| Constituency | Dates |
|---|---|
| Appleby | 1406 |
| Westmorland | 1425 |
Attestor, parlty. elections, Westmld. 1407, 1415, 1416 (Mar.), 1419, 1420, 1421 (Dec.), 1422, 1426, 1427, 1431, 1432, 1433, 1435, 1436.
J.p. Westmld. 26 Mar. – July 1412, 2 July 1412-Feb. 1416 (q.), 8 Feb. 1416-June 1419.
Commr. Westmld. Jan. 1412 – Mar. 1439; Cumb., Westmld. ?Jan. 1424 (lands of Sir William Threlkeld†).1 E159/200, commissiones Hil. 2 Hen. VI.
More can be added to the earlier biography.2 The Commons 1386-1421, ii. 686-7.
On 22 Nov. 1428 William Crackenthorpe joined his father and brother, both named John, among the jurors present at Penrith to testify to the coming of age of Ralph Neville, earl of Westmorland. With a fine disregard for plausibility, our MP testified that his daughter had been wet-nurse to Ralph, born on 4 Apr. 1406 at the Percy castle of Cockermouth (then in Neville hands by royal grant). At this date William could not have had a daughter who was any more than a child. Later he appeared as a juror in two other important inquisitions post mortem, the one held at Appleby on 24 Sept. 1436 in respect of the Westmorland estates of John, Lord Greystoke, the other on 8 Jan. 1438 at nearby Kirkby Thore on the death of Constance Holland, widow of Thomas Mowbray, the Earl Marshal.3 CIPM, xxiii. 314; xxiv. 497; xxv. 120.
Late in his life William seems to have been in dispute with two of his sons, John and Thomas. In 1437 he had an action pending against them for taking his goods worth 20 marks from Newbiggin. This did not, however, prevent him naming Thomas among his executors along with his wife and other son, William.4 CP40/705, rot. 380; 716, rot. 373.