Born in 1817 in Manorhamilton, Country Leitrim, Ireland, John Crawford came to Canada as a child when his family settled in Brockville, Ontario. He married Helen Sherwood of Toronto. A lawyer by profession, Crawford served as president of the Royal Canadian Bank and was solicitor for the Grand Trunk Railway. Crawford was Member of Parliament for East Toronto from 1861 to 1863. He then served as a Member of Parliament from 1867 to 1873, and supported representation by population. On the day his government resigned in 1873, Sir John A. Macdonald appointed Crawford Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Crawford died in Office in 1875.