Capt. Geoffrey Crawshay was a Welsh

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

 and social benefactor who is most notable for his connections to rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

.

Early life and military service

Born in 1892 to Codrington Fraser Crawshay in Abergavenny

Abergavenny

Abergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...

, Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire (historic)

Monmouthshire , also known as the County of Monmouth , is one of thirteen ancient counties of Wales and a former administrative county....

, he was the great-great-great-grandson son of Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay

Richard Crawshay was a London iron merchant and then South Wales ironmaster.Richard Crawshay was born in Normanton in the West Riding of Yorkshire...

 the ironmaster who oversaw the first major expansion of Cyfarthfa Ironworks

Cyfarthfa Ironworks

The Cyfarthfa Ironworks was a major 18th century and 19th century ironworks located in Cyfarthfa, on the north-western edge of Merthyr Tydfil, in South Wales.-The beginning:...

. Crawshay was educated at Wellington College

Wellington College, Berkshire

-Former pupils:Notable former pupils include historian P. J. Marshall, architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, impressionist Rory Bremner, Adolphus Cambridge, 1st Marquess of Cambridge, author Sebastian Faulks, language school pioneer John Haycraft, political journalist Robin Oakley, actor Sir Christopher...

 and later University College of South Wales

Cardiff University

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...

, before taking up an apprenticeship at an ironworks in Cwmbran

Cwmbran

Cwmbrân is a new town in Wales. Today forming part of the county borough of Torfaen and lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbrân was established in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield. Cwmbrân means Crow...

. In 1914 he joined the 3rd Battalions of the Welch Regiment

Welch Regiment

The Welch Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1969.-History:It was formed as the Welsh Regiment during the Childers Reforms of 1881, by the amalgamation of the 41st Regiment of Foot and the 69th Regiment of Foot...

 before being transferred to the newly formed Welsh Guards

Welsh Guards

The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...

. 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

Battle of Loos

The Battle of Loos was one of the major British offensives mounted on the Western Front in 1915 during World War I. It marked the first time the British used poison gas during the war, and is also famous for the fact that it witnessed the first large-scale use of 'new' or Kitchener's Army...

. Crawshay remained with the regiment until 1924 creating many social societies, including the Welch Guard Choir and the regiment rugby team.

Later life and social work

On leaving the armed forces, Crawshay attempted a career in politics. He ran as a Liberal

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

 candidate in several south Wales constituencies, but after failing to win a seat he left politics behind and moved on to social work.

Connections to rugby union

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 RFC. The resulting team banded together as Crawshay's Welsh RFC

Crawshays RFC

Crawshays Welsh RFC is an invitational rugby union team.In 1922 Captain Geoffrey Crawshay was invited by the Engineer Commander of Devonport Services, SF Cooper, to bring a team of Welsh rugby union players to play Devonport Services RFC...

, an invitational team who still play to the present day. In 1924, English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 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

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, 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.

Gorsedd of the Bard

Some of Crawshay's proudest military honours, were the Eisteddfod prizes won by his military choirs. A member of the Gorsedd of Bards with the bardic name 'Sieffre o Gyfarthfa', he was a mounted Herald of the Bard. Crawshay was not a Welsh speaker from childhood, so learned the language as an adult to fulfil his bardic duties.