John Crook (abt. 1617 - 1699)

Born about 1617 in England

Husband of Margaret Mounsell — married 24 May 1647 in Tottenham High Cross, Middlesex, England

Died 26 Apr 1699 at about age 82 in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England

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Biography

John was a Friend (Quaker)

John Crook was a Puritan officer and later Justice of the Peace for Bedfordshire. He became a Quaker, a minister for about 44 years. The author of several books and tracts , he was imprisoned many times for his beliefs

Early years

According to his own spiritual biography he was born in 'the north country' of parents that followed 'the common religion of the time' living at home until he was ten or eleven years. At this age he went to London and attended several schools until he was about seventeen years old. The family he lived with was a 'wicked family, and among those who scoffed at all strictness in religion' but John claimed that he often escaped to a hiding place, walking alone praying and weeping with a 'sense of his own sins. He also reproved ' my schoolmates and companions for their wickedness'. At the age of seventeen he was apprenticed in a parish where the minister was a Puritan. He attended sermons and lectures with other young people when he had free time ^[1]

Puritan years

During the civil war he became an officer in the Parliamentary Army . According to White, he attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel ^[2] Following the Civil war he was enabled by the government to buy a part share in Beckering's Park, formerly part of Crown Lands in Bedfordshire ^{[3] [4]} He was made a Justice of the peace for Bedfordshire and on 16 May, 1653, nominated by 'the people of Bedfordshire', one of two men fit to represent the county in Government. ^[5] During this period, in about 1647, he married Margaret Mounsell, the daughter of John Mounsell a salter and Merchant Venturer. Margaret had several close relatives, serving as Members of Parliament including (her uncles John Ash and Edward Ash . She was the cousin of William Whiteway who had been a Puritan MP for Dorchester. Her brother Peter Mounsell stayed with the Whiteway family as a schoolboy. Peter died as a Captain during the civil war. John Crook had sufficient influence to be able to assist Margaret and her sister Mary to obtain some of the arrears due to him from a sequestered Bedforshire Estate.^[6][7]

John Crook, Quaker

in late May 1654, John Crook attended a meeting addressed by William Dewsbury and converted to Quakerism ^[8] John Crook soon became a fervent Quaker. On 18th March 1655, a 'great meeting' attended by George Fox was held at John Crooks house at Beckering's Park .The following day John Crook invited several 'gentlemen of the county' to dine and have discussions with Fox. At this time, he was still a Justice of the Peace. Crook then went with Fox to preach elsewhere but soon afterwards he was 'turned out from being a Justice'. Crook then accompanied Fox on his travels into Warwickshire where they were stoned out of a town. ^[9]

In 1656, John Crook began to minister and was imprisoned in Northampton Gaol for his beliefs. ^[10] This was the first of many such imprisonments. The persecution of the Quakers did not cease with the restoration of of the monarchy since their beliefs forbade the swearing of oaths on the Bible. In 1662, John Crook was a defendant in a notable trial at the Old Bailey where, accused of not taking the oath of allegiance he claimed that the arrest was illegal, refused to plead and disputed with the Judges which included Chief Justice Robert Foster and Sir Mathew Hale. One Jury that appeared sympathetic to the defendants was replaced with another less favourable to Quakers. At one point the judge ordered the executioner to gag the defendants. They were found guilty of praemunire John was imprisioned in Newgate and his property at Beckering's Park was confiscated,^[11] .He was released from gaol after four weeks, perhaps by the order of the King ^[12]

During his time as a Quaker, Crook published more than two dozen works with topics including the payment of tithes and swearing oaths, hypocrisy and on the liberty of conscience. In his latter years he wrote warning children not to adhere to Quakerism just because that was their parents way. By 1678 John Crook had settled in Luton, Bedfordshire and remained there until at least 1686,( the year after his wife's death) but in his latter years he moved to Hertford. Greaves suggests that this was possibly to live with his daughter Mary Fairman however, his son Peter was also living in Hertford at his death ^[13][14]

John Crook died in Hertford, Hertfordshire on 26th April 1699 at nearly 82 years of age, 'an antient and Honrable Friend'. He was buried at Sewell, Bedfordshire. ^[15]

Marriage and Children

Note the following information is from a descendancy published in the Society of Friends Journal,taken from a manuscript lent by Judith Elizabeth Dillwyn Sims, grandaughter of William Dillwyn Simms 'Memorials of the Dillwyn Family' compiled by William Dillwyn . Only the marriage of Peter has yet been verified Coleman-5109 20:07, 23 March 2022 (UTC)

