Who's Who	Index	Who's Who

Positions held

Position	Company	Correspondence Address
Owner	Crawford, Thomas
Source: List of Mines 1869

Positions held

Position	Company	Correspondence Address
Owner	Crawford, Thomas	Littletown, Durham
Source: List of Mines 1873-4

Positions held

Position	Company	Correspondence Address
Owner	Crawford, Thomas
Source: List of Mines 1880

Census

Address: Littletown House, Pittington, Co. Durham

(Ref: RG11/4962/60/15)

Name	Age	Rel	Mar	Occupation	Where Born
CRAWFORD, Thomas	70	Head	Wid	Mining Engineer	DUR: Washington
CRAWFORD, Louisa	37	Dau	Unn		DUR: Pittington
CRAWFORD, Isabella B.	33	Dau	Unn		DUR: Pittington
CRAWFORD, Robert	29	Son	Unn		DUR: Pittington
CRAWFORD, Mary Jane	27	Dau	Unn		DUR: Pittington
CRAWFORD, Alice B.	24	Dau	Unn		DUR: Pittington
BELL, Barbara	64	Servant	Wid	Domestic Servant	DUR: Pensher
REED, Isabella	23	Servant	Unn	Domestic Servant	DUR: Shadforth
GRAY, Elizabeth	20	Servant	Unn	Domestic Servant	NBL: Bedlington

Positions held

Position	Company	Correspondence Address
Owner	Crawford, Thomas	Littletown, Durham
Source: Mines Inspectors Annual Report for 1881

Positions held

Position	Company	Correspondence Address
Owner	Crawford, Thomas	Littletown, Durham
Source: List of Mines 1884

