Sir Frank Crisp, 1st Baronet (25 October 1843 in London - 29 April 1919) was an English lawyer and microscopist.
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Crisp's mother died when he was three years old and as a result he was brought up by his grandfather, John Filby Childs. He resolved to take up the law and at 16 was articled to a firm of solicitors. He also studied at the University of London obtaining the degrees of B.A. in 1864 and LL.B. in 1865. In 1867 he married Catherine Howes.[1]
He qualified as a solicitor in 1869 and his reputation soon grew, acting in many important commercial contracts. He counted several foreign railroad companies and the Imperial Japanese Navy among his clients, and drew up the contract for the cutting of the Cullinan diamond. He received his baronetcy in 1913 for services as legal advisor to the Liberal Party.[1]
In 1895, he bought Friar Park in Henley-on-Thames where he entertained the great and the good. He was a keen horticulturalist and developed spectacular public gardens there, including an alpine garden featuring a 20 foot (6 m) replica of the Matterhorn. He published an exhaustive survey of medieval gardening titled Mediaeval Gardens.[1]
Crisp was an enthusiastic member, and sometime officer, of the Royal Microscopical Society. He was generous in his support of the Society, donating furniture, books and instruments in addition to his work on technical publications.[1]
Former Beatle George Harrison purchased Friar Park, where Frank Crisp had lived, as his new home in 1970. He also wrote a song called "Ballad of Sir Frankie Crisp (Let It Roll)", which appears on the album All Things Must Pass (and later, being included on and inspiring the title of his career-spanning compilation, Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison). In addition, Harrison released a hit single called "Ding Dong, Ding Dong" on his Dark Horse LP in 1974 which contains the lyrical refrain: "Ring out the old - Ring in the new. Ring out the false - Ring in the true." for which Harrison credited Crisp as the author of that and several other quotes that Harrison found engraved in several places around Friar Park (it is actually from Ring Out, Wild Bells, a section of Tennyson's poem In Memoriam). The lyrics and title of another Harrison track, "The Answer's at the End," from his 1975 album Extra Texture, were also inspired by the writings of Frank Crisp: "Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass. You know his faults now let his foibles pass. Life is one long enigma my friend. So read on, read on, the answer's at the end."
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by New creation |
Baronet (of Bungay) 1913–1919 |
Succeeded by Frank Morris Crisp |