The Association would like to thank Craufurdland, Ltd for hosting the Crawford Homecoming Tour at the Gathering 2009 in Scotland. Our gracious hosts from Craufurdland made our visit completely enjoyable. We hope for a continued relationship at future Gatherings.
Welcome to the web site of the Clan Crawford Association. The Association was incorporated a few years ago with substantial plans. We have successfully worked to become a member of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations. If you would like to become a member of this Association then you will find more information on the membership page. Members of this Association now include Craufurd of Craufurdland, Crawfurd of Ardmillan, Crafoord of Fedderate, Crawford of Kilbirnie, Crawford of Newfield, as well as the Baronet of Kilbirnie (Craufurd of Previck and Thirdpart).
The Crawford surname is of Scottish origin, being traced to the upper Clyde River Valley in Lanarkshire. The surname is followed back to the late 1000's when the Barony of Crawford is noted in various records. This surname is recognized as an independent House of Scotland proven with unique arms design continually maintained since before 1196 (surviving seals of the Lord of Loudon Castle who was also Sheriff of Ayrshire) and 1319 when the Crawford blazon appeared with the oldest surviving color Scots blazons on the Scottish National Treasure, the Bannatyne Maser. Members of this arms-matriculated independent House of Scotland have played the most important roles in establishing and reuniting Scotland as a nation.
The House of Crawford has been without representation on the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs, a relatively recent development. The last unofficial Chief (Hugh Ronald George, b 1873) died in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1942 after having sold all of his heritable property in 1903, leaving nothing to unite around but historic legacy. The Lyon Court recognizes the Crawford surname as an independent armigerous House with a Senior Line (unofficial Chiefs) having for centuries registered Arms showing no differencing [except internal to cadets of the House and an honorary augmentation] or allegiance to another clan, house, or surname, this being the ultimate legal test of independence (not a sept). The Lyon Court is now considering a matter before the Court concerning the grant of undifferenced arms as a preliminary step to the assignment of a Chief to the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs.
Here you will learn of the importance of the history of the House of Crawford. And it will be obvious that only this Association (for the present) and Clan Crawford (in the future) can and should maintain this highly distinguished and unequaled history of Scottish nation-building and re-unification. It would be a significant loss to Scottish national heritage if this important and documented contribution to Scottish national history is mutilated and destroyed.
We invite you to look around this site for information that may catch your interest and welcome your comments in the Visitors Log under News, Visitors Log, & Store link on the menu to the left. We encourage notices and articles regarding local and regional Clan activities to be posted here in the E-Newsletter under News, Visitors Log, & Store. Alternatively, we would appreciate genealogical search notices to be posted in the Interactive Forum. You may subscribe to the E-Newsletter under News, Visitors Log, & Store to have the E-Newsletter delivered to your email address automatically. If you have suggestions for which you wish to volunteer to coordinate your activities with this association, we recommend that you email the appropriate associate in the Links & Contacts.
Notice: Please contact Association Administration if you have any knowledge of the Auchenames line of the last 200 years.
As a Southern Upland House, the Crawfords didn't follow the traditions of Highland Clans. Following the well-known tradition of Lowland Houses, there are no septs under the Crawford surname. However, like all surnames, the spelling has undergone the effects of various cultures. One general rule is that the use of 'u' is Scots and the use of 'w' is Anglo. The variety of spellings includes most of the combinations in the table to the right. The most numerous surname worldwide is the Anglo spelling 'Crawford' with the Scottish spelling 'Craufurd' mostly in Scotland a distant second.
Craw-
Cra-
Crau-
Crow-
Cro-
Cran-
Kra--f-
-ff--ord
-urd
-erd
-ird
-ort
-oot
-oord
Photo courtesy of Scott Crawford, formerly of St John, US Virgin Islands
The entrance across privately owned Castle Farm
Crawford Castle (out of view) located lands of the National Trust
