Raymond Crawfurd
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Sir Raymond Henry Payne Crawfurd FRCP (9 November 1865 – 9 March 1938) was a British physician and writer who, in addition to being active in post graduate medical education, took up numerous clinical and administrative responsibilities, including Registrar and examiner to the
Royal College of Physicians The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
(RCP), the
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of Kings College Hospital Medical School, now King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (GKT), and
Chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...
of
Epsom College Epsom College is a co-educational independent school on Epsom Downs, Surrey, England, for pupils aged 11 to 18. It was founded in 1853 as a benevolent institution which provided a boarding school education for sons of poor or deceased members ...
Council. After studying
classics Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
at
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and medicine at King's College, he became a physician and also lectured in
pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...
and ''
materia medica ''Materia medica'' ( lit.: 'medical material/substance') is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medications). The term derives f ...
''. As Dean and then later Emeritus Lecturer in Medicine, he was a major participant in the move of King's College Hospital from
Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is located in Holborn and is the List of city squares by size, largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a ...
to
Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...
in 1933, an achievement for which he was awarded a knighthood. Simultaneously, in his roles on its council, he raised the profile of Epsom College, secured the admission of women to the benefits of the Royal Medical Foundation, improved pay for masters and founded a building dedicated to learning
biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...
. An illness in his early forties left him with mobility difficulties, causing him to stop clinical practice and turn to writing a number of history of medicine articles and historical books, including one on the controversial death of Charles II. He gave the FitzPatrick Lectures in 1911 and 1912, the first which was expanded into one of the most comprehensive accounts of the
royal touch The royal touch (also known as the king's touch) was a form of laying on of hands, whereby List of French monarchs, French and English monarchs touched their subjects, regardless of social classes, with the intent to cure them of various diseas ...
and scrofula (''the King's evil'') and the second into a book about Plague in art and literature. Throughout the early 20th century, he remained consistently involved with the History of Medicine Section of the
Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...
(RSM), becoming the section's president from 1916 to 1918.


Early life and family

Raymond Crawfurd was born in
East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...
on 9 November 1865, the youngest of the six sons of the Reverend Charles Walter Payne Crawfurd and Mary, daughter of
James Adey Ogle James Adey Ogle (1792–1857) was an English physician. Life He was born on 22 October 1792 in Great Russell Street, London, where his father Richard Ogle had a good practice as a general practitioner. In 1808 he was sent to Eton College, under ...
, Regius professor of medicine at the
University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...
. Four of his brothers also attended Oxford. In 1898, he married Ethelberta Ormrod, daughter of Colonel Arthur Bailey, J.P., of Bolton. They had three sons.


Education

Crawfurd was schooled at
Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...
, after which he attended New College, University of Oxford, from where he graduated in 1888 with a degree in classics. He subsequently studied medicine at Kings College Hospital Medical School, London, where he was awarded both junior and senior scholarships and then passed the B.M. and B.Ch., degrees in 1894. In the same year, he founded the Musical Society at Oxford in 1894.


Medical career

Crawfurd took up resident posts at the
King's College Hospital King's College Hospital is a major teaching hospital and major trauma centre in Denmark Hill, Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth, referred to locally and by staff simply as "King's" or abbreviated internally to "KCH". It is managed by ...
and became assistant physician to the
Victoria Hospital for Children The Victoria Hospital for Children, which later merged into St George's Hospital, was a hospital in Tite Street, London. History The hospital was established at Gough House in Tite Street in October 1866. Gough House had been built c1710 by John ...
. In 1896, the
Royal Free Hospital The Royal Free Hospital (also known as the Royal Free) is a major teaching hospital in the Hampstead area of the London Borough of Camden. The hospital is part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs services at Barnet Ho ...
appointed him as assistant physician, however, he resigned in 1908. In 1902, he wrote his doctorate thesis on
Graves' disease Graves' disease, also known as toxic diffuse goiter or Basedow's disease, is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. It frequently results in and is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. It also often results in an enlarged thyro ...
. Later, in 1909, he was elected fellow of King’s College and served as chairman of the medical board from 1912 to 1914, following which, in 1930, he retired from active staff at King's. Other appointments included physician to the National Provident Institution and the Life Association of Scotland. At the turn of the 19th century, he became Registrar to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), a position he retained for thirteen years. Subsequently, he delivered the FitzPatrick Lectures (1911–12) and in 1919, was Harveian Orator. At the
London School of Medicine for Women The London School of Medicine for Women (LSMW) established in 1874 was the first medical school in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Britain to train women as doctors. The patrons, vice-presidents, and members of the committee that supp ...
, he lectured on pathology and on ''materia medica''.


