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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:croft:ead2bc9e7884",
    "title": "CROFT",
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    "verified_text": "croft, sir james (d. 1590), lord deputy of ireland, belonged to an old family of herefordshire, which county he represented in parliament in 1541. he was made governor of haddington in 1549, and became lord deputy of ireland in 1551. there he effected little beyond gaining for himself the reputation of a conciliatory disposition. croft was all his life a double-dealer. he was imprisoned in the tower for treason in the reign of mary, but was released and treated with consideration by elizabeth after her accession. he was made governor of berwick, where he was visited by john knox in 1559, and where he busied himself actively on behalf of the scottish protestants, though in 1560 he was suspected, probably with good reason, of treasonable correspondence with mary of guise, the catholic regent of scotland; and for ten years he was out of public employment. but in 1570 elizabeth, who showed the greatest forbearance and favour to sir james croft, made him a privy councillor and controller of her household. he was one of the commissioners for the trial of mary queen of scots, and in 1588 was sent on a diplomatic mission to arrange peace with the duke of parma. croft established private relations with parma, for which on his return he was sent to the tower. he was released before the end of 1589, and died on the 4th of september 1590. croft's eldest son, edward, was put on his trial in 1589 on the curious charge of having contrived the death of the earl of leicester by witchcraft, in revenge for the earl's supposed hostility to sir james croft. edward croft was father of sir herbert croft (d. 1622), who became a roman catholic and wrote several controversial pieces in defence of that faith. his son herbert croft (1603-1691), bishop of hereford, after being for some time, like his father, a member of the roman church, returned to the church of england about 1630, and about ten years later was chaplain to charles i., and obtained within a few years a prebend's stall at worcester, a canonry of windsor, and the deanery of hereford, all of which preferments he lost during the civil war and commonwealth. by charles ii. he was made bishop of hereford in 1661. bishop croft was the author of many books and pamphlets, several of them against the roman catholics; and one of his works, entitled _the naked truth, or the true state of the primitive church_ (london, 1675), was very celebrated in its day, and gave rise to prolonged controversy. the bishop died in 1691. his son herbert was created a baronet in 1671, and was the ancestor of sir herbert croft (q.v.), the 18th century writer. bibliography.--see richard bagwell, _ireland under the tudors_, vol. i. (3 vols., london, 1885); david lloyd, _state worthies from the reformation to the revolution_ (2 vols., london, 1766); john strype, _annals of the reformation_ (oxford, 1824), which contains an account of the trial of edward croft; s. l. lee's art. \"croft, sir james,\" in _dict. of national biography_, vol. xiii.; and for bishop croft see anthony a wood, _athenae oxonienses_ (ed. bliss, 1813-1820); john le neve, _fasti ecclesiae anglicanae_ (ed. by t. d. hardy, oxford, 1854). croft (or crofts), william (1678-1727), english composer, was born in 1678, at nether ettington in warwickshire. he received his musical education in the chapel royal under dr blow. he early obtained the place of organist of st anne's, soho, and in 1700 was admitted a gentleman extraordinary of the chapel royal. in 1707 he was appointed joint-organist with blow; and upon the death of the latter in 1708 he became solo organist, and also master of the children and composer of the chapel royal, besides being made organist of westminster abbey. in 1712 he wrote a brief introduction on the history of english church music to a collection of the words of anthems which he had edited under the title of _divine harmony_. in 1713 he obtained his degree of doctor of music in the university of oxford. in 1724 he published an edition of his choral music in 2 vols. folio, under the name of _musica sacra, or select anthems in score, for two, three, four, five, six, seven and eight voices, to which is added the burial service, as it is occasionally performed in westminster abbey_. this handsome work included a portrait of the composer and was the first of the kind executed on pewter plates and in score. john page, in his _harmonia sacra_, published in 1800 in 3 vols. folio, gives seven of croft's anthems. of instrumental music, croft published six sets of airs for two violins and a bass, six sonatas for two flutes, six solos for a flute and bass. he died at bath on the 14th of august 1727, and was buried in the north aisle of westminster abbey, where a monument was erected to his memory by his friend and admirer humphrey wyrley birch. burney in his _history of music_ devotes several pages of his third volume (pp. 603-612) to dr croft's life, and criticisms of some of his anthems. during the earlier period of his life croft wrote much for the theatre, including overtures and incidental music for _courtship a la mode_ (1700), _the funeral_ (1702) and _the lying lover_ (1703).",
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