Alexander Richard Croucher M.D. M.R.C.S. L.S.A. (4 June 1836 – 15 June 1918) was an orthodox physician who converted to homeopathy to become Physician at the Hastings Homeopathic Dispensary and Consulting Physician at the Buchanan Homeopathic Hospital, St. Leonard’s on Sea. In 1867 Croucher became a Member of the British Homeopathic Society. He was also a Member of the Sussex Archaeological Society. Croucher served as Alderman and Magistrate of Hastings and, in 1893, he was elected Mayor of Hastings.

Alexander Richard Croucher was a colleague at the Hastings Dispensary of Robert Douglas Hale.

Alex Richard Croucher practiced at 132 St. George’s Street, London, High Street, Shadwell, at 108 Terminus Road, Eastbourne in 1872, and at 26 Grand Parade, Hastings.

Alexander Richard Croucher was born in Shadwell, Middlesex, the son of Chemist John Thomas Croucher (1805 – 1866) and Hannah Langlands (1813 – )

He was admitted as a member of the London Royal College of Surgeons in 1857, and the following year obtained his MD from the University of St. Andrews and received his License from the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

In November 1858, Croucher married Catherine Green. They had several children including homeopath Dr. Alexander Henry Croucher (1863 – 1954), sons James Godby (1862 – 1929) and Dentist Arthur Thomas L.D.S.R.C.S. (1864 – 1933), and daughters Kate Hannah (1859 – 1948) and Esther Eliza (1861 – 1866).

PRESENTATIONS: Dr. (and) J P Croucher, Ex-Mayor of Hastings, was, on June 1st, presented with an illuminated vote of thanks, passed to him by the Hastings Town Council. The vote of thanks was embodied in a beautifully illuminated address, mounted in a handsome gilt frame….

In 1866, Alex Richard Croucher obtained a patent for ‘communication between passengers and guards travelling on railways‘, and he was responsible for sponsoring electric lighting to replace gas lighting in Hastings,

Alex Richard Croucher attended (Anon, The Homeopathic World, Volume 43, (1908). Page 236) the 2nd International Homeopathic Congress held in London (Anon, The Medical Counselor, Volume 7, (The Michigan State Homeopathic Society, 1883). Page 347) in on 11th-18th July 1881 (Anon, The Homeopathic World, (August 1,1881)) at Aberdeen House, Argyll Street, Regent Street.

Alex Richard Croucher leased a piece of land in Chapel Park Road, Hastings St Mary Magdalen, with the house and buildings called Westholm, in the course of erection in 1882.

In 1893, Alex Richard Croucher J P, was elected Mayor of Hastings despite attempts by allopaths to block his election due to his conversion to homeopathy (Willis Alonzo Dewey, Medical Century: The National Journal of Homœopathic Medicine and Surgery, Volume 1, (1893). Page 76).

Alex Richard Croucher submitted cases and articles to various homeopathic publications,

By 1906 Croucher was residing at 26 Portland Terrace, Southampton

Alexander Richard Croucher died in a London nursing home on 15 June, 1918, aged 82.

Of interest:

Alexander Henry Croucher M.D. M.B. C.M. (1863 – 1954), son of Alex Richard Croucher, was Physician at the Leaf Homeopathic Cottage Hospital, St Leonards, Hastings in 1911, Physician at the Eastbourne Homeopathic Dispensary, Physician at the Homeopathic Convalescent Home in Eastbourne.

Alexander Theodore Croucher M.R.C.S. L.R.C.P. (1898 – 1963), son of Alexander Henry Croucher, grandson of Alex Richard Croucher, was a physician who lived at 4 Burlington Place, Eastbourne, and later in Torquay, Devon. In 1924 A. T. Croucher married Doris Marie Enid Philcox (1903 – 1998).