James Croft formerly Woodcock

Son and heir (as an infant) of James Woodcock (q.v.), under whose will he inherited in trust the Delve and Wilderness estates in Westmoreland and the enslaved people attached to them. He changed his name to Croft in 1792: he had married Elizabeth Charlotte the daughter of Archer Croft in 1778. In his own will he described the sale of his estates and enslaved people in Jamaica.

1. Will of James Croft of Greenham Lodge Berkshire [made in 1826 with a codicil of 1827] proved 15/05/1829. In the will he rehearsed his marriage settlement of 1778 and further indentures of 1788 under which his plantations in Jamaica of which he was seized in fee simple were put in trust to raise £4000 to improve the plantations, and the estates entitled to him and his heirs, with provision that the estates could be sold and the proceeds settled in the same manner. Under this power he said the estates had been sold (presumably c. 1788) for £17,857 2s 10d, of which £14,000 was to be invested to yield the proceeds to him and then his wife for life, and then £12,000 was to be invested in English real estate for their heir(s). It appears he had borrowed against this money from the trustees during his lifetime, as to £15,000 for his daughters' portions.

2. James Croft's daughter Charlotte Elizabeth Croft (1783-1821) married Edward Grey, bishop of Hereford in 1809: the couple were parents of Sir Anthony Eden's maternal grandfather Sir William Grey.

1. PROB 11/1755/208.

2. Arbuthnot, A. J., and Thomas R. Metcalf. "Grey, Sir William (1818–1878), administrator in India and colonial governor." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 23 Sep. 2004; Accessed 17 Oct. 2019. https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-11572.