534 CREW Robert Crane, Bart. He d. s.p.m.s.,(f) 30 Nov. 1697, In his 74th year, and was bur. at Stene. M.I. Will dat. 11 July 1696 to 12 Nov. 1697. His widow »?., 3rdly, i Aug. 1704, Arthur (Herbert), Earl of Torrington, •who d. s.p., 14 Apr. 17 16. She d. 1 Apr. 17 19. Will pr. Apr. 17 19. III. 1697 3. Nathaniel (Crew), Baron Crew of Stene, and to Lord Bishop of DurhamjC") next surv. br. and h. male, 1 72 1. being 5th s. of the ist Lord, b. 31 Jan. 1633, at Stene; matric. at Oxford (Line. Coll.), 8 June 1653, B.A. 1655/6, M.A. 29 June 1658; Fellow, and subsequently (1668-72) Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford; D.C.L. 2 July 1664; Clerk of the Closet to Charles II and James II 1669-85; Dean of Chichester, 1669-71; Bishop of Oxford, 1671-74; and Bishop of Durham, 1674 till his death. P.C. 26 Apr. 1676 till 21 Apr. 1679, and 8 Jan. 1685/6 till Feb. 1688/9; Dean of the Chapel Royal 1685-89. With James II he was in great favour, being made by him a member of the Eccles. Commission. He, however, though a Tory, gave his vote in favour of the throne being vacant in 1688, but was excepted from the gen. pardon of May 1690, and deprived of the patronage of his Cathedral stalls. He /«., istly, 21 Dec. 1691, Penelope, widow of Sir Hugh Tynte, da. of Sir Philip Frowde, of Kent, by his ist wife, Margaret, da. of Brian O'Neile, of Ulster. She d. 9 Mar. 1699, in her 44th year, and was bur. at Stene. M.I. He m.^ 2ndly, 23 July 1700, at Durham, Dorothy,('^) da. of Sir William Forster, of Bamburgh Castle,('^) Northum- berland. She d. of convulsionSjC) 1 6 Oct. 1 7 1 5, aged 42, and was bur. at Stene. M.I. Admon. 18 May 17 16. He di'. j./)., at Stene, 18 Sep. 1721, aged 88, and was bur. there, when his Peerage became extinct.(f) M.I. Will pr. Mar. 1722.(6) (^) Armine, his 2nd da. and cob. by his 2nd wife, m. Thomas Cartwright of Aynhoe, and d. 3 Feb. 1 727/8, leaving issue male. V.G. (^) It is believed that this is the first instance of a Peer holding a Bishopric. (<=) Aunt of the " Dorothy Forster " of Besant's novel. V.G. ("*) This estate was sold in 1704 by order of Chancery, and bought by Lord Crew for ^^20,6 7 9, under whose will it passed, together with most of his property, to charitable purposes. The Crewian oration at Oxford owes its origin to him. (*) " The concern and agitation of mind which my Lady Crewe had for fear the messenger should take him [her nephew, Thomas Forster, M.P., a General in the Jacobite army at Preston] up, killed her, for she fell into convulsions and died in four days." (Lady Cowper's Diary). V.G. " A vain Prelate, subservient to the men and religion of those times." {Wood). Horace Walpole calls him "as abject a tool as possible." He is known to have purchased the See of Durham from Nell Gwynne. V.G. (8) The estate of Stene devolved at his death (under the marriage settlement of his brother, the 2nd Baron, with his second wife) on Jemima, Duchess of Kent, who was 3rd da. and coh. of that Lord, being ist da. by the 2nd marriage. She d. 2 July 1728, and on the death of her husband (who occasionally resided there), 5 June 1740, it was sold by their coheirs to the famous Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, from whom it passed to the Earls Spencer, the house being pulled down before 1750.
