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EARL WILLIAM CRAVEN CRAVEN

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 384 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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EARL See also:WILLIAM See also:CRAVEN CRAVEN  of (1608—1697), eldest son of See also:Sir See also:William See also:Craven, See also:lord See also:mayor of See also:London, and of See also:Elizabeth, daughter of See also:Alderman William Whitmore, was See also:born in See also:June 16o8, matriculated at Trinity See also:College, See also:Oxford, in 1623, and joined the society of the See also:Middle See also:Temple in 1624 . He had already inherited his See also:father's vast See also:fortune by the latter's See also:death in 1618, and before he came of See also:age he had distinguished himself in the military service of the princes of See also:Orange . Returning See also:home he was knighted and created See also:Baron Craven of See also:Hampstead See also:Marshall in See also:Berkshire in 1627 . He See also:early showed See also:enthusiasm for the cause of the unfortunate See also:king and See also:queen of Bohemia, driven from their dominions, and in 1632 joined See also:Frederick in a military expedition to recover the See also:Palatinate, See also:meeting Gustavus See also:Adolphus at See also:Hochst, whose praise he gained by being the first, though wounded, to See also:mount the See also:breach at the See also:capture of See also:Kreuznach on the 22nd of See also:February . The See also:Swedish king, however, refused to allow the elector an See also:independent command for the See also:defence of the Palatinate, and Craven returned to See also:England . In May 1633 he was placed on the See also:council of See also:Wales . In 1637 he took See also:part in a second expedition in aid of the See also:palatine See also:family on the See also:Lower See also:Rhine, with the See also:young elector See also:Charles See also:Louis and his See also:brother See also:Rupert, and offered as a contribution the sum of £30,000, but their forces were defeated near See also:Wessel and Craven wounded and taken prisoner together with Rupert . He See also:purchased his freedom in 1639, and then joined the small See also:court of the exiled queen Elizabeth at the See also:Hague and at Rhenen, supplying her generously with funds on the cessation of her See also:English See also:pension owing to the outbreak of the See also:Civil See also:War . He contributed also large sums in aid of Charles I., and, after his See also:execution, of Charles II., the amount bestowed upon the latter being alone computed at £50,000,1 notwithstanding that since 1651 the greater part of his estates had been confiscated by the See also:parliament and his See also:house at Caversham reduced to ruins .2 At the Restoration he accompanied Charles to England, regained his estates, and was rewarded with offices and honours . He was made See also:colonel of several regiments including the See also:Coldstream, and in 1667 See also:lieutenant-See also:general and also high steward of See also:Cambridge University . In 1666 he became a privy councillor, but was not included later in 1679 in Sir William Temple's remodelled council.3 In 1668 he became a See also:governor of the See also:Charterhouse, was appointedlord-lieutenant of See also:Middlesex, and See also:master of the Trinity House in 1670; and in 1673 a See also:commissioner for See also:Tangier . He was one of the lords proprietors of Carolina and a member of the See also:Fishery See also:Committee .

In See also:

March 1664 he was created See also:viscount and See also:earl of Craven . Meanwhile his devotion to the interests of the queen of Bohemia was unceasing, and on her return to England he offered her hospitality at his house in See also:Drury See also:Lane, where she remained till February 1662 . At her death, within a fortnight afterwards, she bequeathed to Craven her papers and her valuable collection of portraits, but there is no See also:foundation for the belief entertained later that she had married him . In 1682 he became the See also:guardian of Ruperta, the natural daughter of his old comrade in arms, See also:Prince Rupert . He was again made a privy councillor and lieutenant-general of the forces by See also:James on his See also:accession, and at the age of eighty was in command of the Coldstreams at See also:Whitehall on the 17th of See also:December 1688 when the Dutch troops arrived . He refused to withdraw them at the bidding of See also:Count Solms, the Dutch See also:commander, but obeyed later James's own orders to retire . His public career now closed and he filled no See also:office after the revolution . Although his claims upon the gratitude of the See also:Stuart royal family were immense, Craven had never been considered a possible See also:candidate for high See also:political See also:place . His ability was probably small, and he is spoken of with little respect in the See also:Verney Papers and by the electress See also:Sophia in her See also:Memoirs . The latter retails some foolish observations made by Craven, and See also:Pepys was disgusted at his coarse and stupid jests at the Fishery See also:Board, where his "very confused and very ridiculous proceedings" are also censured.' His military prowess, however, his generosity and his public spirit are undoubted . He showed See also:great activity during the See also:plague and See also:fire of London . - He was a See also:patron of letters and a member of the Royal Society .

He inherited See also:

Combe See also:Abbey near See also:Coventry from his father, and purchased Hampstead Marshall in Berkshire, where he built a house on the See also:model of See also:Heidelberg See also:Castle . He died unmarried on the 9th of See also:April 1697, when the earldom became See also:extinct, the See also:barony passing by See also:special See also:remainder to his See also:cousin William, 2nd Baron Craven; the See also:present earl of Craven (the earldom being revived in 1801) is descended from See also:John, a younger brother of the latter . The first Lord Craven's brother John, who was created Baron Craven of Ryton in See also:Shropshire and who died in 1648, was the founder of the Craven scholarships at Oxford and Cambridge See also:universities, of which the first was awarded in 1649 . Verney Papers, 189 See also:note . 2 See also:Evelyn's See also:Diary, June 8th, 1654 . 9 Hist . See also:MSS . See also:Corn.: Various Collections, ii . 394 . 4 Diary, Oct . 18th and Nov . 18th, 1664, and March loth, 1665 .

End of Article: EARL WILLIAM CRAVEN CRAVEN
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Additional information and Comments

About June 9th 1675,during the trouble between the 2 Houses of Parliament'the Lords passed a Vote immediately yt ye Addresse of ye House should be to ye King yt he would turne out ye Lieutenant of ye Tower, & so Immediately of addresse to the King sent ye White Rod Lords with their message ^ viz. The Lord High Chamberlain of England, Earl Marshall, Lord Treasurer & I suppose ye other was ye Lord Stuart [steward] of his Household; Now ye King, upon this Addresse, one while was almost mynded to make ye Earle of Craven, Constable of the Tower (who yn being above ye Lieutenant might have released those prisoners safely enough, himselfe being a member of ye House of Lords) but altering his Resolution, replyed he would consider of it...' The above quote is from BL ADD MS 6174, by Sir Nicholas Stoughton, Bart., whose suit of Appeal in the House of Lords, pending at this time, was much affected by these events. M. Elaine Walker, transcriber of MS 6174.
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