Hungerford Crewe, 3rd Baron Crewe

Hungerford Crewe, 3rd Baron Crewe FSA, FRS (10 August 1812 – 3 January 1894) was an English landowner and peer. He was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1840 and of the Royal Society in 1841.

Education and family The son of John Crewe, 2nd Baron Crewe, an army general, and Henrietta Maria Anna Walker-Hungerford, Crewe was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. He had two sisters: Henrietta Hungerford Offley Crewe (1808–1879) and Annabella Hungerford Crewe (1814–1874). He also had an illegitimate sister by an unknown woman and an illegitimate brother, Rev John Griffiths (1813 – ?), the latter being well known and acknowledged by both family and local villagers alike. The correspondence of his sisters, which include many references to Hungerford Crewe, as well as a small number of letters by Hungerford himself, are deposited at the Borthwick Institute for Archives in York.

Landlord and charitable works On his father's death in 1835, he became the third Baron Crewe and inherited the Jacobean mansion of Crewe Hall in Cheshire, together with a large estate in Cheshire, Staffordshire and Leicestershire. At his death in 1894, the total rents were estimated at £37,000 per year. He also made many charitable gifts, for example in Sandbach where he donated his income as lord of the manor to the local board, gave land for a town and market hall, and erected a drinking fountain.

Alterations to Crewe Hall

Lord Crewe commissioned Edward Blore to make alterations to Crewe Hall in 1837–42. These included major changes to the plan of the building, redecoration of the interior in a Jacobethan style more sympathetic to the original Jacobean house, and modernisations including the installation of a warm-air heating system. Blore also added a centrepiece and clock-tower to the stables quadrangle and built a gate lodge. The total cost of the works was £30,000.

A fire gutted the main hall in January 1866. Extensive restoration work was carried out for Lord Crewe by E. M. Barry, son of Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Palace of Westminster (1866–70).

Arms