Frank Fairbairn Crawford

Major Frank Fairbairn Crawford (17 June 1850 – 16 January 1900) was a British Army officer who was killed in the Second Boer War. He also played first-class cricket in two countries – in England for Kent County Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and in South Africa for Natal.[1]

Frank Crawford
Personal information
Full name
Frank Fairbairn Crawford
Born(1850-06-17)17 June 1850
Hastings, Sussex, England
Died16 January 1900(1900-01-16) (aged 49)
Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal
BattingRight-handed
RelationsIvo Fairbairn-Crawford (son)
John Crawford (brother)
Jack Crawford (nephew)
Reginald Crawford (nephew)
Vivian Crawford (nephew)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1870–1879Kent
1880–1884MCC
1886/87–1889/90Natal
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 25
Runs scored 579
Batting average 13.78
100s/50s 0/0
Top score 38
Balls bowled 5
Wickets 0
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling –
Catches/stumpings 13/–
Source: CricInfo, 25 April 2017

Life and career

Crawford was born at Hastings in Sussex in 1850. He made his first-class debut for Kent during the 1870 season, aged 20, when he appeared against Surrey.[2]

He graduated from the Royal Veterinary College in 1873 and enlisted in the army in the same year, joining the Royal Artillery as a veterinarian.[3] In late 1874 he was posted to India where he remained for several years.[4] His army career restricted his cricketing opportunities, although he featured in two first-class matches for Kent during the 1879 season. In total he played 15 times for Kent and made five appearances for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) between 1880 and 1884 as well as appearing for MCC in India and South Africa in non-first-class matches.[2][5][6] He captained Kent at times in the early 1870s before the club appointed official captains.[5]

After returning from India, Crawford was stationed in South Africa. He played cricket in South Africa, making his debut for Natal in the 1887 Kimberley Tournament before gong on to play in Natal's five first-class matches during the 1889/90 season, the first matches in which the team had been considered as first-class.[2][7] By the time of the Second Boer War he had reached the rank of Major.[3] He died of dysentery during the war in January 1900 at the military hospital in Pietermaritzburg and is buried at the Fort Napier cemetery.[3][4][8]

Family

Crawford was part of a cricketing family. His older brother John and three nephews, Jack, Reginald, and Vivian, all played first-class cricket, with Jack playing Test cricket for England.[6] His father, Andrew, had played for the Gentlemen of England and the family would, on occasions, produce a team of 11 Crawfords.[5]

He married twice, with his first wife, Marianne Ada Robinson, dying after less than a year of their marriage. He had at least two children with his second wife, Loris Muriel Natalie (later Callingham), who died in the torpedoing of RMS Leinster in 1918, and Ivo Frank Fairbairn, who adopted the surname Fairbairn-Crawford and represented Great Britain in athletics at the 1908 Summer Olympics.[9]

See also

References
  1. Carlaw D (2020) Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914 (revised edition), pp. 127–128. (Available online at the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians. Retrieved 7 August 2022.)
  2. First-class matches played by Frank Crawford, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  3. South African War Memorial 1900-1902, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
  4. Don Ambrose (2003). Brief profile of F.F. Crawford, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  5. Crawford, Rev John Charles M.A., Obituaries in 1935. Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, 1936. Retrieved 2017-04-25.
  6. Frank Crawford, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  7. Miscellaneous matches played by Frank Crawford, CricketArchive. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  8. Deaths 1900, Anglo-Boer War 1899–1902. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  9. Ivo Fairbairn-Crawford Archived 21 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine, SR/Olympic Sports. Retrieved 8 August 2015.

Frank Fairbairn Crawford at ESPNcricinfo

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