Gibbs Crawfurd (1732 – 13 October 1793) was a British Member of Parliament and administrator. He was the eldest son of John Crawfurd, a barrister from

Ardmillan Ardmillan (, IPA: �aːɾʲtʲˈaˈvɯːɫ̪ɪn is a mainly residential suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area developed during the mid to late Victorian era as Edinburgh expanded and many of the present tenement flats and houses date from this ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

. He attended

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

in 1848 and married Anna Payne of

Newick Newick is a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located on the A272 road east of Haywards Heath. The parish church, St. Mary's, dates mainly from the Victorian era, but still has a No ...

and

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

on 23 December 1760, with whom he had two sons and two daughters. He succeeded his father in 1762 and took over the Saint Hill estate near East Grinstead, which his father had purchased in 1715. Crawfurd eventually followed his father into the legal profession, joining

Lincoln's Inn The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn, commonly known as Lincoln's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for Barrister, barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister ...

in 1770. He served as solicitor of stamp duties from 1771 to June 1790 and as clerk of Ordnance from April 1782 to April 1783, and from December 1783 to his death in October 1793. He owed his position at the

Board of Ordnance The Board of Ordnance was a British government body. Established in the Tudor period, it had its headquarters in the Tower of London. Its primary responsibilities were 'to act as custodian of the lands, depots and forts required for the defence ...

Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal Charles Lennox, 3rd Duke of Richmond, 3rd Duke of Lennox, 3rd Duke of Aubigny, (22 February 1735 – 29 December 1806), styled Earl of March until 1750, of Goodwood House in Sussex and of Richmond ...

, the then

Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...

. It was at the Duke of Richmond's behest that he was put forward for the position of Member of Parliament for the

rotten borough A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or Electoral district, constituency in Kingdom of England, England, Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, or the United Kin ...

Queenborough Queenborough is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in the Swale borough of Kent in South East England. Queenborough is south of Sheerness. It grew as a port near the Thames Estuary at the westward entrance to the Swale where it joins the River ...

in 1790. Needing only a small number of firmly controlled votes, his election was a formality; he owed his position to the Board of Ordnance's need to protect its interests in Parliament and moved the estimates for the Ordnance in February 1791. He was otherwise a 'silent' member and held the position of MP until his death. Crawfurd was succeeded in 1793 by his son Charles, for whom he obtained the office of deputy paymaster of widows' pensions and a yearly pension of £350, as well as the inheritance of the Saint Hill estate.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawfurd, Gibbs 1732 births 1793 deaths People educated at Eton College Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for Queenborough British MPs 1790–1796