Welcome to Clan Crawford Association

Introduction to the House of Crawford

Welcome to the website of the Clan Crawford Association (CCA). The Association was incorporated in 2006 and is also legally registered under the name The House of Crawford. We are a member of the Council of Scottish Clans and Associations. In 2012 we were issued Letters Patent from the Court of the Lord Lyon granting a coat of arms that integrates the designs of the two main branches of the House, Crawfordjohn and Dalmagregan.

The CCA represents the historic Scottish House of Crawford, also known today as Clan Crawford. If you are a Crawford or a descendant of Crawfords, no matter how you spell the surname (Crawford, Craufurd, Crafoord, Crafford, etc.), we would like to invite you to join our association. We are organized as a non-profit association open to all Crawfords. Our main function is to gather and advance the study of our history and traditions. We have a long and proud history within Scotland and in many countries around the world where Scots have settled and contribute meaningfully to their new communities. 

Info Note: First, I would like to impart some information on the use of this website by popular request. We now have a “Search” function set up for the purpose of locating particular information. I hope it is helpful. You can use it to try to find a specific topic you are interested in. The menu at the top of all website pages (Home, About, History, etc.) provides the various topic headings for the site. Under each one, when you click on it, are subheadings on more specific aspects of each. In the upper right hand corner is a menu for members. If you are a member, from that menu you can access the Archive, modify your account information, renew, or access the clan website forums. Also on the left hand side are clan books on our history, traditions, genealogy, DNA and heraldry for sale. You can order them from the website through the provided link or from the links is the newsletter, which you also receive as a member by e-mail automatically towards the end of the month every other one (February, April, June, August, October and December). If you have further question write us at info@clancrawfordassoc.org.

The Association has been in existence since 2006, though previous Crawfords have attempted over the last several centuries to record and promote Crawford history and genealogy. However, none has until now made an effort to bring Crawfords together as a house or clan. Previous efforts have only persisted until the individual who promoted them had given it up due to advancing age or passing. The Clan Crawford Association has been registered since 2006 as a non-profit corporation. In 2012 it was granted a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon that integrates the arms designs of the two main branches of the House, gules a fess ermine superimposed by a stags head erased. You’ll find an extensive discussion of Crawford heraldry under the menu tab “Heraldry”, including a historical review of the Arms of Crawfurd. This web site describes what the Association does and the benefits provided its members. It also reviews our history in Scotland and in the diaspora, oral traditions, and some of the Crawford cadet lines, mostly from the middle ages. We are adding new sections as we develop, including an areas dedicated to the regions and improving our postings of Crawford  genealogy, which involves a complex effort. We recommend that you particularly look at the history section that has many details of our surname’s early history and a section on the migration of Crawfords out of Scotland, also known as the Scottish diaspora. We invite you to add your own story. Please send your submission to the President. Her email address is in the listing of officers in “Administration” under the ABOUT tab in the overhead menu. We also suggest you especially look at the Heraldry and Y-DNA pages. They contain very interesting information and invite you to join our projects in those areas. We provide an on-line Archive that contains many historical documents and family histories associated with our surname. The Clan Crawford Association Newsletter carries articles by and about Crawfords both historical and current day. The Association jointly with Craufurdland Castle has sponsored tours of Crawford historical sites in 2009 and 2014, both associated with major events in Scotland: Homecoming Scotland 2009 and the 700th Anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn (June 2014). We hope that Crawford site tours will continue to be organized in the future.

If you would like to become a member of the Association then you will find more information on the membership page. You do not need to bear the surname of Crawford to join. The Association also accepts as members those who are descended from Crawfords. Members of the Association now include Crawfurd of Ardmillan, Crafoord of Sweden, Crawford of Kilbirnie, Crawford of Newfield, Craufurd of Craufurdland, as well as the Baronet of Kilbirnie (Craufurd of Newark), and others living all around the world with the surname of Crawford or one of its variants (Craufurd, Crafoord, Crafford, Crofoot, etc.). 

We are a house of Lowland Scotland with origins in the Southern Uplands of Lanarkshire, close to the source of the River Clyde. The map [right] gives an overview of the geographical locations associated with various prominent Scottish lowland houses, including those of Crawford, within the districts to Kyle and Cunningham. In 1889 Kyle and Cunningham were integrated with the District of Carrick to form the County of Ayrshire in which historically our presence has been most felt. The historic district of Cunninghame was bordered by the districts of Renfrew and Clydesdale to the north and east respectively, by the district of Kyle to the south over the River Irvine and by the Firth of Clyde to the west. Cunninghame became one of the three districts or bailieries of Ayrshire, the shire or sheriffdom of Ayr. Cunninghame was in the north, along the River Irvine; Kyle was in the centre, along the River Ayr; and Carrick was in the south, along the River Doon. By the eighteenth century Ayrshire had become one of the counties of Scotland, with the three baileries being described as “districts” or “divisions” of the county, although they had no formal administrative existence. In the late nineteenth century the “territorial division” was described as comprising the civil parishes of Ardrossan, Beith, Dalry, Dreghorn, Fenwick, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Kilbirnie, West Kilbride, Kilmarnock, Kilmaurs, Kilwinning, Largs, Loudoun, Stevenston, Stewarton and part of Dunlop.[ Frances Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, 1882-4 (Vision of Britain)] The district was abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, when the system of regions and districts was replaced by unitary council areas. The area of the Cunninghame district (including Arran) became the North Ayrshire council area.

Historical Crawford Estates – [section currently under review]

The following is a map of the locations of most of the historical Crawford Estates in Scotland [removed temporarily]. This super-map of Southern Scotland is provided with arrows pointing to the Crawford sites. It was prepared by Kevan Crawford around 2005/6. A list of these estates identifying their historical names and locations is available. It will be added in the near future. Recently we have identified a few more sites that were not included on the original list. There is also a site for Old Maps that shows some of the old Crawford estates from 1500’s to mid-1800’s [http://maps.nls.uk/scotland/index.html ]. However, locating the old Crawford estates requires a knowledge of exactly where the site is to be found relative to surrounding landmarks. Work is underway to identify all historical Crawford llandholdings. Over 400 have been identifiedso far. We are in the process of completing the analysis and hope to be able to post the results in the not too distant future. Edward Crawford is chairing the effort.

One of the early sites associated with Crawfords is Castle Crawford in Lanarkshire across the River Clyde from the small town of Crawford. Below is a drawing from the 19th century. The ruins are much more deteriorated today. It was supposedly destroyed by William Wallace in his attacks on border castles that the English occupied at the end of the 13th century for the purpose of limiting their hold over Scotland and receiving supplies from England. The castle was probalby built by the Lindsays, though there is a motte and bailey castle whose ruins lie below this castle and evidence around the castle of Roman occupation several centures before. The motte and bailey castle may have been built by Thorlongus as 1st Lord of Crawford. It is thought that it was his decendants who took the surname of Crawford. (Image taken from page 32 of “The Upper Ward of Lanarkshire described and delincated [sic. probably ‘delineated’]. The archaeological and historical section is by G. V. Irving. The statistical and topographical secion by A. Murray.) See more contemporary photos of the castle ruins under HISTORY of this website