George Harpur Crewe

Sir George Crewe, 8th Baronet (1 February 1795 – 1 January 1844) was an English Tory politician who represented the constituency of South Derbyshire.

[1] He inherited the Baronetcy, Calke Abbey the family seat and extensive properties in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and Leicestershire.

[2] Crewe was called upon to serve as High Sheriff of Derbyshire in 1821, and one of his first acts was to do away with the Assize Ball publishing a letter "showing how cruel and heartless it appeared that any person should be found engaged in worldly mirth and amusement on so solemn an occasion, when so many poor creatures were trembling on the eve of their trial, perhaps for their lives.

[3] Shocked by the poor conditions in which his tenants lived and worked he built schools and rebuilt the churches at Ticknall and Calke, staffing them with well educated clergy.

[4] The Harpur Crewe family were great collectors, and Sir George collected paintings, stuffed birds and animals.

Sir George Crewe (1795–1844), 8th Bt, and His Son, Later Sir John Harpur Crewe, 9th Bt (1824–1886), by Ramsay Richard Reinagle
Calke Abbey main front