practices in executing 'the commission concerning gold and silver thread,' conducted the impeachment of Sir John Bennet, judge of the Prerogative court
, for corruption in his office, and materially contributed to the settlement of an important point in the law of impeachment. Edward Floyde, having published a libel on the Princess Palatine
, was impeached by the commons
, and sentenced to the pillory. The lords
disputed the right of the commons
to pass sentence upon the offender on two grounds : (1) that he was not a member of their house ; (2) that the offence did not touch their privileges. At the conference which followed Crewe adduced a precedent from the reign of Henry IV in support of the contention of the lords
, and the commons
being able to produce no counter-precedent the question was quietly settled by the commons
entering in the journal a minute to the effect that the proceedings against Floyde should not become a precedent. In 1624 Crewe presented part of the case against Lionel Cranfield, earl of Middlesex
, on his impeachment. The same year he was appointed king's serjeant
.
by King James I
. On 9 November 1626, he was removed by Charles I
for having refused to subscribe a document affirming the legality of forced loans. All his colleagues seem to have concurred with him, but he alone was punished.
(28 June 1628) it seems that he hoped to receive some compensation through Buckingham's support. On the assassination of Buckingham (24 Aug. 1628) Crewe urged his suit upon the king
himself, but without success. After the impeachment in 1641 of the judges who had affirmed the legality of Ship money
, Denzil Holles moved the House of Lords
to petition the king
to compensate Crewe, who seems to have passed the rest of his days in retirement, partly in London, and partly at his seat, Crewe Hall, Barthomley
, Cheshire, built by him upon an estate said to have belonged to his ancestors, which he purchased from Coke
in 1608. Crewe Hall was garrisoned for the parliament, taken by Byron in December 1643, and retaken in the following February. A letter from Crewe to Sir Richard Browne at Paris, under date 10 April 1644, describing the growing exasperation of 'this plus quam civile bellum,' as he called it, and the devastation of the country, is preserved in the British Museum, and is printed in the Fairfax Correspondence. Crewe died at Westminster on 3 January 1645-6, and was buried on 5 June in a chapel built by himself at Barthomley
.
By his first wife he two sons Clipsby Crew
and John Crew
who were both MPs.
peerage case, decided 1625, which is one of the few passages of really fine prose to be found in the Law Reports. 'Where,' he asks, 'is Bohun
, where's Mowbray
, where's Mortimer
? Nay, which is more and most of all, where is Plantagenet
? They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality. And yet let the name and dignity of De Vere
stand so long as it pleaseth God.’
Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
.
Early life and career
Ranulph Crewe was the second son of John Crew of NantwichNantwich
Nantwich is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich...
, who is said to have been a tanner, by Alice, daughter of Humphrey Mainwaring. He attended Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School
Shrewsbury School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged 13 to 18, founded by Royal Charter in 1552. The present campus to which the school moved in 1882 is located on the banks of the River Severn in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England...
and, in 1576, Christ's College
Christ's College, Cambridge
Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge.With a reputation for high academic standards, Christ's College averaged top place in the Tompkins Table from 1980-2000 . In 2011, Christ's was placed sixth.-College history:...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, but did not take a degree. He was admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
on 13 Nov. 1577, called to the bar on 8 Nov. 1584, returned to parliament as junior member for Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
, Northamptonshire, in 1597, elected a Bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
of Lincoln's Inn
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn. Although Lincoln's Inn is able to trace its official records beyond...
in 1600, and Autumn Reader there in 1602. The earliest reported case in which he was engaged was tried in the Queen's Bench in Hilary term 1597-8, when he acted as junior to the attorney-general, Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
. In 1604 he was selected by the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
to state objections to the adoption of the new style of king of Great Britain in the conference with 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....
.
Involvement in leading trials
His name does not appear in the official list of returns to parliament after 1597. He was certainly, however, a member in 1614, as he was then elected speakerSpeaker 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...
