Craggs was born at
Westminster, the son of
James Craggs the Elder. Part of his early life was spent abroad, where he made the acquaintance of
George Louis,
Elector of Hanover, afterwards King George I of Great Britain. In 1713 he became
member of parliament for
Tregony, in 1717
Secretary at War, and in the following year
Secretary of State for the Southern Department. Craggs was implicated in the
South Sea Bubble, but not so deeply as his father, whom he predeceased, dying on 16 February 1721, aged 34. Among Craggs's friends were
Alexander Pope (who wrote the epitaph on his monument in
Westminster Abbey),
Joseph Addison and
John Gay. James Craggs left an illegitimate daughter, Harriot Craggs, by the noted dancer and actress
Hester Santlow. Harriot was probably born in February 1713 and she was married firstly in 1726 to
Richard Eliot, having nine children including
Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot and secondly in 1749 to
John Hamilton by whom she had a son. James Craggs also left two Illegitimate sons, each named James, by different mothers, Reference to these may be found in the Will of his uncle, Michael Richards, who left bequests to Harriot and to each of the sons. One of the sons died at sea in 1740 as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy under the name James Smith, but noted as being the natural son of the late Secretary Craggs. In 1719 he was one of the original backers of the
Royal Academy of Music, establishing a London opera company which commissioned numerous works from
Handel,
Bononcini and others. ==References==