Sir Raymond Henry Payne Crawfurd was born in East Grinstead, the sixth son of Rev Charles Walter Payne Crawfurd and his wife, Mary, daughter of JA Ogle, FRCP, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford.
He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, where he graduated in Classics in 1888. He then pursued medical studies at King’s College, London, excelling as the top student of his year and earning both Junior and Senior scholarships. After obtaining his BM, BCh degrees in 1894, he held resident posts at King’s College Hospital and served as an assistant physician at the Victoria Hospital for Children.
Knighted upon the completion of the new Medical School
In 1896, Crawfurd was elected assistant physician at the Royal Free Hospital, where he later became a full physician before resigning in 1908. He lectured on pathology at the hospital and on materia medica at the London School of Medicine for Women. However, he is most notably associated with King’s College Hospital, where he was appointed assistant physician in 1898, physician in 1905, and consulting physician in 1930. He also served as a lecturer in materia medica and clinical medicine, and from 1900 to 1904, as dean of the medical department. Crawfurd played a key role in relocating the hospital to Denmark Hill and securing its future prosperity. His contributions were formally recognised in 1933 when he was knighted upon the completion of the new Medical School.
He wrote passionately about Epsom College
In 1898, Crawfurd married Ethelberta Ormrod, and they had three sons. Beyond his work at King’s College Hospital, Crawfurd contributed significantly to the Royal College of Physicians and Epsom College. He served as Registrar of the Royal College of Physicians for the last 13 years of his life, having previously held roles as Senior Censor and lecturer, delivering the FitzPatrick Lectures (1911–12) and the Harveian Oration (1919). As Chairman of the Council at Epsom College from 1923 to 1936, he was instrumental in promoting the College and raising funds for new buildings, such as the Sanatorium (now Murrell and Fayrer); “The finest building of its kind possessed by any school in the country” reported The Surrey Mirror.
He wrote passionately about Epsom College in the media. In the British Medical Journal of December 1924, he wrote:
“Sir, with the approach of Christmas, a season which humanity at large relaxes its purse-strings, I ask your readers to bear patiently with me while I expound to them the work and needs of one of the great medical charities: Epsom College.
He continued:
“Let me first lay my own gift on that altar by trebling my own subscription, so that I may earn the right to appeal to those who already help us and can do more to do it, and to those who do not help as yet to come to our aid.”
He also played a key role in strengthening the study of Biology, Geography, and German, while also increasing student enrollment. When presenting the Founder’s Day prizes in July 1931, he spoke about his own school life; he felt that “facts were shovelled into him like coals into a bunker” and he had not been taught to think for himself. He told the students:
“The purpose of education is to make a pupil a good citizen, to give a little more to the community than you take from it; and the best equipment you can have is a healthy body, an active intelligence, and a steadfast character; and to use these for the good of the community, and not primarily for your own advancement.”
Epsom College honored Crawfurd’s legacy
Upon his retirement in 1936, Epsom College honored Crawfurd’s legacy by opening a new day boys’ House in his name. The House motto, Durum Patientia Frango (I overcome difficulty by patience) is taken directly from the Crawfurd family, as is the crest – the hooded hawk. Crawfurd House transitioned from day boys to boarding girls in 2003, moving to The Terrace, where it continues today.
At the age of 41, a prolonged illness left Crawfurd permanently lame, forcing him to withdraw from private practice. This gave him the opportunity to cultivate an interest in medical history, leading to publications such as The Last Days of Charles II (1909) and Plague and Pestilence in Literature and Art (1914). A true scholar-physician, teacher, administrator, and philanthropist, he was widely respected for his wisdom, humility, and courtesy.
Crawfurd died in 1938, aged 72. Ever mindful of the health of others, his will stated: “I desire to be cremated and my ashes scattered. My reason for this is that friends frequently lay the seeds of illness by standing in inclement weather round a grave.”
