James Cranford
James Cranford (c.1592–1657) was an English presbyterian clergyman. He was active as a licenser of theological publications during the 1640s, and belonged to the heresy-hunting wing of the London presbyterians, writing a preface to the Gangraena of Thomas Edwards. Life He was son of James Cranford, master of Coventry free school, and was born there about 1592. He entered Balliol College, Oxford, in 1617, and proceeded B.A. 17 October 1621, and M.A. 20 June 1624. He took holy orders, became rector of Brockhall, Northamptonshire, and on 16 January 1643 rector of St. Christopher, London. Under the Commonwealth he was a licenser for the press, and prefixed many epistles to the books which he allowed to go to the press. The licensing process was part of a broader power struggle; Cranford became a target for the Independents who disliked his palpable bias, and was singled out by Henry Robinson in developing his arguments for religious tolerance, for skewing the debate. The widening discussion drew in William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele, whom Cranford maligned, and who said that Cranford was beholden to the Scots such as Robert Baillie, and Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex. Cranford controversially licensed works by