John Wilson Croker | |
|---|---|
 John Wilson Croker, byWilliam Owen | |
| First Secretary to the Admiralty | |
| In office 12 October 1809 – 2 May 1827 | |
| Prime Minister | Spencer Perceval The Earl of Liverpool |
| Preceded by | William Wellesley Pole |
| Succeeded by | George Elliot |
| Member of Parliament | |
| In office 22 June 1807 – 3 December 1832 | |
| Constituency | Aldeburgh (1830–1832) Dublin University (1827–1830) Aldeburgh (1826–1827) Bodmin (1820–1826) Yarmouth (1819–1820) Athlone (1812–1818) Downpatrick (1807–1812) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 December 1780 |
| Died | 10 August 1857 (aged 76) |
| Political party | Tory |
| Alma mater | Trinity College Dublin |
John Wilson Croker (20 December 1780 – 10 August 1857) was an Anglo-Irishstatesman and author.
He was born inGalway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated atTrinity College Dublin, where he graduated in 1800.[1] Immediately afterwards he enteredLincoln's Inn, and in 1802 he was called to the Irishbar.[2]
He married Rosamond Pennell, daughter of William Pennell and Elizabeth Pennell (née Carrington))on 22 May 1806, in Waterford, Ireland.[3]
None of his children with Rosamond Pennell survived past 3 years old. He and Rosamond adopted Rosamond's younger sister (who was the 18th child of Rosamond's parents) and she was also (confusingly) named Rosamond Hester Elizabeth Pennell. The younger Rosamond was born in January 1810 in Waterford, Ireland (christened with the surname Pennell). Sometime between birth and 1814, she became part of the Croker family. The name she was better known by was the nickname "Nony" Croker.[3] Nony's portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence (commissioned by John Croker) is in the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York.[4]
His interest in theFrench Revolution led him to collect a large number of valuable documents on the subject, which are now in theBritish Museum. In 1804 he published anonymouslyFamiliar Epistles to J. F. Jones, Esquire, on the State of the Irish Stage, a series of caustic criticisms in verse on the management of the Dublin theatres. The book ran through five editions in one year.[2] Equally successful was theIntercepted Letter from Canton (1805), also anonymous, a satire on Dublin society in the guise of a report on the manners of the Chinese at Quang-tchen on the "Li-fee". During this period a rather scathing poem attributed to Croker led to the suicide of actorJohn Edwin, husband ofElizabeth Rebecca Edwin.[5] In 1807 he published a pamphlet onThe State of Ireland, Past and Present, in which he advocatedCatholic emancipation.[2]
He was a distant relation ofThomas Crofton Croker, Irish writer and antiquarian, who served under him in the Admiralty.
The following year (1808) Croker entered parliament as member forDownpatrick, obtaining the seat on petition, though he had been unsuccessful at the poll. The acumen displayed in his Irish pamphlet ledSpencer Perceval to recommend him tothe Duke of Wellington, who had just been appointed to the command of British forces in theIberian Peninsula, as his deputy in the office of chief secretary for Ireland. This connection led to a friendship which remained unbroken till Wellington's death.[2]
The notorious case of theDuke of York in connexion with his abuse of military patronage furnished Croker with an opportunity for distinguishing himself. The speech which he delivered on 14 March 1809, in answer to the charges ofColonel Wardle, was regarded as able; and Croker was appointed to the office of firstsecretary to the Admiralty, which he held without interruption under various administrations for more than twenty years. Among the first acts of his official career was the exposure ofGeorge Villiers, a fellow official who had misappropriated public funds to the extent of £280,000; Villiers was well regarded at court, and action was taken against him only after Croker threatened resignation.[6]: 337 It was soon noted by a First Lord that although Croker described himself as the servant of the Board, in reality, the reverse was true.[6]: 339 The second secretary to the AdmiraltyJohn Barrow became a close personal friend, and Barrow's eldest sonSir George Barrow, 2nd Baronet married Croker's adopted daughter Nony.[7][6]: 472
In 1816 he reduced the size of the Royal Navy, and over 1,000 ships were decommissioned and placed in theReserve Fleet (United Kingdom) or "laid up in ordinary" at various British naval bases. In 1824 he helped found theAthenaeum Club, and when the members voted £2000 for anicehouse, instead he commissioned from sculptorJohn Henning a full-scale replica inBath stone ofsculptures from the Parthenon, occasioning the widely circulated squib "I'm John Wilson Croker, I do as I please. They ask for an Ice House, I give them—a Frieze".[citation needed]
