www.tcm.id.au

Richard Benyon Croft

1843 to 1912

Richard Benyon Croft entered the Royal Navy at the age of 15 and attained the rank of Lieutenant. He became something of a local celebrity and occupied Fanhams Hall until his death in 1912. Described as "bluff and outspoken, a man given to calling a spade a spade", he was born in 1843 at North Okendon in Essex, though his family originally came from Croft in Hertfordshire where they could trace their roots back to a mention in the Domesday Book.

Croft entered the navy in 1858 at the age of 15 and attained the rank of Lieutenant. He served first in the West Indies before being sent to China. Here he was given command of the rocket boat Imperieuse and was present at the capture of the Taku forts in 1860, and was stationed in China during the Opium Wars. For his part in this action he was awarded the medal and clasp. Later he served against the Taiping Rebels near Shanghai and was present when Vice-Admiral Sir James Hope was wounded at Kwongkadza.

After marrying Anne Elizabeth Page (daughter of Anne Elizabeth Collins and Henry Page) on 22nd September 1869, he resigned his commission in order to join his father-in-law's malting business - in which he later became head. Once settled in his new home Croft devoted himself to local affairs.

He was elected a member of the Ware board of Guardians in the 1870s, and later, in 1889, a county councillor for the Ware Division of the Hertfordshire County Council. In 1892 he was made High Sheriff of Hertfordshire.

One of his greatest interests was education, and it was largely through his efforts that the Ware Grammar School for Boys was created. From its inception he was chairman of its Board of Governors and also served as a governor on the Board of the Hertford Grammar School.

Amongst his other numerous offices he was president of the Ware Branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society; President of the Ware Town Band; President of the Ware Unionist Association; President of the East Herts. Tariff Reform League and President of the East Herts. Union Association. He was made an alderman in 1906.

Return to