Postgraduate medical education

The importance of post-graduate medical education in maintaining "up-to-date" knowledge was increasingly realized as the 19th century approached, leading to the foundation of organisations such as the London Post-Graduate Association (LPA) which was established in 1898. The LPA offered London’s practitioners clinical material courses from numerous major London hospitals and Crawfurd soon became its secretary. In 1913, Crawfurd was a major contributor at an International Conference on postgraduate medical education. At the time, he was also a member of the Board of Examiners at the RCP and the Chairman of the Medical Graduates’ College and Polyclinic and his request was to see better organization of postgraduate prospects with a “central bureau” that could co-ordinate London’s postgraduate medical education opportunities. In 1925, he became a representative on the committee of management of the Conjoint Board, which later, in 1937, sent him to visit the Medical faculty of the Egyptian University, to report on its progress.


King's College

Between 1900 and 1904, he was appointed the Dean of Kings College Hospital Medical School, later becoming King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (GKT). At the time, the hospital was in Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. However, by 1900, much of the area around the hospital had changed. Around one-third of admissions were arriving from South London and an argument was put forward to relocate. As Director of Medical Studies in the Medical School, Crawfurd, along with his old schoolfriend, Rev Dr A C Headlam, played a major part in moving King's College Hospital to
Denmark Hill Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of ...
, having also become Emeritus Lecturer on Medicine at King’s in 1930. Lord Dawson of Penn described them as “master” founders of the new college. In addition, Crawfurd later helped Lord Dawson search for a new site for the RCP in the planned move from Pall Mall East. In 1933, he was awarded a knighthood for his achievements in the completion of the new medical school.


Epsom College

Crawfurd became a member of council at Epsom College in 1915, following which he was elected chairman of the school committee in 1918, and vice-chairman of council in 1921. Between 1923 and 1936, whilst chairman of the council, he raised considerable revenue for Epsom College. He secured the admission of medical women to the benefits of the foundation, influenced acts of parliament and made administrative changes. Under his guidance, the standard of scholarships improved, master's pays increased and a biology block was built. Having been on the football team during his early education at Winchester, Crawfurd was a keen follower of
rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...
and frequently went to matches in Blackheath and Twickenham, hospital matches and to see Epsom College boys play. Crawfurd House, a building at Epsom College, is named after him.


History of medicine

In his early forties, a chronic illness affecting his bones and requiring surgery to one of his knees, left Crawfurd immobile and incapable of medical practice and he turned his interest to writing and the
history of medicine The history of medicine is both a study of medicine throughout history as well as a multidisciplinary field of study that seeks to explore and understand medical practices, both past and present, throughout human societies. The history of med ...
. His works included ''The Last Days of Charles II'' (1909), ''The King's Evil'' (1911) and ''Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art'' (1914), a topic he had lectured on the previous year at an international congress.


''The Last Days of Charles II'' (1909)

The sudden death of King Charles II of England was initially recorded as due to being poisoned. It had therefore received much attention over the years and Crawfurd’s publication, ''The Last Days of Charles II'' (1909), became a respected revision of the facts. His conclusion that Charles II died from chronic
interstitial nephritis Interstitial nephritis, also known as tubulointerstitial nephritis, is inflammation of the area of the kidney known as the renal interstitium, which consists of a collection of cells, extracellular matrix, and fluid surrounding the renal tubules ...
resulting in uraemic convulsions have since been endorsed by other biographers of Charles II.


