Richard Crawley (26 December 1840 – 30 March 1893)^[1] was a Welsh writer and academic, best known for his translation ofThucydides'sHistory of the Peloponnesian War.^[2]

Crawley was born at aBryngwyn rectory on 26 December 1840, the eldest son ofWilliam Crawley,Archdeacon of Monmouth, by his wife, Mary Gertrude, third daughter ofSir Love Jones Parry ofMadryn,Carnarvonshire. From 1851 to 1861 he was atMarlborough College. He matriculated atUniversity College, Oxford, as an exhibitioner on 22 May 1861, and graduated with a B.A. in 1866, having taken a first class both inmoderations and in the school ofLiterae Humaniores. In 1866, he was elected to a fellowship atWorcester College, Oxford, which he held till 1880.^[3]

Called to the bar atLincoln's Inn on 7 June 1869, Crawley never practised; in poor health, he lived abroad for many years. In April 1875, he became director of alife assurance company, and that business largely occupied him until his death on 30 March 1893.

In 1868 he publishedHorse and Foot, asatire on contemporary literary effort in the manner ofAlexander Pope.Venus and Psyche and other Poems appeared in 1871.The Younger Brother, a play in the style of theElizabethan drama, followed in 1878. Crawley contributed verse to conservative newspapers during the general election of 1880. These he collected in a volume calledElection Rhymes in the same year. His most substantial work was a translation ofThucydides'sHistory of the Peloponnesian War. The first book came out in 1866, and the whole was issued in 1874.^[4]

• Works by Richard Crawley atProject Gutenberg
• Works by or about Richard Crawley at theInternet Archive
• Works by Richard Crawley atLibriVox (public domain audiobooks)