CROSSE, Sir Thomas, 1st Bt. (1663-1738), of Millbank, Westminster, and Rainham, Essex.

Crosse, who came of a family of Westminster brewers, represented Westminster as a Tory throughout his parliamentary career. Under George I he spoke against the septennial bill in 1716 and the army in 1717, voted against the Government in all recorded divisions, and in 1721 moved unsuccessfully that the directors of the South Sea Company should be fined collectively £1,400,000. Shortly before the general election of 1722 he was made a director of the South Sea Company and went over to the Government, standing jointly for Westminster with William Lowndes, secretary of the Treasury.Whitehall Evening Post, 13-15 Mar. 1722; The Post Boy, 10-13 Mar. 1722. Defeated, he did not stand again. He died 27 May 1738.