Joseph Cripps

Joseph Cripps (10 March 1765 – 8 January 1847) was the member of parliament for the constituency of Cirencester for the parliaments of 1806 to 1812 and 1818 to 1841. Cripps was the son of Joseph Cripps, a cloth manufacturer in Cirencester, and his wife Hester (née Hall) Cripps. Cripps acquired a second cloth manufactory and expanded the family interests into brewing and banking. From 1825 until his death, he was a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company; by 1829 he was deputy governor and, from about 1838 to 1842, governor. Years later, at the time of his death, the Law Times described his fortune as "enormous". Cripps was a captain in the Cirencester Volunteers in 1798 and lieutenant colonel and commander in 1803. He was elected to parliament in 1806 representing a group who wished to have a local man representing their interests instead of the London merchant Robert Preston. He was narrowly defeated in a three-way race in 1812, but was unopposed in 1818 and held the seat for the next 23 years until replaced by his fourth son, William Cripps, in 1841. He generally supported the Whigs and parliamentary reform.