Margaret Campbell Speke Cruwys née Abercrombie (20 October 1894 – 12 March 1968) was a British archivist and historian, specializing in the history of Devon. She was born in

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

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 ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and was the daughter of Alexander Houghton Abercrombie, an officer in the 21st

Royal Scots Fusiliers The Royal Scots Fusiliers was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1678 until 1959 when it was amalgamated with the Highland Light Infantry (City of Glasgow Regiment) to form the Royal Highland Fusiliers (Princess Ma ...

. She married Lewis George Cruwys of

Cruwys Morchard __NOTOC__ Cruwys Morchard is an ecclesiastical and civil parish in the Mid Devon district of the county of Devon in England. It is located about four to five miles west of Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton along the road to Witheridge. The parish cover ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

, on 19 November 1917 at St David's Church,

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. She became a member of

the Devonshire Association The Devonshire Association (DA) is a learned society founded in 1862 by William Pengelly and modelled on the British Science Association, British Association, but concentrating on research subjects linked to Devon in the fields of science, litera ...

in 1931 and was elected president in 1952. She was a member of the

Devon and Exeter Institution The Devon and Exeter Institution is a subscription library in the City of Exeter, in Devon, United Kingdom, founded in 1813 for "The general diffusion of science, literature and the arts". It is situated at 7, Cathedral Close, Exeter, in a build ...

, serving first as their secretary and then as president. Cruwys was editor of ''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'' for thirty years. She was awarded a Fellowship of the

Society of Antiquaries of London The Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) is a learned society of historians and archaeologists in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1707, received its royal charter in 1751 and is a Charitable organization, registered charity. It is based ...

in 1950 for the work she did indexing and cataloguing the large collection of family papers held at Cruwys Morchard House. She died on 12 March 1968 at 31 St Peter Street, Tiverton,

, and was buried on 18 March 1968 at the Church of the Holy Cross,

Work

* The Diary of John Cruwys of Cruwys Morchard (1682-8). ''Devon and Cornwall Notes & Queries'', Vol. XVIII, (1933-4), pp. 259–264. * ''A Cruwys Morchard Notebook, 1066-1874''. Exeter: J. Townsend & Sons, 1939. * Records at Cruwys Morchard residential address ''Trans. Dev. Assoc''. 84, 1952, pp. 1–19. * ''The Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials of the parish of St Andrew's Plymouth, Co. Devon, A.D. 1581-1618, with baptisms 1619-1633''. Exeter: Devon and Cornwall Record Society, 1938–1954.

References

* Stéphan, D.J. Mrs. M. C. S. Cruwys: A Memoir. ''Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries'' Vol. 31 (1968–70), pp. 33–34.
Cruwys one-name study
1894 births 1968 deaths Historians of Devon 20th-century British historians British women historians Women archivists 20th-century British women writers {{UK-historian-stub