Mitford Crowe | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Governor of Barbados | |
| In office 1707–1710 | |
| Monarch | Queen Anne |
| Preceded by | Sir Bevil Granville |
| Succeeded by | George Lillington |
| Member of Parliament for Southampton | |
| In office 1701–1702 | |
| Preceded by | Roger Mompesson John Smith |
| Succeeded by | Frederick Tylney Adam de Cardonnel |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 18 April 1669 Hexham, Northumberland |
| Died | 15 December 1719 (aged 50) England, Great Britain |
| Spouse | Urania Sandiford (m. 1697) |
| Profession | Diplomat, merchant, politician, colonial administrator |
Colonel Mitford Crowe (18 April 1669 – 15 December 1719) was an English diplomat, merchant, politician and colonial administrator who sat in the Parliament of England from 1701 to 1702 and served as the governor of Barbados from 1707 to 1710. He is best known for his career during the War of the Spanish Succession, where Crowe negotiated the Pact of Genoa with the Principality of Catalonia, which brought them into the Grand Alliance.
Born in April 1669 in Hexham, Northumberland, Crowe was apprenticed to a merchant in Barbados growing up before moving to Barcelona at some point before 1697. Three years later, he moved to London to work as a merchant, being appointed as a colonial agent for Barbados in the same year. In England, Crowe began to pursue a political career, being elected to the House of Commons in February 1701 and sitting there until July 1702.
In 1705, Crowe was appointed as a diplomatic envoy to Catalonia to foster support for the Habsburg candidate for the vacant Spanish throne during the War of the Spanish Succession. Eventually managing to make contact with a group of pro-Habsburg Spaniards, Crowe signed a military alliance between England and Catalonia with them on 17 May. He was also charged with advising the English military during their campaigns in Catalonia.
Crowe was appointed as governor of Barbados in October 1706, arriving there in May 1707. As governor, Crowe undertook several controversial decisions which led to several complaints from his political rivals in Barbados that he was acting in a heavy-handed and autocratic manner. He was eventually recalled to England in 1710, where Crowe defended himself from the Privy Council before retiring from public life and dying in 1719.