John Cracroft-Amcotts

Lieutenant-Commander John Cracroft-Amcotts, DSC, DL, JP (3 January 1891 – 30 May 1956) was an English landowner, soldier and local politician, who served as Vice-Chairman of Kesteven County Council and High Sheriff of Lincolnshire.

Early life and family

John Cracroft-Amcotts was born on 3 January 1891, the second of two sons of Major Frederick Augustus Cracroft-Amcotts, JP (1853–1897), of Kettlethorpe Hall in Lincolnshire, and his wife, Emily Grace (died 1936), JP, youngest daughter of Anthony Willson, of Rauceby Hall, Lincolnshire; his elder brother was Sir Weston Cracroft-Amcotts, and his father was the son of Weston Cracroft Amcotts, a Member of Parliament for Mid-Lincolnshire.[1]

Cracroft-Amcotts married, on 12 February 1930, May, widow of Frederic Martin Campbell and daughter of H. Redfearn-Shaw, an officer in the Malayan Civil Service; they had three daughters: Barbara Anne (born 1932, married Peter Hugh Davies), Erica Sylvia (born and died 1934) and Gillian Verity (1936-2019).[1]

Career

Following schooling at Aysgarth and Stubbington, Cracroft-Amcotts trained on HMS Britannia.[2] He enrolled as a Midshipman in the Royal Navy on 15 May 1907,[3] and was promoted to Sub-Lieutenant on 15 September 1910,[4] and Lieutenant on 15 September 1913.[5] Cracroft-Amcotts served in Europe during World War I and, on 1 October 1917, received the Distinguished Service Cross;[6] he was also mentioned in dispatches twice.[7] He was promoted to be emergency Lieutenant-Commander on 15 September 1921.[8]

After being placed on the retired list of the Royal Navy, Cracroft-Amcotts went to Malaya, where he planted rubber. In 1931 he received Rauceby Hall and the connected estate by deed and gift. Three years later, he became a County Councillor for Kesteven and was elected an Alderman in 1950. In 1955, he became vice-chairman of the Council and served till his death. Cracroft-Amcotts also served as a Justice of the Peace (from 1933),[7] High Sheriff of Lincolnshire (in 1937) and a Deputy Lieutenant of the county (from 1951),[2] as well as chairman and then president of the Grantham and Sleaford Divisional Conservative Association.[7]

A keen angler, shooter, carpenter and painter, Cracroft-Amcotts carved and painted the shield of Kesteven County Council and presented it to hang in the authority's chamber. He died on 30 May 1956.[7]

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References
  1. Townend, Peter (ed.), Burke's Landed Gentry, 18th ed., vol. 1 (Burke's Peerage, 1965), p. 17
  2. "Cracroft-Amcotts, Lieutenant-Commander John", Who Was Who (online edition), Oxford University Press, 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
  3. Navy List for September 1908 corrected to the 18th August 1908 (London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1908), p. 16
  4. London Gazette, 6 October 1911 (issue 28539), p. 7283
  5. London Gazette, 23 September 1913 (issue 28758), p. 6694
  6. Edinburgh Gazette, 5 October 1907 (issue 13150), 2113
  7. "Lt.-Cmdr.J. Cracroft-Amcotts", The Times (London), 31 May 1956, p. 12
  8. London Gazette, 20 September 1921 (issue 32461), p. 7384
Preceded by
Frank Jenkinson		 Vice-Chairman of Kesteven County Council
1955 – 1956		 Succeeded by
H. W. N. Fane
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