(7 April). He was knighted in June, and took the degree of 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...
in July of the following year. In the address with which, according to custom, he opened the session in 1614, he enlarged upon the length of the royal pedigree, to which he gave a fabulous extension. In January 1614-15 Crewe was appointed one of the commissioners for the examination, under torture, of Edmond Peacham. Peacham was sent down to Somersetshire to stand his trial at the assizes. Crewe prosecuted, and Peacham was convicted. Crewe was a member of the commission which tried Weston for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
Thomas Overbury
Sir Thomas Overbury was an English poet and essayist, and the victim of one of the most sensational crimes in English history...
in 1615, and was concerned with Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
and Montague in the prosecution of the Earl
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset
Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, , was a politician, and favourite of King James I of England.-Background:Robert Kerr was born in Wrington, Somerset, England the younger son of Sir Thomas Kerr of Ferniehurst, Scotland by his second wife, Janet, sister of Walter Scott of Buccleuch...
and Countess
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset was an English noblewoman who was the central figure in a famous scandal and murder during the reign of King James I...
of Somerset as accessories before the fact in the following year. In 1621 he conducted the prosecution of Henry Yelverton
Henry Yelverton (attorney-general)
-Life:The eldest son of Sir Christopher Yelverton and his wife, Margaret Catesby, he was born on 29 June 1566, it is said at Easton-Mauduit, his father's house in Northamptonshire. He became a barrister on 25 April 1593, and an ancient on 25 May of the same year. He was reader in 1607.In 1597, 1604...
, the attorney-general
Attorney General for England and Wales
Her Majesty's Attorney General for England and Wales, usually known simply as the Attorney General, is one of the Law Officers of the Crown. Along with the subordinate Solicitor General for England and Wales, the Attorney General serves as the chief legal adviser of the Crown and its government in...
, for certain alleged misdemeanors in connection with patents. The same year Crewe prosecuted Sir Francis Mitchell
Francis Mitchell
Francis Mitchell was the last British knight of the realm to be publicly degraded , after being found guilty of extorting money from licensees via his monopoly on the licensing of inns....
for alleged corrupt practices in executing 'the commission concerning gold and silver thread,' conducted the impeachment of Sir John Bennet, judge of the Prerogative court
Prerogative court
A prerogative court is a court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities reserved to the sovereign were exercised. In England in the 17th century a clash developed between these courts, representing the crown's authority, and common law courts. Prerogative courts...
, for corruption in his office, and materially contributed to the settlement of an important point in the law of impeachment. Edward Floyde, having published a libel on the Princess Palatine
Elizabeth of Bohemia
Elizabeth of Bohemia was the eldest daughter of King James VI and I, King of Scotland, England, Ireland, and Anne of Denmark. As the wife of Frederick V, Elector Palatine, she was Electress Palatine and briefly Queen of Bohemia...
, was impeached by the commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, and sentenced to the pillory. 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....
disputed the right of the commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
to pass sentence upon the offender on two grounds : (1) that he was not a member of their house ; (2) that the offence did not touch their privileges. At the conference which followed Crewe adduced a precedent from the reign of Henry IV in support of the contention of 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....
, and the commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
being able to produce no counter-precedent the question was quietly settled by the commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
entering in the journal a minute to the effect that the proceedings against Floyde should not become a precedent. In 1624 Crewe presented part of the case against Lionel Cranfield, earl of Middlesex
Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex
Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex was a successful merchant in London, England.-Life:He was the second son of Thomas Cranfield, a mercer at London, and his wife Martha Randill, the daughter and heiress of Vincent Randill of Sutton-at-Hone, Kent. He was apprenticed in to Richard Sheppard, a...
, on his impeachment. The same year he was appointed king's serjeant
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...
.
Lord Chief Justice
The following year (26 January 1625) he was created chief justice of the king's benchLord Chief Justice of England and Wales
The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales is the head of the judiciary and President of the Courts of England and Wales. Historically, he was the second-highest judge of the Courts of England and Wales, after the Lord Chancellor, but that changed as a result of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005,...
by 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...
. On 9 November 1626, he was removed by Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
for having refused to subscribe a document affirming the legality of forced loans. All his colleagues seem to have concurred with him, but he alone was punished.
Retirement
From a letter written by him to the Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham KG was the favourite, claimed by some to be the lover, of King James I of England. Despite a very patchy political and military record, he remained at the height of royal favour for the first two years of the reign of Charles I, until he was assassinated...
