John Crayford

Who is John Crayford?

John Crayford was a Master of both Clare College, Cambridge and University College, Oxford, England. Martyn was unusual in being a Master of colleges at both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. He was the only Master of University College to also have been a Master at a Cambridge college.

Crayford was a Fellow at University College in the early 1520s. He was Master of Clare College, Cambridge from 1530 to 1539 and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge during 1534–36. He helped in the university's support for Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon in 1533. From 1545 to 1547 he was Archdeacon of Berkshire. Later he became Master of University College from 1546 until his unexpected death in August 1547, only a year later.