Background
Born in 1892 to Codrington Fraser Crawshay in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, he was the great-great-great-grandson son of Richard Crawshay the ironmaster who oversaw the first major expansion of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.
Born in 1892 to Codrington Fraser Crawshay in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, he was the great-great-great-grandson son of Richard Crawshay the ironmaster who oversaw the first major expansion of Cyfarthfa Ironworks.
Crawshay was educated at Wellington College and later University College of South Wales, before taking up an apprenticeship at an ironworks in Cwmbran.
He was also a Liberal Party politician. In 1914 he joined the 3rd Battalions of the Welch Regiment before being transferred to the newly formed Welsh Guards. 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.
Crawshay remained with the regiment until 1924 creating many social societies, including the Welch Guard Choir and the regiment rugby team
On leaving the armed forces, Crawshay attempted a career in politics. 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 Reconstruction Finance Corporation. The resulting team banded together as Crawshay"s Welsh Reconstruction Finance Corporation, an invitational team who still play to the present day.
In 1924, English based rugby team, London Welsh 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, 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. Crawshay was not a Welsh speaker from childhood, so learned the language as an adult to fulfil his bardic duties.
Jones, Stephen.
Paul Beken (1985). Dragon in Exile, The Centenary History of London Welsh R.F.C. London: Springwood Books.
A member of the Gorsedd of Bards with the bardic name "Sieffre o Gyfarthfa", he was a mounted Herald of the Bard.