(28 June 1628) it seems that he hoped to receive some compensation through Buckingham's support. On the assassination of Buckingham (24 Aug. 1628) Crewe urged his suit upon the king
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
himself, but without success. After the impeachment in 1641 of the judges who had affirmed the legality of Ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
, Denzil Holles moved the House of 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 petition the king
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
to compensate Crewe, who seems to have passed the rest of his days in retirement, partly in London, and partly at his seat, Crewe Hall, Barthomley
Barthomley
Barthomley is a village and ancient parish, and is now a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 202. The village is situated near junction 16 of the M6 motorway and by the...
, Cheshire, built by him upon an estate said to have belonged to his ancestors, which he purchased from Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...
in 1608. Crewe Hall was garrisoned for the parliament, taken by Byron in December 1643, and retaken in the following February. A letter from Crewe to Sir Richard Browne at Paris, under date 10 April 1644, describing the growing exasperation of 'this plus quam civile bellum,' as he called it, and the devastation of the country, is preserved in the British Museum, and is printed in the Fairfax Correspondence. Crewe died at Westminster on 3 January 1645-6, and was buried on 5 June in a chapel built by himself at Barthomley
Barthomley
Barthomley is a village and ancient parish, and is now a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census the parish had a population of 202. The village is situated near junction 16 of the M6 motorway and by the...
.
Private life
He married twice:- on 20 July 1598, Julia, daughter and coheiress of John Clipsby or Clippesby of Clippesby, Norfolk, who died on 29 July 1603 ;
- on 12 April 1607, Julian, daughter of Edward Fasey of London, relict of Sir Thomas Hesketh, knight, who died on 10 August 1629. Julia Fasey was the widow of a prosperous Gray's InnGray's InnThe Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, 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...
lawyer with a flourishing practise. It enabled him to buy an estate in Cheshire from Sir Christopher HattonChristopher HattonSir Christopher Hatton was an English politician, Lord Chancellor of England and a favourite of Elizabeth I of England.-Early days:...
.
By his first wife he two sons Clipsby Crew
Clipsby Crew
Sir Clipsby Crew was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1624 to 1626.Crew was the elder son of Ranulph Crewe and his wife Julia Clipsby. He matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge at Easter 1616 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 29 May 1619...
and John Crew
John Crew
John Crew was an English barrister and politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1654.Crew was the second son of Ranulph Crewe and his wife Julia Clipsby. He matriculated from St John's College, Cambridge at Easter 1619 and was admitted at Lincoln's Inn on 28 October 1618...
who were both MPs.
The Oxford peerage case
The Crewe family is said to be among the most ancient in the kingdom, a fact the importance of which is not likely to have been underrated by Sir Ranulph, if we may judge by his eloquent prologue to the OxfordEarl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141 until the death of the 20th earl in 1703. The Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of master or Lord Great Chamberlain from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625...
peerage case, decided 1625, which is one of the few passages of really fine prose to be found in the Law Reports. 'Where,' he asks, 'is Bohun
Humphrey de Bohun
Humphrey de Bohun may refer to:*Humphrey with the Beard , fought at the Battle of Hastings*Humphrey I de Bohun , married Maud, daughter of Edward of Salisbury...
, where's Mowbray
Mowbray
Mowbray is an Anglo-Norman baronial house, derived from Montbrai in Normandy. From this village came Geoffrey de Montbrai who came to be Bishop of Coutances and accompanied Duke William of Normandy at the Conquest of England in 1066....
, where's Mortimer
Mortimer
Mortimer is a popular English name, used both as a surname and a given name.- Norman origins :The origin of the name is almost certainly Norman, but the details are disputed....
? Nay, which is more and most of all, where is Plantagenet
House of Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...
? They are entombed in the urns and sepulchres of mortality. And yet let the name and dignity of De Vere
Aubrey de Vere II
Aubrey de Vere II — also known as "Alberic[us] de Ver" — was the second of that name in England after the Norman Conquest, being the eldest surviving son of Alberic or Aubrey de Vere who had followed William the Conqueror to England in or after 1066.Their lineage is probably Norman, possibly...
stand so long as it pleaseth God.’