The Rt Hon. Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford P.C. (1Rel) CBE, MA was the third son and eventual heir of Arthur Johnston Sharman-Crawford of Crawfordsburn and Rademon Co. Down.. He was Captain 16th Lancers, 15th Hussars; Colonel 3rd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (North Down Militia). JP and DL for Co Down - High Sheriff 1895; MP for East Belfast 1914-1918. He was also Vice Commodore of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club.

Robert Gordon was baptised at Mount Street Church Dublin 16 December 1853. Educated at Elstree and at Trinity College, Dublin, he got his B.A. in 1875 and M.A. in 1884. He married Annie Helen Arbouin in Hove Co. Sussex on 12th September 1882 and she bore him a son, Terence (who predeceased his father, unmarried) and a daughter, Helen Mary

Col. Sharman Crawford sold part of the estate Strickland's Glen to the then District Council as part of the on-going extension plan for the sea-front begun in 1905.

A leader of industry and commerce, he was one of a group elected by delegates to the Ulster Unionist Council following its formal constitution in the Ulster Hall Belfast on 3rd March 1905. This body directed the policy of Ulster Unionism during the next 15 years through the Home Rule crisis and the foundation of the State of Northern Ireland.

The idea of devolving power to Ireland to reconcile its people to the membership of the United Kingdom, was discussed frequently during the 19th and 20th centuries. First taken up by Daniel O'Connell in the 1830s and then picked up by Colonel Robert Gordon Sharman-Crawford's grandfather William Sharman-Crawford in 1839 and the 1840s

Robert Gordon had a lifetime interest in St John's Church, Helen's Bay, augmenting the stipend of the curate and supplying fund towards the Church.

As a bit of light-hearted relief - a story found on the World Wide Web - relates I think to a SHARMAN-CRAWFORD, although my previous idea that Col R.G. who married a lady born in France, was the target of the story may be erroneous, as it appears he died in the Chatham Hotel, New York (Cork Examiner 21 Mar 1934 and other documents). The person that the story relates to may be his son, Terence who did die in an accident (see below) The text as found was also otherwise historically INACCURATE and should NOT be taken as reliable fact:- The Crawfordsburn Ghost Story

The Belfast Newsletter carried a report about the funeral, listing the mourners as:
Mrs R.G. SHARMAN-CRAWFORD
Mrs CARVER (daughter)
Mr Hugh CARVER (son-in-law)
Miss CARVER (Faredah Mary granddaughter)
Master Robert CARVER (grandson)
Mrs GORDON (neice)
Mr Fred SHARMAN-CRAWFORD (brother)
Col A.R.G. GORDON DSO MP.

It was his request that he be buried at the family burial ground at Rademon

The ownership of the Crawfordsburn and Rademon Estates passed through his daughter Helen Mary, to Robert Gordon's grandson, Robert Hugh (Carver) SHARMAN-CRAWFORD

The exors of his estate were his daughter, Helen Mary CARVER, his niece's husband, Lt. Col. Alexander Gisborne GORDON and Dawson Cotton of the Solictors CRAWFORD & LOCKHART, 4 Queens Square, BELFAST. A codicil to his will 20 Oct 1926, removed his wife as a beneficiary and his brother Arthur Frederick as exor. (Perhaps because they were both deceased by this time?)