Colin Grant Crawford (3 June 1890 – 15 August 1959) was a British

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

and

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

. He was a part of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition led by

Charles Granville Bruce Brigadier-General The Honourable Charles Granville Bruce, Order of the Bath, CB, Royal Victorian Order, MVO (7 April 1866 – 12 July 1939) was a veteran Himalayas, Himalayan mountaineer and leader of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition, s ...

, and won the Olympic gold medal for alpinism in 1924 along with other team members. Crawford was educated at

Clifton College Clifton College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in the city of Bristol in South West England, founded in 1862 and offering both boarding school, boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18. In its early years, unlike mo ...

and

Trinity Hall, Cambridge Trinity Hall (formally The College or Hall of the Holy Trinity in the University of Cambridge, colloquially "Tit Hall" ) is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1350, it is th ...

. He served in the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British Raj, British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 3 ...

between 1914 and 1930. He was an experienced mountaineer. With

Harold Raeburn Harold Andrew Raeburn (21 July 1865 – 21 December 1926) was a Scottish mountaineer. He was one of the most prominent British mountaineers of his era with several first ascents. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries he took part in numerous ...

he reconnoitred the world’s third highest mountain,

Kanchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

, in 1920. He was a member of the 1922 Mount Everest expedition, serving as a transport officer. He was also a member of the

1933 British Mount Everest expedition Events January * January 11 – Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independen ...

led by

Hugh Ruttledge Hugh Ruttledge (24 October 1884 – 7 November 1961) was an English civil servant and mountaineer who was the leader of two expeditions to Mount Everest in 1933 and 1936. Early life The son of Lt.-Colonel Edward Butler Ruttledge, of the Indian ...

, and extracts of his diary for that expedition were published in the

Alpine Journal The ''Alpine Journal'' (''AJ'') is an annual publication by the Alpine Club of London. It is the oldest mountaineering journal in the world. History The journal was first published on 2 March 1863 by the publishing house of Longman in London, ...

. In 1940, he married Margaret MacIver of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, with whom he had two daughters. He died in 1959, reportedly while playing

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

. His nickname was "Ferdie", for his resemblance to Tsar

Ferdinand I of Bulgaria Ferdinand I (Ferdinand Maximilian Karl Leopold Maria; 26 February 1861 – 10 September 1948) was Prince of Bulgaria from 1887 to 1908 and Tsar of Bulgaria from 1908 until his abdication in 1918. Under his rule, Bulgaria entered the First Worl ...

References

1890 births 1959 deaths British mountain climbers Indian Civil Service (British India) officers Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Alumni of Trinity Hall, Cambridge {{climbing-bio-stub