William Doubleday Crofts has long been known as one at the forefront of ringing in the late 18th century. His ability as a practical ringer, as a conductor and as a theoretician on the structure of methods have come to us through the exploits of the Nottingham ringers of the 18th century, the Sherwood Youths, and his Manuscripts which give us a clear insight into his abilities in the other fields.Where Crofts was born and brought up is unknown. He is described as being 72 when he died (born in 1737) but elsewhere it is indicated he was born in 1742. The possibility exists that he was related to the William Crofts of West Harling in Norfolk who was responsible for the removal of the unsafe spire there circa 1756, at which time the comparatively new ring of 5, cast by John Stephens of Norwich in 1726, were removed.He probably resided in London at some time for he was well known to the London ringers. However he was certainly resident in Nottingham by about 1762/3. He did not ring in the the first two known Sherwood Youths peals at St. Mary's, Nottingham in 1761 and 1764 (both of Grandsire Triples), but he makes his first appearance on New Years Day, 1765 when he rang the 6th to a peal of 5040 Grandsire Caters, conducted by John Spencer Canner, who had conducted the 1761 peal. He then continued to be an almost ever-present ringer in peals up to 1793. His first appearance as conductor was for the last peal on the old ring of 8 at St. Peters, Nottingham on 3rd October 1768. In all he rang 31 peals, of which he called 26, 29 were for the Sherwood Youths.
By profession he was a solicitor, so he was a relatively rich man in comparison with the rest of the Sherwood Youths. They were workmen involved mainly in the hosiery trade, frame-work knitters, button makers and needle makers, but there were also the Hedderly brothers, Thomas and George, bellfounders, as well as a couple of inn-keepers. Training to be a solicitor in those days was by learning from an established practice. There seems little doubt that he subsidised the rest of the Nottingham band on their outings to open new rings of bells (Gainsborough in 1768, Welton in 1769, Kings Norton 1776) and also their Annual outing each Whitsun, when they had a long weekend away from home (Gainsborough again in 1769, Burton on Trent and Derby, All Saints in 1770). With him sitting in the top seat at the Annual Feast each November (1768 at the Wheatsheaf, 1769 at the Unicorn, 1775 at the Plaisterers Arms on Barkergate), the event must have been a most formal one, followed after the speeches by "innocent Mirth and Jollity" and the Societies cup hand-bells, presented by Squire William Fortrey of Norton-by-Gaulby, Leicestershire after completing the 10,260 Grandsire Caters at St Mary's, providing the " music peculiar to that fraternity ".
His reputation seems to have been known nationally, for he joined the College Youths in 1765. His abilities as a heavy bell ringer resulted in him joining the College Youths expedition to York in 1787 for the first known peal on the 1765 Pack and Chapman 10, and he rang the 53cwt tenor behind to 5183 Grandsire Caters in 3 hours 38 minutes, quite a respectable speed for bells of this weight. He was also the Steward to the Union Society of Shrewsbury in 1781, an honour bestowed upon him, no doubt, in gratitude for supplying the composition of 10,080 Plain Bob Major rung by them on 25th February 1777.
But foremost he was a composer. His Manuscripts are wide ranging. They include the composition of the first known true peal of Grandsire Triples, rung at Norwich in 1718, noted as Garthons Triples. There are touches and peals of Grandsire Triples and Caters (6065, 8046 and 10,260 appended below as compositions C1 to C3), Plain Bob Major and Royal, amongst others, as well as Proof Scales for the following Major methods: (Oxford) Treble Bob, College Exercise, Morning Exercise, Imperial the Third, Cambridge Surprise (the modern form), London Surprise, Superlative Surprise and Old Cambridge. Evidence is that the early to late 1770's were the period of greatest productivity, so we are drawn to the conclusion that Crofts was one of the first, if not the first, to realise that treble bob methods could be false internally, as well as in 1-2, as had been demonstrated by Christopher Wells of the London Youths about 1768.
It is clear that the surviving Manuscripts are not complete. There are some known compositions by Crofts which are not in these Manuscripts. The 6012 Grandsire Caters rung at St Marys, Nottingham is but one example. So what happened to the missing (if any) material? It may well be that some were lost immediately after his death in 1809, or perhaps later. It is known that they were examined at different times by (amongst others) Joshia Barrow of Long Eaton (who annotated them), Jasper Snowden of Ilkley (he acknowledged it in the Preface to his Treatise on Treble Bob, published in 1878) and J.J. Parker of Sunderland in 1922. Snowden's Treble Bob provides us with Crofts compositions of 5280 Oxford T. B. Major and 5000 Oxford T. B. Royal not present in the Manuscripts, so were the Manuscripts more complete in the 1870's? There does not seem to be a Snowden archive surviving, so we will never know.
