His careers in medicine, politics, and business were overshadowed in modern times by his alleged role in the unsanctioned exhumation and decapitation of William Lanne's body.

Lanne was believed to be the last "full-blooded" Aboriginal Tasmanian male and after the exhumation, his skull was sent by Crowther to the Royal College of Surgeons in London for preservation.

This collection was sold to the Earl of Derby which allowed him to pay his fees at St Thomas's Hospital (M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., 1841) and a year of study in Paris.

He sent ships to collect guano from islands in the Coral Sea and engaged in sealing and pelagic whaling from Hobart.

A petition with 48 pages of closely-packed signatures was sent to Governor (Sir) Charles Du Cane seeking annulment of Crowther's suspension, without success.

Crowther threatened violence when challenged about his actions by then Premier Alfred Kennerley in the Tasmanian Parliament in August 1873:[7]A fracas occurred outside the Council chamber, Hobart Town, a few nights ago.

[8][5] Despite a long life involving many other endeavours and achievements in his adopted home and abroad, according to historian Helen Patricia MacDonald, referring to the theft of Lanne's remains, "the events of 1869 came to define William Crowther's place in Tasmanian history".

[1][10] The inscription reads:[11][12] Erected by a grateful public, and sincere personal friends To perpetuate the memory of long and zealous political and professional services rendered in this Colony by William Lodewyck Crowther F.R.C.S.

Died 12th April, 1885On 15 August 2022 the Hobart City Council voted 7 to 4 in favour of removing Crowther's statue from public display in Franklin Square, as an act of reconciliation.