Crooke baronets
The Crooke Baronetcy of Baltimore, County Cork was a title in the Baronetage of Ireland. It was created for Thomas Crooke in 1624 and became extinct on the death of his son Samuel in 1666. The Crooke family came originally from Cransley in Northamptonshire; Thomas Crooke, father of the first baronet, was a well-known preacher of strongly Calvinist views.
Sir Thomas Crooke was granted substantial lands in County Cork; he founded the town of Baltimore (which was largely destroyed in the Sack of Baltimore in 1631) and also gave his name to the village of Crookhaven. He sat in the Irish House of Commons as MP for Baltimore in the Irish Parliament of 1613-15. Although he claimed to have been moved by religious fervour in founding Baltimore, he was often accused of condoning, if not actually practicing, piracy. A Privy Council investigation in 1608 cleared him of any wrongdoing, but his innocnce or guilt is still a matter of debate.
The title became extinct in 1666, on the death of Sir Thomas's eldest and only surviving son Samuel without male issue.
Crooke Baronets of Baltimore 1624-1666
- Sir Thomas Crooke, 1st Baronet (1574-1630)
- Sir Samuel Crooke, 2nd Baronet (d.1666)
References
- Burke, John Extinct and Dormant Baronetcies of England, Scotland and Ireland
- Usher, Brett "Sir Thomas Crooke" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Ekin, Des The Stolen Village-Baltimore and the Barbary Pirates O'Brien Press Dublin 2008