He had house in Bread Street and was a member of the Salters Company. He has been described as 'one of the richest merchants in Jacobean London'.[5] An investigation by the alum Commissioners found that around 1609, Crispe, his son Nicholas, and others, had produced deceptive accounts of the amount of alum produced by them in Yorkshire.[6] This resulted in a case in the Court of Exchequer.[7] The dispute was settled by agreement the following year.[8]
Crispe was a substantial investor in the East India Company.[9] When the company received a revised charter from James I in 1609 , Crispe and his son Nicholas were among the named company members.[10] In 1617, Crispe had bought a further £400 worth of stock in the company from William Temple, a transaction that Sir Alexander Temple claimed to be fraudulent.[11] There was a second dispute between them a few years later concerning £600 of East India Company's stock which Crispe said stock had been conveyed to Temple without the knowledge of the Company's Court.[12] The company's records show that in 1621 Crispe transferred £666 of stock to his son, Nicholas.[13]
Along with his brother, Crispe paid for the alms houses in his home town of Marshfield.[14] In 1624, a sermon by Thomas Gataker was dedicated to Crispe and his brother, Nicholas.[15] Crispe was made an alderman of the City of London in 1625.[16]
