Sir Ambrose Crowley III (1 April 1657/8''England & Wales, Quaker Birth, Marriage, and Death Registers, 1578-1837'' – 17 October 1713) was a 17th-century English

ironmonger Ironmongery originally referred, first, to the manufacture of iron goods and, second, to the place of sale of such items for domestic rather than industrial use. In both contexts, the term has expanded to include items made of steel, aluminium ...

and politician who was returned to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

in 1713.

Early years

Crowley was the son of Ambrose Crowley II, a Quaker

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

, and Mary Hall and rose

Dick Whittington Richard Whittington ( March 1423) of the parish of St Michael Paternoster Royal,Will of Richard Whittington: " I leave to my executors named below the entire tenement in which I live in the parish of St. Michael Paternoster Royal, Londo/ ...

-style to become

Sheriff of London Two Sheriffs of the City of London are elected annually by the members of the City livery companies. Today's Sheriffs have only ceremonial duties, but the historical officeholders held important judicial responsibilities. They have attended the ...

for 1706. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

on 1 January 1706 by Queen Anne.

Career

The Crowley Iron Works at

Winlaton Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in County Durham, it was incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. In 2011 the vill ...

Winlaton Mill Winlaton Mill is a village in Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is not to be confused with Winlaton to the northwest which now comprises the southern part of Blaydon. The village is halfway between Gateshead to the northeast and Rowlands Gil ...

and Swalwell, all in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

were probably at the time Europe's biggest industrial location. Later, as he was owed so much money by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Ambrose became a director of the

South Sea Company The South Sea Company (officially: The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America and for the encouragement of the Fishery) was a British joint-stock company founded in Ja ...

on its formation. Today he is still known for his enlightened management methods. His workers had an elected works committee, sickness payments, company medical team and were treated with respect. These rules were set out in the 'Rules of the Crowley Iron'. The main works at Winlaton Mill used mainly imported

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

. Both iron and

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

were worked by the Heyford process. Technologies and skills developed at Winlaton Mill lead to the foundation of the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

steel industry and the ability to machine steel. British iron production was carried out at Ynyscedwyn in

South Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

and in the

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...

en area of Southern England. The business survived into the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and the 'Crowley Crew' were renowned for their skills with metal and their steadfast and resolute defence of their rights and freedoms in the face of government intimidation. In August 1713 he was elected Member of Parliament for

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

but died on 17 October.

Family

Ambrose married Mary Owen, daughter of Charles Owen. They had many children die young. His wife's

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

lists seven children who died as infants. The children that lived to adulthood were as follows: * John Crowley who married Theodosia Gascoigne *Mary who married Sir James Hallett *Lettice married Sir John Hynde Cotton, 3rd Baronet *Sarah married Humphry Parsons *Anna married Richard Fleming *Elizabeth married Lord St John of Bletsoe. His direct descendants include: *British comedian and actor

Alexander Armstrong Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong (born 2 March 1970) is an English actor, comedian, radio personality, television presenter, singer and farmer. He is the host of the BBC One game show ''Pointless'', and is a weekday morning-show presenter on C ...

. * Hugh Magnus MacLeod of MacLeod, 30th Chief of Clan MacLeod. * Anthony Tudor St John, 22nd Baron St John of Bletso.

Burial

Sir Ambrose was buried at SS Peter and Paul's Church at

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. It ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

where there is a monument with the following inscription:

''NEAR THIS PLACE ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF SIR AMBROSE CROWLEY KNIGHT, CITIZEN AND ALDERMAN OF LONDON, WHOSE NUMEROUS FAMILY AND GREAT ESTATE WERE THE PRESENT REWARDS OF AN IDEFATIGABLE INDUSTRY AND APPLICATION TO BUSINESS, AN UNBLEMISHED PROBITY, AND A SINCERE BELIEF AND PRACTICE OF TRUE CHRISTIANITY, AND PARTICULARLY A BOUNDLESS LIBERALITY TOWARDS THE POOR, MANY HUNDREDS OF WHOM HE CONTINUALLY EMPLOYED.''

References

External links