Dirom Grey Crawford (21 July 1857 – 9 December 1942) was an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n-born British physician and officer of the

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

(IMS). He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring in 1911 and returning to serve on hospital ships during the First World War when he was mentioned in dispatches. He wrote a history of the IMS as well as the roll of its members which included biographical details of 6,156 of its officers.

Early life and family

Dirom Crawford was born in Chinsura, in Bengal, India, on 21 July 1857 to James Alexander Crawford of the

Bengal 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 rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million p ...

and Christina Anne Crawford. He studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, qualifying in 1881 and shortly afterwards joined the IMS. He married Magdalene Leonora and they had children Violet, Charlotte, and William.

Career

During his career in the Indian Medical Service he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel before retiring in 1911. Following the outbreak of the First World War, he rejoined and served on

hospital ships A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

for more than four years during which time he was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

. Crawford wrote a number of articles for ''The Indian Medical Gazette'' but was most noted for his ''History of the Indian Medical Service 1600–1913'' which was published in two volumes in 1914 and for his ''Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1615–1930'' which was published in 711 pages in 1930 and gave biographies of 6,156 officers of the service. He included himself in the Roll in the same format as any other officer. The history began as a preface to a list of IMS officers but took on a life of its own. The Roll first deals with the medical services in Bengal, Madras and Bombay, before going on to the general roll of IMS officers. It also details officers posted to such outlying places as

Saint Helena Saint Helena (, ) is one of the three constituent parts of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, a remote British overseas territory. Saint Helena is a volcanic and tropical island, located in the South Atlantic Ocean, some 1,874 km ...

, China, and Prince of Wales Island.

Death and legacy

Crawford died on 9 December 1942. His address at the time of his death was 45 Mount Park Road,

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, Middlesex. He left an estate of £14,363 and probate was granted to Scott Crawford, electrical engineer, and Henry Lambert, former

Indian Education Service The Indian Education Service or Indian Educational Service (IES) formed part of the British Raj between 1896 and 1924, when overseas recruitment ceased. It was an administrative organisation running educational establishments in British India, larg ...

officer.1943 Probate Calendar, p. 352.
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Selected publications

Articles

* "The services in 1898", '' The Indian Medical Gazette'', Vol. XXXIV, No. 3 (March 1899). * "The Medical Services in 1905", ''The Indian Medical Gazette'', Vol. XLI, No. 3 (March 1906).
"The Medical Services in the Mutiny"
''The Indian Medical Gazette'', Vol. 43, No. 1 (January 1908), pp. 1–5.
"The Legend of Gabriel Boughton"
''The Indian Medical Gazette'', Vol. 44, No. 1 (January 1909), pp. 1–7.

Books

* ''A report on the sanitary condition of the Hooghly and Chinsurah Municipality''. 901* ''A Brief History of the Hughli District/Hughli Medical Gazetteer''. Bengal Secretariat Press, Calcutta, 902/03 * ''A History of the Indian Medical Service, 1600–1913''. W. Thacker & Co., London, 1914
Vol. 1.Vol. II
* ''The Midnapore Zemindary Company''. Waterlow, 928 * ''Roll of the Indian Medical Service 1615–1930''. Thacker, Spink & Co., Calcutta, 1930
Pages i–298Pages 299–710

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Dirom Grey 1857 births 1942 deaths 19th-century British medical doctors 20th-century British medical doctors British medical historians Indian Medical Service officers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh British people in colonial India People from the Bengal Presidency