Thomas Simpson Crawford QC, (21 December 1875 – 20 April 1976) was an Australian politician and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Senior Crown Prosecutor.

Biography

Born and raised in

Bulli, New South Wales Bulli ( ) is a northern suburb of Wollongong situated on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. History Bulli is possibly derived from an Aboriginal word signifying "double or two mountains", but other derivations have been sugges ...

, the son of a miner, Crawford left school at age 14 to work first as a clerk in the New South Wales railways department and later as a

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

operator. In 1894, he decided to enter the Presbyterian ministry, and thus resumed his studies under the guidance of his former headmaster and tutor in classics, Joseph Bourke. Crawford later went to Sydney Boys' High School, and the

Cooerwull Academy The Cooerwull Academy was an Independent school, independent, Presbyterian, Day school, day and boarding school for boys, located in Bowenfels, New South Wales, Bowenfels, a small town on the western outskirts of Lithgow, New South Wales, Lithgow, ...

Bowenfels Bowenfels is a small town on the western outskirts of Lithgow, New South Wales, Australia. Today there are effectively two Bowenfels. Near Lithgow, on the Great Western Highway, is Bowenfels (with the homestead of the valley's first settler, ...

,Australian Dictionary of Biography: Crawford, Thomas Simpson (1875 - 1976)
(accessed:04-08-2007) and eventually graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

with a BA and MA. Ordained a Minister in 1902, Crawford was based in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and Campsie before he had a calling of a different kind and resigned from the ministry to enter politics. Crawford contested the federal Division of Lang for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms ...

(ALP) at the 1910 election, gaining a swing of 19.4% but failing to be elected. He had more luck at the

state election later that year, winning the

Electoral district of Marrickville Marrickville was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It was an urban electorate in Sydney's inner west, centred on the suburb of Marrickville from which it took its name. At the time ...

. Crawford served in the

New South Wales Legislative Assembly The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House ...

from 1910 to 1917, firstly as an ALP representative before leaving Labor with other pro- conscriptionists to join the

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Mini ...

. Crawford was defeated at the 1917 election by his Labor opponent.Carr, A. ''Adam Carr's Election Archive'

Accessed 9 October 2006. During his time in parliament, Crawford studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1912 and was appointed a Crown prosecutor (Australia), Crown Prosecutor in 1917. In 1922 he authored ''Crawford's Proof in Criminal Cases'', a treatise on crime still widely referred to in the Australian legal community. Promoted to Metropolitan Crown Prosecutor in 1930 and appointed King's Counsel in 1935, Crawford was made Senior Crown Prosecutor in 1940.Tedeschi, M. "History of the New South Wales Crown Prosecutors 1901 - 1986", ''Forbes Flyer'', Autumn 2006, Issue 11, Francis Forbes Society for Australian Legal History. Following his retirement in 1947, Crawford continued to act in various prosecutions and advised on legal issues in

Nauru Nauru ( or ; na, Naoero), officially the Republic of Nauru ( na, Repubrikin Naoero) and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in Oceania, in the Central Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in K ...

and the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its ca ...

. Crawford died in

, aged 100, outliving his wife by 38 years.

Personal life

Crawford's brother James Crawford was a member of the

Legislative Assembly of Queensland The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembl ...

from 1909 to 1915.

References

Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly 1875 births 1976 deaths Australian centenarians Australian Presbyterians Australian King's Counsel Men centenarians {{Australia-Labor-politician-stub