John Crakehall

Early life Crakehall was from Crakehall in the North Riding of Yorkshire and may have been a younger son of Ellis of Crakehall. Ellis was a sub-tenant who held lands in the lordship of Richmond. His birthdate is unknown, although it was likely before 1210. He had an elder brother, Peter, and at least one sister who reached adulthood. If John was Ellis' son, he was related to a number of important families in Yorkshire, including the Nevilles and d'Oyry families.

From later career and letters, Crakehall must have been educated in at least theology, and his activities as an administrator indicate that he was literate. He is never accorded the title of magister, which indicates that if he did attend a university, he did not complete his studies.

Service to Hugh of Wells

Crakehall first appears in records when he was the attorney at Westminster for Hugh of Wells, the Bishop of Lincoln, over Easter in 1231. On 9 April 1231 he was installed as the rector of Somerton in Oxfordshire.

While serving Hugh, Crakehall became a canon of Lincoln Cathedral sometime after 1233 or 1234. He was ordained a subdeacon sometime before April 1235.

In 1250 Crakehall went with Grosseteste to Lyon to meet with Pope Innocent IV. No administrative records survive from Crakehall's time as steward, which limits the ability of historians to record his career fully. But the regulations that the bishop drew up for his household survive, and would have governed Crakehall's actions. They essentially prohibited anyone employed by Grosseteste from accepting any gifts except food or drink, while also banning unfair demands. Besides his service to the bishops of Lincoln, Crakehall corresponded with Adam Marsh and was one of Marsh's close friends.

Treasurer Crakehall was appointed Treasurer of England on 2 November 1258.

Another reason for the appointment of the archdeacon by the council was a need to mitigate somewhat the lingering image of corruption stemming from the bad reputation of Philip Lovel, the previous treasurer. For this, a treasurer who had experience with working under Grossteste's household strictures would have made the archdeacon an attractive appointment. Crakehall's ability to manage the finances of the diocese of Lincoln, which was the largest diocese in England, would also have played a role in his appointment. His reputation for competence, which had caused him to be recalled to oversee his successor as steward, was also well known.

As treasurer Crakehall worked to implement the reforms laid out in the Provisions of Westminster of 1259.

To combat the problems facing the treasury, Crakehall worked to improve the stability of the royal revenues and during his time in office, there was a small increase in the proceeds paid into the exchequer. One of his efforts was attempting to recover debts owed by former sheriffs. His appointment had originally been just for one year, but the council of barons extended it another year in 1259. The record keeping of the treasury was further refined, with small improvements to the auditing of the sheriff's accounts, the memoranda rolls, and to the receipt rolls of the treasury. Lastly, all fines that came in to the treasury were intended to go to the exchequer instead of to the wardrobe, as had previously been the case. This would allow the revenues from fines to be properly accounted for.

Crakehall was also a prebendary of Rugmere in the Diocese of London, where he was installed sometime in February 1259. He was ousted from the Rugmere prebend when the papacy appointed another clergyman to the prebendary. His tenure of Rugmere was marred by a dispute with the eventual papal appointee, Jordan Piruntus, which led to the murder of two clergymen by Crakehall's men. Rumours circulated that Crakehall had been implicated somehow in the murders but the rumours were unfounded. in London. He was buried at Waltham Abbey. he had a daughter, Petronilla. Whether he was married to Petronilla's mother or not is unknown. Petronilla was married to Alan of Kingthrope. Petronilla and her husband inherited part of Crakehall's estate while the other part went to Crakehall's nephew, William of Cadeby.