He was born in
St Andrews in
Fife on 13th February 1812 the son of Agnes McDermeit and the Rev Prof William Crawford DD (died 1822), Professor of Moral Philosophy at United College at the
University of St Andrews. Thomas was educated at the High School in
Edinburgh and then returned to St Andrews to study divinity at the university, graduating with MA in 1831. In 1834 he became a minister in
Cults, and in 1838, transferred to
Glamis to the west. In 1844 he moved to
Edinburgh as "second charge" minister of
St Andrew's Church on George Street, firstly under Rev Thomas Clark then under
Rev John Stuart. During the
Disruption of 1843 within the church, he was a strong advocate and campaigner of remaining within the established
Church of Scotland. In 1859, over and above his ministering duties, he was made professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh and continued in this role until 1875. At this time he was living at 13 Great King Street, a large Georgian townhouse in
Edinburgh's Second New Town. In 1861 he was made
Chaplain in Ordinary to
Queen Victoria. In 1867 his eminence led to him being elected
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, succeeding
Very Rev John Cook. He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1871, his proposer being
John Hutton Balfour. He died in
Genoa in
Italy on 11 October 1875. His body was returned to Edinburgh, where he was buried in
Dean Cemetery on 12 January 1876 next to his wife, Mary Rankin (1830–1853) who had died young. The grave lies on the north wall of the original cemetery. ==Publications==