However it is known that he sent compositions to Leicester, Leeds, Shrewsbury and Oxford. It is from a Leicester source that we are in a position to find some of the missing compositions. John Martin was one of the Leicester Scholars in the 1760's onwards. In the Morris Manuscripts at Leicester Record Office there is John Martins Notebook (dated on the frontispage May 10th 1781, but earlier as the date 31st July 1769 occurs elsewhere) which contains eight compositions of Grandsire Caters (amongst compositions in other methods): 5040, 6012, 5039(False), 5130, 7002, 8046, 10080 and 12060. These are appended below as compositions M1 to M8. Now the 6012, the false 5039 and the 5130 are closely related, using the same basic block of work, with extensions in length being effected by the insertion of 3 bobs when the eighth (the observation bell) makes 6th's. This adds 11 leads to the composition each time it is used. Now a 5130 (in the tittoms) was called by Crofts at Grantham on 19th September 1775, The 6012 was rung at St Mary's Nottingham on 1st January 1775 by the Sherwood Youths with Crofts conducting, and also on 12th August 1776 at Leicester. The newspaper report of the latter event records that the peal was composed by Crofts (as does Martin's Notebook) :
"The peal was composed by that eminent proficient in the curious and difficult art of pricking changes for bells, W. D. Crofts, of Nottingham."
Similarly the 10080 is reported in the Nottingham Journal of 1st March 1777, which reported the Leicester Scholars crowning achievement, and the composition is again claimed as the work of Crofts:
"The order of the bobs for carrying out the same were compiled by W.D. Crofts of Nottingham."
Thus we are led to the conclusion that all the compositions up to the 10,080 in Martin's Book could be the the work of Crofts. However we do have the complication that the 12,060, which is merely the 10,080 extended by the 3 bobs at 6ths in all possible positions, also appears in Shipways Campanologia (Part 3, dated 1816), under Martins name. One cannot doubt that Crofts would have been aware of the potential of the basic peal to go up to 12,060. But he does not seem to have written it down anywhere. So why did Martin claim it? Firstly Crofts had died in 1809, so was not in a position to refute the claim, and secondly, is it not possible that, in those times, claiming ownership of a composition was less rigorous than it was later in the century, when major disagreements occurred over certain compositions. Further I feel we must look at the role of the two men in their Societies. Crofts, as we have seen, was the main conductor for the Sherwood Youths, calling almost all the peals for the Society. On the other hand, Martin never called a peal of Grandsire. The long lengths by the Leicester Scholars were called by William Bull. Nevertheless Martin did call a peal of Plain Bob. On this basis, then, I feel that the balance of evidence points to Crofts being the creative composer and conductor, and Martin being a collector of compositions, fortunately for us, for otherwise the compositions would have been lost.
It is interesting to note that Crofts had probably already guaranteed that the Sherwood Youths would win any progressive long length ringing competition with the Leicester Scholars, had it progressed any further, for the 10,260 Grandsire he used for the Nottingham peal already mentioned, will extend (by the same 3 bobs in 6ths ploy) to 12,600, just longer than the 10,080 composition, extended (12060). Nevertheless it is clear that the rivalry between the Sherwood Youths and the Leicester Scholars was friendly, for at the height of the long length competition, the Leicester men came over to Nottingham on 5th March 1777 and rang 5040 Grandsire Triples at St Peters. No doubt the ringing would have been keenly listened to, and errors pointed out in the ale-house afterwards!
The Grandsire Caters compositions.The Compositions in John Martins notebook
M1 5040 Grandsire Cators in ye Tittums 1 4 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 2 64523 2 56423 2 36524 2 53624 - ( 25634) ) 2 45236 ) 2 24536 )A 2 64235 ) 2 26435 ) A 34562 A 65243 A 42356 3,8,11 23456789 For 5130, call last course 1,2,8,9,10, producing 42356789, and add another course called Home. TrueAcknowledgements: Richard Allton for proving all the compositions. George A. Dawson. June 2001.
