Sir William Craven

William Craven originated from Appletreewick, a village near Skipton in Yorkshire's West Riding. He was apprenticed to Robert Hulson, a London merchant tailor and after he obtained the freedom from the company in 1569, he started a business with his master. After Hulson’s death, Craven had the right to use his shop and warehouse for a period of three years.

Although Craven did not participate in overseas trade, he managed to make a fortune in the domestic wholesaling of cloth. It is known fact that he was a supplier of cloth worth almost £600 for Queen Elizabeth's funeral. Over the course of his career, he extended to moneylending on a major scale and among his debtors were the famous personage such as Sir Robert Cecil, the 2nd Earl of Essex, and the 9th Earl of Northumberland.

Craven also served as the second warden of his livery company in 1593, sheriff in 1601 and Lord Mayor of London in 1610-1611. In 1603 Craven was made a knight. During his lifetime he was associated with the various charitable projects. Among other things, he was founder of a grammar school in his native parish of Burnsall in 1605, and benefactor of Christ’s Hospital.

At the time of his death, his fortune was around £125,000 or over £5.3 bn in today's money which was inherited by his wife Elizabeth and their sons.