''The King's Evil'' (1911)

Published in 1911, ''The King's Evil'' covered the subject of his first of two FitzPatrick lectures, given in the same year at the RCP. His wish was to "make the subject part of the general history of England" and his view he declared, was that "to isolate medical history from general history is, in my opinion, to sterilize it". He described how the 11th century French custom of touching for the King's Evil was observed by virtually all kings of England from
Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
to
George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George of Beltan (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgoruk ...
. Crawfurd explained how medical men gained courage to be sceptical after William III's dismissal of the touch. His research went on to encompass the use of coins bearing images of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
as alternatives to the touch, and how these coins were passed down through generations. Extensively documented in history, scrofula was also known as ''the King's evil'' and was thought to be cured by the ''touch'' of the
monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
. Having already written about Charles II, who happened to have also touched almost 100,000 people, Crawfurd's account in ''The King's Evil'' (1911), of how the royal touch was thought to cure scrofula, has been acknowledged as one of the most comprehensive accounts, frequently compared with the works of
Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch ( ; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on France in the Middle ...
. The custom suited both monarch and individual, appearing to be linked to an interplay between politics, religion, and medical knowledge. Monarchs of England and France were the only Christian royals to practice this "gift transferred by the Gods", (due to the high esteem in which God held the royals) and historians have dealt with the matter from various angles, from "ridicule" and "absurd", to Crawfurd's fascination, in what Sturdy describes as Crawfurd's "dubious if exotic" views. Crawfurd wrote: "I can therefore explain my feeling in a word: the King’s touch may still be beneficial if it ever was: often it is apt to be intellectual, but it can never be harmful". Others have merely found it puzzling and evidence of “mass delusion”. However, Crawfurd also recognised that scrofula was a general term given to a number of diseases. He clearly stated that "no word in the whole of medical terminology has been more ill-used than the word 'scrofula'".Crawfurd, ''The King's Evil'', 1911, p.14


''Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art'' (1914) 

''Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art'' (1914) was a general account of plague up to the 18th century, the subject of his second series of FitzPatrick lectures and contributions to the ''proceedings of the Royal society of Medicine journal''. Bray describes Crawfurd’s work on plague as “delightful”, as a reference is made to his story of one Roman writer who believed the
Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...
plague so dangerous that even a single glimpse could cause it.


History of Medicine Section

Crawfurd was a firm supporter of
Sir William Osler Sir William Osler, 1st Baronet, (; July 12, 1849 – December 29, 1919) was a Canadian physician and one of the "Big Four" founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Osler created the first residency program for specialty training of phys ...
in forming a dedicated section to history of medicine at the RSM and recorded how Sir William's influence had been an attraction in recruiting members. When the first ''History of Medicine Section'' meeting was held in 1912, Crawfurd, along with
D'Arcy Power Sir D'Arcy Power, (11 November 1855 in Pimlico, London - 18 May 1941) was a British surgeon, medical historian, and contributor of some 200 articles on famous surgeons and other related figures to the ''Dictionary of National Biography''. M ...
were appointed the section’s secretaries. In addition, at the inaugural meeting, he spoke on contributions from the history of medicine to the problem of the transmission of
typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...
. He later became president of the Section in 1916 and took up responsibilities on the library committee at RSM, both following on from Sir Norman Moore.


Death and legacy

Crawfurd died at 11 Beamont street, in London, from a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
, on 9 March 1938, at the age of 72.


Selected publications

Crawfurd co-authored the fourth and fifth editions of Burney Yeo’s ''Manual of Treatment'' and made contributions to numerous medical journals including ''
The Lancet ''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal, founded in England in 1823. It is one of the world's highest-impact academic journals and also one of the oldest medical journals still in publication. The journal publishes ...
'', '' Edinburgh Medical Journal'' and ''Practitioner'' in addition to many books on various history of medicine topics.


Books


''The Last Days of Charles II''
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1909.
''The King's Evil''
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1911.
''Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art''
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1914. * Yeo, Burney. ''A Manual of Medical Treatment''. 4th & 5th editions (Co-author)


Articles and lectures

* * * *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawfurd, Raymond 20th-century English medical doctors 1865 births 1938 deaths People from East Grinstead Alumni of New College, Oxford English non-fiction writers Alumni of King's College London Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians People educated at Winchester College Presidents of the History of Medicine Society