He was educated at
Wallasey Grammar School and then, after
National Service in
Egypt in 1954-56, at the
London School of Economics where he studied
sociology. He became a teacher at
Gravesend Technical College, and in
Ghana. In 1963, he was appointed as an adult education organiser for the West Lancashire and Cheshire
Workers Educational Association. When asked when he first became interested in
flags, Crampton responded that it was like being asked when he started
breathing. He was fascinated by flags from an early age, and began research as a 14-year-old schoolboy, when he realised that some flags in his atlas were obsolete. Thereafter, he devoured all the flag knowledge he could find, scouring libraries and bookstores for every available book. At university, in the army, and while working overseas, chances for flag research were limited but he nevertheless took every opportunity to gain more knowledge. and father of the international vexillological movement. In 1967, Smith held a meeting in
London at which Crampton met other vexillologists flags, including
Captain E.M.C. Barraclough, then editor of the standard British reference book
Flags of the World. The meeting was Crampton's launching pad. Active in the Flag Section of the
Heraldry Society, he edited its newsletter from its introduction in 1969. In 1971 he formed the
Flag Institute and became its director, with Barraclough as chairman. The Flag Section newsletter became the Institute's journal
Flagmaster. In the same year, at the Fourth International Congress of Vexillology in
Turin, the Flag Institute joined FIAV and successfully proposed that the
1973 Congress be held in
London. After the London Congress, Crampton was producing booklets and improving
Flagmaster. He was invited to assist with editing ''
The Observer's Book of Flags published by Warne. He worked with Barraclough on a new edition of Flags of the World'', as well as providing information and advice on a wide variety of flag projects. The Flag Institute's services to the flag trade, its members and non-member bodies steadily increased. At the 10th International Congress of Vexillology at
Oxford in 1983, Crampton was elected as FIAV Secretary-General for Congresses. In ensuing years he achieved a near monopoly in Britain as a flag-book editor, producing many new books and new editions of established titles. His tour of duty as Congress Secretary ended in 1989. In 1991 he was awarded the "Vexillon", an award for excellence in the promotion of vexillology. In 1993 he was elected FIAV President, a post which he held until his death. In 1995, he obtained a first-class
Doctorate from the
University of Manchester after 10 years of part-time study; his dissertation was titled
Flags as Non-Verbal Symbols in the Management of National Identity. Following his death in 1997, the newly opened Library of the
Flag Institute in
Kingston upon Hull was named in his honour as the
William Crampton Library in 1999. ==References==