Colliery Staff Positions held

Position	Colliery	Company
Manager:	Elvet	Crawford, Thomas

Biographical Notes

We have to record, with very much regret, the death of Mr. Thomas Crawford, which took place at deceased’s residence, at Littletown, on Monday, September 26th, at the age of 78 years. The news of Mr. Crawford’s death came by no means as a surprise, inasmuch as for a considerable time past he had been in failing health, and at his advanced age it was felt there was little probability of his ultimate recovery. In the death of Mr. Crawford, the county of Durham has to deplore the loss of a gentleman whose name for many years to come will remain engraven upon its annals. Apart from his long and honourable connection with the mining and engineering interests of the more important collieries in the county, his extended and useful life, manifested in a variety of ways, will long linger in the memories of those who were privileged to be acquainted with him. In every respect Mr. Crawford was a remarkable man, and his marked individuality of character stood prominently forward in every undertaking with which in the course of his life he was identified. Commencing his career under his father, who for many years was a trusted and tried colliery agent in the services of a former Earl of Durham, the deceased was schooled, educated, and instructed in every department of mining knowledge, and in later times his opinion in relation thereto was widely sought for and as freely given. He lacked nothing in colliery management, and his knowledge being of a thoroughly practical character, rendered it reliable in the highest degree. Mr. Crawford’s long connection with the Durham Board of Guardians forms as it were a very important part in the history of the Union. It is rarely indeed that we find instances in which an individual has sat and discharged the duties of guardian to his own township for the long period of half-a-century. Mr. Crawford at the date of his election as a member of the Board, was, comparatively, a young man, but throughout the whole of his life he took the deepest interest in the affairs of the union, and was most unremitting in his attention to the duties of the office whilst the minutest details as to the well-being of those within and without the workhouse received the greatest care at his hands. His well qualified judgement and equally balanced mind eminently fitted him for a position which he so long and successfully occupied. In the capacity of chairman he was peculiarly the right man in the right place, for whilst in the administration of the duties of the office he exercised the strictest vigilance, if he erred it was for the advantage of the poor. The inmates within the house were the subject of his continued care and attention, and one of his greatest sources of pleasure was in annually inviting the juvenile bandsmen, as well as the other children in the house, to Pittington Flower show. At the election of guardians on April 1st, 1887, Mr. Crawford was again returned for the township of Pittington Hall-garth. In conjunction with the late Mr. Henry Newby and Mr. John Tindale. During the fifty years of the deceased gentleman’s connection with the Board of Guardians he saw many changes. At the date of his first election the old parochial workhouse still existed whilst that at the top of the North Road marks at least one wherein the poor were located fifty years ago as did the old Neville Palace, near St. Nicholas’ Church, which was tenanted by paupers of St. Nicholas parish, and the site whereof is now occupied by the New Town Hall, buildings. Mr. Crawford possessed a perception which could penetrate the shortcomings of even the most astute member of the Board. By no means easily put out, when roused he proved a formidable opponent, as surviving members of the original Board may well remember. He possessed a ready aptitude for being able to quell the tempest of words which in years gone by marked some of the Board’s proceedings, and his name will remain upon the Board’s annals, not only as one of its most gifted members, but as a chairman who, during many years of a useful life, devoted much of his time to the interests of the suffering poor. For many years Mr. Crawford occupied the position of chairman of the Durham and Chester-le-Street Highway Board, and every fulfilled his duties with that loyalty to responsibility which was his most marked characteristic. At the first meeting of the Board, held on the 9th of April, 1863, Mr. Crawford was appointed vice-chairman, the late Mr. Henry Fenwick, M.P., being elected chairman. In 1867, on the resignation of Mr. Fenwick, Mr. Crawford succeeded him in the chair, and maintained that position till the time of his death. By the members of the Board his memory will every be affectionately cherished, and their loss deplored. Local flower shows, particularly that at Littletown in recent years, shared his bounty ; and the Church of England, to which he belonged, experienced more than once the generosity of his heart. Throughout the wide and populous districts of Northumberland and Durham, Mr. Crawford was universally known, his name, indeed, being as familiar as a household word. Like his father, Mr. Crawford throughout life was a Liberal in politics, and his support was always forthcoming at the county elections on behalf of his party. The Crawford family is of ancient date ; they originally came from the North. For an exceedingly long period, the late Mr. Crawford’s father was connected with the Lambton Collieries. The late Mr. Crawford’s connection with the Elvet Colliery extended over a very long period. Both the deceased and his father worked this colliery under the Dean and Chapter for a long succession of years. One of the provisions of the lease was that the poor of Durham should have the privilege of purchasing their coal in small quantities from the pit mouth, and for more than two centuries this has been carefully observed. The deceased himself has most invariably exercised the greatest anxiety in seeing that this provision was observed to the very letter. It is an interesting historical fact that the coal under what was anciently known as the barony of Elvet was worked, at all events during the later years of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and since then has continued to be so worked in different directions from that day to the present. The deceased gentleman’s father held Elvet Colliery under the Dean and Chapter, and worked the coal year by year. Since the decease of the latter, the son has followed in his father’s footsteps, and hence it came to pass that between the family of Crawford and the humble citizens of Durham there was an intimate connection. One of the greatest desires of the deceased was that the poor folk who went to the pit for coal in the winter season should have their wants supplied, and in this respect he was most careful in giving orders to his subordinates. At the season of Christmas his charity partook of a widespread character, and the poor were not only supplied gratuitously with fuel, but with other substantial necessaries. But few persons, however, knew the enlarged benefactions of the chairman of the Durham Board of Guardians. He was one of those who preferred to do good in an unostentatious way, regardless of public fame. To his old workmen he was most kind and considerate, and a man who did his duty in an honest and straightforward manner always found a friend in him. During the many agitations and disputes in connection with the coal trade, even the small landsale colliery of Elvet as more or less affected, but the disputes were always amicably settled on the basis of the trade regulations. In all his dealings through life as a mining manager and coalowner, the deceased was thoroughly straightforward ; with him there was no mental reservations. He was a true son of John Bull, and one of the most characteristic of Englishmen. His death will be regretted in all parts of the three northern counties, where he was well known and highly esteemed for his qualities as an employer of labour and a most generous citizen. His long connection with the Durham Poor-law Union will never be forgotten, for during the period of his chairmanship some of the most important works in connection therewith were carried out and effected. The deceased gentleman married Louisa, third daughter of the late William Wright, of Newcastle, Deputy Lieutenant of Northumberland, and leaves a family of sons and daughters to lament his loss.

Source: Durham Directory for 1888

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