Vale Richard Crosland, master craftsman and woodworking educator

Richard Crosland, master craftsman and woodworking educator

A great many people will be very sad to learn of the passing on 28 September, 2026 of Richard Crosland, master craftsman and educator. His son Adam wrote: ‘Dad passed away a couple of days ago peacefully, painlessly and in his sleep with family nearby.’

Richard Crosland has been a positive and vital force in the Australian woodworking community for decades – more than one generation of woodworkers will know of him, or have come into contact with him through his woodwork classes or participation as a club and association member.

A recent snap of Richard Crosland taken with his son Adam Crosland.

Richard was born in England and began working with wood after arriving in Australia . ‘I came to woodworking via a change of career’, he wrote. ‘I started by renovating terrace houses in the early 70s subcontracting some work, but learning on the job how to do the finer cabinetmaking work myself. After seven years of making self-taught custom-built furniture, both built-in and free standing, I enrolled in the two year Advanced Cabinetmaking Course at tech. During the second year, I was invited to teach part-time Stages I, II and III of the apprenticeship cabinetmaking course, which I had not done myself. Teaching is a very effective way of learning! This I did for about three years, during which time I established my own School of Fine Woodwork.’

Richard continued to teach alongside Adam Crosland at the school he established in Alexandria until just three weeks ago. In years gone by Richard also taught summer school classes at Sturt School for Wood and other classes at University of NSW. He undertook residencies at the Canberra School of Art Wood Workshop and at Sydney Grammar School.

Richard Crosland celebrating with students at 90 years young.

‘His timetable hasn’t changed in 30 years and some students have been with him for up to 20 or more years’, said Adam. ‘Hundreds of projects have been made here and they were very fond of him. He was working until he was 91 in March, and right up to three weeks before passing – the Thursday morning class on the 10th of September was his last class.’

A snap of me (Linda Nathan) with Richard and Tony Stirton taken by Grace Cochrane at Sturt School for Wood circa 2018.

My own recollection of Richard is of a tall, genial and gently spoken man. Richard’s popularity as a teacher was well known. In the past I do recall more than one person saying to me that someone had to leave feet-first before you could get into one of his classes. He loved teaching and it was reciprocated. ‘As most students stay for some considerable time, the classes become as much an enjoyable social gathering as a productive woodworking class,’ said Richard in a short piece written about his school in 2017.

As well as teaching, Richard seemed to genuinely enjoy participating in community activities and associations. From 1987 to 1988 he served on the board of the then-existing Craft Council of NSW. From the 1980s onwards, he took part in woodworking groups, notably the Woodworkers Association of NSW and Studio Woodworkers Australia. Over the years, Richard showed his work at innumerable exhibitions.

Richard Crosland's signature Go Kart!

In the 1980s, as part of what were essentially trail-blazing activities for woodworkers, Richard Crosland belonged to the bearded group known as the ‘junta’ who organised the NSW Woodworkers Association’s landmark exhibition Woodwork Goes to the Opera in 1985. Richard showed one of his Go Cart! signature pieces in that exhibition.

London Eye (shown above) was another of Richard’s signature pieces that featured intricate movable parts and were a feat of engineering as well as woodworking. ‘I am inspired to make these mechanical sculptures because of my appreciation for mechanical devices, and I love working with wood’, he said. ‘I am not disappointed if they do not sell, I just love making them and meeting whatever challenges they may present in the way of new techniques, during their design and construction.’

Detail views of London Eye, one of Richard Crosland's mechanical feats of woodworking

In 1996 Richard published his Wood Working Course book which has been reprinted at least once. He added to his documented teachings with the publishing of an accompanying DVD.

1n 2022 Richard Crosland featured on the cover of Australian Wood Review (issue 35) in conjunction with an article he wrote on making ‘barrel boxes’. The design for these evolved from a challenge set by the NSW Woodworkers’ Association to make a box from a single piece of dressed silver ash 1100 x 70 x 12mm thick. You can read that article here.

There will be many people with fond recollections of Richard Crosland and the contribution he made to the woodworking community in Australia, and he will certainly be missed. His son Adam will continue his legacy teaching at their school in Alexandria, Sydney.

Richard Crosland's Funeral Date is Thursday afternoon, October 8, 2pm at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Gardens South Chapel. 

If you wish, you can post your own tribute below.

The website of the Richard Crosland School of Fine Woodwork is at https://crosland.com.au/

Words: Linda Nathan, Editor