Capt. Geoffrey Cartland Hugh Crawshay

KStJ The Order of St John, short for Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (french: l'ordre très vénérable de l'Hôpital de Saint-Jean de Jérusalem) and also known as St John International, is a British British monarchy ...

(20 June 1892 – 8 November 1954) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and social benefactor who is most notable for his connections to

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

. He was also a Liberal Party politician.

Early life and military service

Born in 1892 to Codrington Fraser Crawshay in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, he was the great-great-great-grandson son of

Richard Crawshay Richard Crawshay (1739 – 27 June 1810) was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster; he was one of ten known British millionaires in 1799. Early life and marriage Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding ...

the ironmaster who oversaw the first major expansion of

Cyfarthfa Ironworks The Cyfarthfa Ironworks were major 18th- and 19th-century ironworks in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South West Wales. The beginning The Cyfarthfa works were begun in 1765 by Anthony Bacon (by then a merchant in ...

. Crawshay was educated at

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin *Wellington College, Wellington, New Z ...

and later University College of South Wales, before taking up an apprenticeship at an ironworks in

Cwmbran Cwmbran ( ; cy, Cwmbrân , also in use as an alternative spelling in English) is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales. Lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbran was designated as a New Town in 1949 to pr ...

. In 1914 he joined the 3rd Battalions of the

Welch Regiment The Welch Regiment (or "The Welch", an archaic spelling of "Welsh") was an infantry regiment of the line of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1969. The regiment was created in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of ...

before being transferred to the newly formed

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WG; cy, Gwarchodlu Cymreig), part of the Guards Division, is one of the Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the First World War, by Royal Warrant of George V. ...

. While with the Welsh Guards he obtained the rank of captain and in 1915 he was severely injured in his shoulder at the

Battle of Loos The Battle of Loos took place from 1915 in France on the Western Front, during the First World War. It was the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units. Th ...

. Crawshay remained with the regiment until 1924 creating many social societies, including the Welch Guard Choir and the regiment rugby team.

Later life and social work

On leaving the armed forces, Crawshay attempted a career in politics. He ran as a

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate in several south Wales constituencies, but after failing to win a seat he left politics behind and moved on to social work. He was

High Sheriff of Monmouthshire This is a list of Sheriffs of Monmouthshire, an office which was created in 1536 but not fully settled until 1540. On 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, the shrievalty of Monmouthshire was abolished, and replaced ...

in 1939.

Connections to rugby union

Crawshay had always shown a strong connection to the Welsh rugby players living in England; often travelling to Oxford and Cambridge Universities, inviting Welsh undergraduates to breakfast, in an attempt to recruit new rugby talent. In 1922, Crawshay was invited to bring a team to play against

Devonport Services R.F.C. Devonport Services Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team based in Plymouth, Devon. The club was originally called United Services Devonport and had their first recorded match back in 1904. Devonport Services play their homes games a ...

The resulting team banded together as Crawshay's Welsh RFC, an invitational team who still play to the present day.Crawshay's Welsh RFC
In 1924,

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

based rugby team,

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons ...

were in a situation where the club lacked direction and focus. The team cabled Crawshay, who was at the time on a tour in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

, in a desperate bid to persuade him to take on the presidency of the club. He accepted the presidency of the club, a post he held from 1924 to 1939.Jones (1980), p. 77.

Gorsedd of the Bard

Some of Crawshay's proudest military honours, were the

Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, a ...

prizes won by his military choirs.Jones (1980), p. 78. A member of the

Gorsedd of Bards A gorsedd (, plural ''gorseddau'') is a community or meeting of modern-day bards. The word is of Welsh origin, meaning "throne". It is spelled gorsedh in Cornish and goursez in Breton. When the term is used without qualification, it usually ...

with the bardic name 'Sieffre o Gyfarthfa', he was a mounted Herald of the Bard. Crawshay was not a Welsh speaker from childhood, so learned the language as an adult to fulfil his bardic duties.

Biography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawshay, Geoffrey Knights of the Order of St John 1892 births 1954 deaths People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Alumni of Cardiff University Welch Regiment soldiers Welsh Guards officers Bards of the Gorsedd British Army personnel of World War I High Sheriffs of Monmouthshire People from Abergavenny