ders of the Speculative Society. Besides excelling as a conversationalist he carried on an extensive correspondence with literary men both in England and Scotland. Several of his letters to Lord Kames are published in Lord Kames's ‘Life’ (2nd edit. iii. 317–35). Under the signature of ‘Theophrastus’ he contributed to the newspapers, especially the ‘Edinburgh Courant,’ a number of essays and sketches of character, the more interesting of these being ‘An Account of the Manners and Customs in Scotland between 1763 and 1783,’ which was ultimately brought down to 1793, and published in the ‘Statistical Account of Scotland.’ The greater portion of the ‘Essays’ were collected and published in 1791 under the title ‘Fugitive Pieces,’ and an edition with some additions and an account of his life appeared posthumously in 1815. He was also the author of ‘An Account of the Trial of Wm. Brodie and George Smith, by William Creech, one of the Jury.’ In politics Creech was a supporter of Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville, with the latter of whom he was on terms of special intimacy. Creech was addicted to theological discussion, held strongly Calvinistic views, and was a member of the high church session. He was the founder and principal promoter of the Society of Booksellers of Edinburgh and Leith, took an active part in the formation of the chamber of commerce (instituted 1786), and was the chairman of several public bodies, as well as fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies. At different periods of his life he was a member of the town council, and he held the office of lord provost from 1811 to 1813. He was never married, and died 14 June 1815. His stock was purchased by Constable.
[Memoir prefixed to Fugitive Pieces; Scots Magazine, lxxvii. (1815), 15–16; Chambers's Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen (Thomson), i. 398; Wilson's Memorials of Edinburgh, pp. 198, 200, 235; Works of Robert Burns; Lord Cockburn's Memorials.]
CREED, CARY (1708–1775), etcher, was the son of Cary Creed and Elizabeth his wife, and grandson of the Rev. John Creed, vicar of Castle Cary, Somersetshire. He etched and published a number of plates from the marbles in the collection of the Earl of Pembroke at Wilton House. These are slightly but cleverly executed. Four editions of the work are known: with sixteen etchings, with forty etchings (1730), with seventy etchings (1731), and with seventy-four etchings (1731). Creed died 16 Jan. 1775, aged 67, and was buried at Castle Cary.
[Redgrave's Dict. of Artists; Gent. Mag. (1775) xiv. 46; Collinson's History of Somerset, ii. 57; Lowndes's Bibl. Man.]
CREED, ELIZABETH (1644?–1728), philanthropist, born in or about 1644, was the only daughter of Sir Gilbert Pickering, bart., of Tichmarsh, Northamptonshire, by Elizabeth, only daughter of Sir Sidney Montagu, and sister of Edward Montagu, first earl of Sandwich (Collins, Peerage, ed. Brydges, iii. 449). On her father's side she was a cousin of Dryden, on her mother's a cousin of Pepys. In October 1668 she became the wife of John Creed [see below] of Oundle, Northamptonshire, who appears to have been at one time a retainer in the service of Lord Sandwich, and, to judge from Pepys's slighting allusions, of humble origin. Of this marriage eleven children were born. On her husband's death in 1701 Mrs. Creed retired to her property at Barnwell All Saints, near Oundle, where she devoted the remainder of her life to works of beneficence. Herself an artist of considerable skill, she gave free instruction to girls in drawing, fine needlework, and similar accomplishments. Several of the churches in the neighbourhood of Oundle were embellished with altar-pieces, paintings, and other works by her hands. In 1722 she erected a monument to Dryden and his parents in the church of Tichmarsh. A portrait by her of the first Earl of Sandwich hangs at Drayton, and many other portraits and a few pictures painted by her are still preserved among her descendants. Mrs. Creed died in May 1728. A daughter, Elizabeth, who married a Mr. Stuart, inherited her mother's tastes, and ornamented the hall of an old Tudor mansion near Oundle; but all traces of her work have long disappeared (Redgrave, Dict. of Artists, 1878, p. 105).
John Creed was a man of some importance in his day. Of his history previously to the Restoration little is known, but in March 1660 he was nominated deputy-treasurer of the fleet by Lord Sandwich, and two years later was made secretary to the commissioners for Tangier. On 16 Dec. 1663 he became a fellow of the Royal Society. His official duties brought him into frequent contact with Pepys, by whom he was both feared and disliked. In his ‘Diary’ Pepys speaks of Creed as one who had been a puritan and adverse to the king's coming in. But he adapted his policy to the times and grew rich. On his monument at Tichmarsh, where he had an estate, Creed is described as having served ‘his majesty King Charles ye II in divers Honble Imployments at home and abroad’ (Bridges, Northamptonshire, ii. 386); but whether this refers merely to his services in the admiralty or to others of greater importance cannot now be ascertained. His eldest son, Major Richard Creed, who was killed at Blenheim, also lies buried in Tichmarsh church, where there still
