James Craggs the Younger
Appearance
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2022) |
Sir Godfrey Kneller, c. 1708 | |
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Secretary at War | |
In office 1717–1718 | |
Preceded by | William Pulteney |
Succeeded by | The Viscount Castlecomer |
Secretary of State for the Southern Department | |
In office 1718–1721 | |
Preceded by | Joseph Addison |
Succeeded by | The Lord Carteret |
Personal details | |
Born | 9 April 1686 |
Died | 16 February 1721 | (aged 34)
James Craggs the Younger PC (9 April 1686 – 16 February 1721), was an English politician.
Life
Craggs was born at
South Sea Bubble, but not so deeply as his father, whom he predeceased, dying on 16 February 1721, aged 34. Among Craggs's friends were Alexander Pope (who wrote the epitaph on his monument in Westminster Abbey), Joseph Addison and John Gay.[1]
James Craggs left an illegitimate daughter, Harriot Craggs, by the noted dancer and actress
John Hamilton
by whom she had a son.
James Craggs also left two Illegitimate sons, each named James, by different mothers, Reference to these may be found in the Will of his uncle, Michael Richards, who left bequests to Harriot and to each of the sons. One of the sons died at sea in 1740 as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy under the name James Smith, but noted as being the natural son of the late Secretary Craggs.
In 1719 he was one of the original backers of the
References
- ^ public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Craggs, James s.v.". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 361. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Thomas McGeary. The Politics of Opera in Handel's Britain. Cambridge University Press, 2013. p.254