Clifford Craig was born on the 3rd of August 1896, in Box Hill, Melbourne, to Victorian-born parents Walter Joseph Craig and Jane (Hughston). Educated at the prestigious Scotch College, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 17th of February 1916, serving in the Middle East as a medical orderly until 1918.
He was discharged on the 14th of April 1919, and promptly undertook medical studies at the University of Melbourne. Craig continued to serve in the medical profession for his entire career, holding a number of prominent positions. After working for the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne), Craig undertook the position of surgeon-superintendent at Launceston General Hospital in 1926. The hospital was suffering from the effects of an eight-year dispute between the Tasmanian state government and the local branch of the British Medical Association, a dispute that had radically depleted the hospital's medical staff. Under Craig's superintendence, the hospital became a highly respected institution, as well as a training centre for young doctors and the location of a postgraduate medical educational programme.
Both Craig and his wife (Edith Nance Bulley) were founding members of the Tasmanian branch of the National Trust of Australia, working to arrange community awareness of the importance of the state's early colonial buildings. He died on the 5th of September 1986.
Craig was a collector of old Tasmanian books, and assembled what many consider to be the best collection of books, maps, and prints relating to Tasmania. The sale of this collection by auction in 1975 drew unprecedented press coverage. Many of the items in Craig's collection were acquired by the State Library of Tasmania.
[Source: Collecting Old Tasmanian Books, pp. 128-137]
