William Carr Crofts (10 February 1846 – 26 November 1912) was an English schoolmaster and rower who won the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta twice and was an influential teacher of Rudyard Kipling.
Distracted by rowing and other social activities, he managed a third in his finals, and a year after graduation he joined the staff of a prep school.
He moved school four times in six years before arriving in 1875 at the United Services College at Westward Ho!.
Crofts has been seen as the model for Kipling's character "Mr King" in Stalky & Co.[3] He resigned from USC in 1892 after differences with the proprietor and moved between jobs as a tutor and a partner in Lunn's travel agency.
He settled on the island of Sark where he took a swim in the sea regularly throughout the year and was drowned in one of these outings in November 1912.