In 1827 he became the Member of Parliament forDublin University, having previously sat successively for the boroughs ofAthlone,Yarmouth,Bodmin andAldeburgh. He was made a Privy Councillor in June 1828[8] and, having secured a pension of £1500 a year, retired from his post at the admiralty in 1830. He was a determined opponent of theReform Bill, and vowed that he would never sit in a reformed parliament; he left parliament when the Act was passed in 1832. Many of his political speeches were published in pamphlet form, and they show him to have been a vigorous and effective, though somewhat unscrupulous and often virulently personal, party debater. Yet he could on occasion be magnanimous to his opponents: whenLord Althorp during a debate in the Commons, said that while he had figures which refuted Croker's argument he had mislaid them, Croker replied that he would never doubt Althorp's word. Croker had been an ardent supporter ofRobert Peel, but finally broke with him when he began to advocate the repeal of theCorn Laws.[2]
Croker was for many years one of the leading contributors on literary and historical subjects to theQuarterly Review, with which he had been associated from its foundation. The rancorous spirit in which many of his articles were written did much to embitter party feeling. It also reacted unfavourably on Croker's reputation as a worker in the department of pure literature by bringing political animosities into literary criticism.[2]
He had no sympathy with the younger school of poets who were in revolt against the artificial methods of the 18th century.[2] In April 1833 he savagely criticisedPoems, published the previous December byAlfred Tennyson—an attack which, coupled with the death of his friendArthur Hallam, discouraged the aspiring poet from seeking to publish anything more for nine years.[9] He was also responsible for the famousQuarterly article onJohn Keats'sEndymion.Shelley andByron blamed this article for bringing about the death of the poet, 'snuffed out', in Byron's phrase, 'by an article' (they, however, attributed the article toWilliam Gifford).
Hismagnum opus, an edition ofBoswell's Life of Johnson (1831) was the subject of an unfavourable review[10] byMacaulay in theEdinburgh Review (aWhig rival/opponent of theQuarterly Review) The main grounds of criticism were echoed byThomas Carlyle in a less famous review inFraser's Magazine[11]
Croker made no immediate reply to Macaulay's attack, but when the first two volumes of Macaulay'sHistory appeared he took the opportunity of pointing out the inaccuracies in the work.[2]
George Birkbeck Hill in his preface to his 1887 edition of Boswell endorses much of Macaulay's criticism of Croker, but adds, "I should be wanting in justice were I not to acknowledge that I owe much to the labours of Mr Croker". Hill observed that Croker was "not deeply versed in books", was "shallow in himself", did not understand Johnson's strong character, seemed inadequately acquainted with Johnson's writings, failed to grasp Boswell's flair as a biographer, and "is careless in small matters, and his blunders are numerous":
Croker was occupied for several years on an annotated edition ofAlexander Pope's works. It was left unfinished at the time of his death, but it was afterwards completed byWhitwell Elwin andWilliam John Courthope. He died at St Albans Bank, Hampton.[2]
Croker was generally supposed to be the original from whichBenjamin Disraeli drew the character of "Rigby" inConingsby, because he had for many years had the sole management of the estates ofthe Marquess of Hertford, the "Lord Monmouth" of the story.[2] Hostile portrayals of Croker can also be found in the novelsFlorence Macarthy byLady Morgan (a political opponent whom Croker subjected to notoriously savage reviews in theQuarterly) andThe Anglo-Irish of the Nineteenth Century (1828) byJohn Banim.
The chief works of Croker not already mentioned were:
He also wrote several lyrical pieces of some merit, such as theSongs of Trafalgar (1806) andThe Battles of Talavera (1809). He edited theSuffolk Papers (1823), Hervey'sMemoirs of the Court of George II (1817), theLetters of Mary Lepel,Lady Hervey (1821–1822), andWalpole'sLetters to Lord Hertford (1824). His memoirs, diaries and correspondence were edited by Louis J. Jennings in 1884 under the title ofThe Croker Papers (3 vols.).[2]
Croker Bay, named by SirWilliam Edward Parry.[13]
Cape Croker onOntario'sBruce Peninsula is also named after him byHenry Wolsey Bayfield.[14]
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Croker, John Wilson".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 481.
Media related toJohn Wilson Croker at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Secretary to the Admiralty 1809–1830 | Succeeded by |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDownpatrick 1807–1812 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAthlone 1812–1818 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forYarmouth 1819–1820 With:Sir Peter Pole, Bt | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBodmin 1820–1826 With:Davies Gilbert | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAldeburgh 1826–1827 With:Joshua Walker | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forDublin University 1827–1830 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forAldeburgh 1830–1832 With:Marquess of Douro | (Constituency abolished) |