M2 6012 Grandsire Cators 1 4 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 2 35426 2 65324 2 36524 2 46325 2 34625 - ( 23645) ) 2 62345 ) 2 52643 )A 2 65243 ) 2 35642 ) 2 63542 ) A 56234 A 25463 - ( 62453) 2 46253 2 36452 2 43652 2 23456 - 34256 1,2,8,9 23456789 Rung August 12th 1776 in 4 hours and twenty minutes at Leicester. True
(M3 FALSE) 5039 Grandsire Cators 1 3 4 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 2 35426 2 65324 2 36524 2 46325 2 34625 - ( 23645) } 2 62345 } 2 52643 } 2 65243 } A 2 35642 } 2 63542 } A 56234 - ( 35264) 2 23564 2 43265 2 24365 - 34562 - 45362 2 25463 2 42563 - - 32547698 False in marked courses.
M3 5130 Grandsire Cators 1 4 M H W 23456789 - 34256 - - - ( 52436978) 2 62534 2 56234 2 46532 2 54632 - ( 35642) ) 2 25346 ) 2 32546 )A 2 62345 ) 2 36245 ) A 42563 A 65324 A 23456 1,2,8,9,10 23456789 Rung at St Martin's Leicester for the opening of the new bells on September 6th 1787 in 3h37 1. John Martin 6. Thomas Wilson 2. B Warburton 7. John Blower 3. T Armstrong 8. Daniel Loyley 4. Thos Scott 9. Joseph Smith 5. Thos Dudley 10. Richard Wright. This is 5130 A1 rotated. True
M4 7002 Grandsire Cators 1 4 6s M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 3 2 35426 2 65324 2 36524 2 46325 2 34625 - (23645) ) 3 2 62345 ) 2 52643 ) 2 65243 )A 2 35642 ) 2 63542 ) A 56234 A 25463 A omit last course 34256 1,2,8,9 23456789 True
M5 8046 Grandsire Cators 1 4 6s M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 3 2 35426 2 65324 2 36524 2 46325 - 63425 - ( 26435) ) 3 - 64235 ) 3* - 42635 ) 2 52436 ) 3* - 24536 )A 3* - 45236 ) 2 65432 ) 3* - 54632 ) A* 26543 A 35264 - ( 63254) 3 2 26354 2 46253 2 24653 2 34256 1,2,8,9 23456789 A* = A omitting calls marked *. True
M6 10080 Grandsire Cators 1 4 6 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 3 2 35426 2 65324 2 36524 2 46325 2 34625 - ( 23645) 3 2 62345 2 52643 2 65243 2 35642 2 63542 - ( 46532) ) 3 - 65432 ) 3 - 54632 ) 2 24536 ) 3 - 45236 )A 3 - 52436 ) 2 62534 ) 3 - 25634 ) 3 - 56234 ) A 25463 A 42356 3,8,11 23456789 True
A7 12060 Grandsire Cators 1 4 6 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 3 - 43526 3 - 35426 2 65324 3 - 53624 3 - 36524 2 46325 3 - 63425 3 - 34625 - ( 23645) ) 3 - 36245 ) 3 - 62345 ) 2 52643 ) 3 - 26543 )A 3 - 65243 ) 2 35642 ) 3 - 56342 ) 3 - 63542 ) A 56234 A 25463 A 42356 3,8,11 23456789 True
The compositions in the Crofts Manuscripts C1 6065 Grandsire Caters 1 4 M H W 23456789 - - 3 42356978 2 62453 2 46253 2 36452 2 43652 2 ( 23456) - ( 52436) ) 2 45236 ) 2 65432 ) 2 46532 )A 2 26435 ) 2 42635 ) 2 ( 52436) ) - ( 35426) 2 65324 2 36524 - 56423 - 64523 A ( 26543) A 42563 1,3 32547698 True
C2 8046 Grandsire Caters 1 4 6 M H W 23456789 - - ( 42356978 - ( 54326) ) 3 2 35426 ) 2 65324 ) 2 36524 ) 2 46325 ) - 63425 ) - (26435) ) 3 - 64235 )A 3 - 42635 ) 2 52436 ) 3 - 24536 ) 3 - 45236 ) 2 65432 ) 3 - 54632 ) A 35264 - ( 63254) 3 2 26354 2 46253 2 24653 2 34256 1,2,8,9 23456789 True
C3 10,260 Grandsire Cators 1 4 6 M H W 23456789 - - - ( 54326978) 2 35426 - 45623 2 64523 - ( 26543) ) - 56342 ) 3 - 63542 ) 3 - 35642 ) 2 25346 ) 3 - 53246 )A 3 - 32546 ) 2 62345 ) 3 - 23645 ) 3 - 36245 ) A 53462 A 25634 - (32654) - 62453 3 - 24653 3 - 46253 2 36452 3 - 64352 3 - 43652 2 23456 2 73452968 2,3 23456789 True