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dablink|For the Australian tennis player of the
1930s, see Jack Crawford (tennis player). For the
Surrey and South Australia all-rounder, see Jack
Crawford (cricketer).
Jack Crawford (22 March 1775 in the East End of
the Sunderland, England - 10 November 1831) was a
sailor of the Royal Navy known as the "Hero of
Camperdown."

At the Battle of Camperdown (11 October 1797),
Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan of
Camperdown|Admiral Duncan's flagship was HMS
Venerable (1784)|HMS Venerable.  During the
battle, part of the Venerable's mast was felled,
including the admiral's flag. Lowering the
Admiral's personal flag was a sign of surrender,
and even an unintentional fall was unacce ptable. 
Despite being under intense gunfire, Crawford
climbed the mast and nailed the colours to the
top.

After the victory procession in London he was
formally presented to the King and was given a
government pension of £30 a year, and later a
silver medal from the people of Sunderland.
However, Crawford fell on hard times and
drunkenness, and had to sell his medal.  He became
the second victim of the cholera epidemic of 1831
and was buried in an unmarked "pauper's" grave. 

Towards the end of the nineteenth century interest
was renewed about the 'Hero of Camperdown' which
resulted in the erection of a headstone in a
Sunderland churchyard in 1888, and two years later
a monument was erected in Mowbray Park, opposite
what is now the Civic Cen tre. 

A pub in Monkwearmouth was named the Jack Crawford
and sported a carve d figure of him on the side of
the building.  After the pub was destroyed during
World War II, the figure was removed and is now on
display in the Sunderland Museum.  The medal is
also now in the Museum.

Outside Sunderland doubt has been raised about
Crawford's heroics.  Nevertheless, possible
evidence that Crawford was not a volunteer, that
he was forced to climb the mast, or that he was
drunk is ignored by the people of his hometown. 
One book, written by the American Sheri Holman
attracted cri ticism from the City's Mayor. 
However, local historian William Corder had
already made the criticism in the 1890s; Corder
thought little of Crawford.  He claimed that it
was reported by reliable witnesses that Crawford
was "drunk, acted without orders, and should have
been court-martial|court martialled".  But then,
Corder dismissed as a "deplorable monument" what
others called the "fine headstone" of 1888.