James Crofts (died 1732)

Biography

He was the natural son of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, who led the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 and was beheaded in July that year. He entered the Army in the early part of the reign of Queen Anne, rose to the rank of colonel in 1706, and in 1718 he succeeded Sir Robert Rich in the command of a regiment of dragoons, which was disbanded in the same year. On 6 July 1719 he obtained the colonelcy of the regiment of dragoons later known as the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers, and in 1727 he was promoted to the rank of major-general. He died at his house in Downing Street, London, in March 1732.