27 April 1647, Margaret Mounsell married John Crook at Tottenham High Cross

1. John born Cheapside, London 1647/8
2. Peter born Cheapside, London 1649 married at Devonshire House, 1674 Elizabeth Watts of Spitalfields (daughter Judith Crook)
3. Elizabeth born Beckerings Park, Bedfordshire, 1651 married Counsellor Rabt
4. Joseph born Beckerings Park, Bedfordshire 1657 died(?) 1688
5. Mary born Beckerings Park, Bedfordshire, 1661 married to ______Fairman of Hertfordshire ^[16]

This descent links the Dillwyn family with that of John Crook Sarah Dillwyn, nee Weston was the grand daughter of Judith Crook, who was a grandaughter of John Crook and Margaret Mounsell. See freespace page

Sources

1. ↑ John Crook extract from 'Selections from the Writings of That Ancient, Faithful Servant of Christ Jesus John Crook. To which is Prefixed a Short Account of His Life Written by Himself.' Friends Library
2. ↑ RE White, The British Friend Volumes 23-24, 1865 p 223 Google books but note the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says he was a Captain
3. ↑ Roger C Richardson, Social History, Local History, and Historiography: Collected Essays, Cambridge Scholars publishing 2011 p114 google books
4. ↑ RE White, 'On Two Meetings Held At John Crook's', The Bedfordshire Friend Volumes 23-24, 1865 page 223 . Google Books
5. ↑ John Nickolls, transcriber, Letter from the People of Bedfordshire, to the Lord General Cromwell and the councell of the army ' Original Letters of State Addressed to Oliver Cromwell, 1743, P92 google books
6. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 5: 17 June 1648," in Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 5, 1646-1648, (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802), 603-605. British History Online, accessed March 20, 2022, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/commons-jrnl/vol5/pp603-605. Message to and from the Lords carried by Mr John Ash
7. ↑ "Cases brought before the committee: November 1648," in Calendar, Committee For the Advance of Money: Part 2, 1645-50, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1888), 968-990. British History Online, accessed March 20, 2022, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cttee-advance-money/pt2/pp968-990. subscription needed

   12 Feb. 1651. Margaret and Mary Mounsell, sisters, and Margaret administratrix of Capt. Peter Mounsell, petition that, in right of their late brother, they had, 17 June 1648, a grant of Parliament of 791l. out of concealed delinquents' estates, on which they discovered Wm. Tucker, of Bruham, who was sequestered, and they had 30l. from his personal estate, being a concealed debt owing to Wm. Talbot, for which he has since compounded, and has paid 135l. 7s. 8d. for delinquency. They beg that the money may be paid to them, and Talbot protected against the unjust suit of Tucker for the 30l. already paid to them.

   12 Feb. 1651. Order for a certificate whether the discovery by John Crooke on 22 Nov. 1648 was the first discovery of Tucker.

   P.E. 10 39 CERT. 124 109 19 Feb 1651 . Order for payment to Marg. and Mary Mounsell of the said sum, being discovered by John Crooke, who married Marg. Mounsell.

8. ↑ John Crook extract from Selections from the Writings of John Crook p 8 Friends Library So I was convinced of the Truth towards the end of the year 1654 (as I remember), through the servant of the Lord before-mentioned, named William Dewsbury. I did not know of what persuasion he was when I went to hear him, for if I had known he was a Quaker...
9. ↑ George Fox Journal, 1655, pp 207-209 , 226 Archive books
10. ↑ John Crook 'His life' p13 Friends Library
11. ↑ John Crook 'Writings' The Cry of the Innocent for Justice p 49 ff [ https://www.friendslibrary.com/john-crook/writings/ Friends Library]
12. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography 1885-1900 John Crook online
13. ↑ Richard L. Greaves Crook, John (1616/17–1699) Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004 online edition, subscription needed but free with many UK Library Cards
14. ↑ See marriage: John Nickolls to Judith Crook,daughter of Peter late of Hertford ancestry sharing link
15. ↑ 1699 Jno Crook an antient and Honrable friend and Elder a minister of ye Gospell abt 44 years dyed att Hartford ye 26 of ye 2 month 1699 and was Buryd att Sewell ye 30th of ye same aged near 82 years

    The National Archives; Kew, England; General Register Office: Society of Friends' Registers, Notes and Certificates of Births, Marriages and Burials; Class: RG 6; Piece: 1425Monthly Meeting of St Albans: Kensworth (1677-1776) Hertfordshire (now in Bedfordshire)

16. ↑ Norman Penney ed 'The Descendants of John Crook' Journal of the Friends Historical Society, Norman Penney ,volume 23, 1926 p57 pdf