 Nyorai kupfuurira kweiyi ndima - Akazvarwa muLeeds musi wa15 Gunyana 1847, Ernest akanga ari mwanakomana waJohn Crofts, Esq. weAdal, pedyo neLeeds, Mutongi weRunyararo, uye muzukuru waRev. W. Crofts, B.D., Vicar weNorth Grimston, pedyo neMalton, Yorkshire. Mumwe wababamunini vake aiva Rev. William Carr, B.D. weBolton Abbey, Yorkshire. Amai vake vakanga vari Ellen Wordsworth, mwanasikana womumwe muzvinabhizimisi weLeeds. Ernest akadzidza paRugby School, kwamakore anoverengeka, uye ipapo akananga kuBerlin uko akavandudza kufarira kwake muumhizha uye akasarudza basa somupendi. Kuziva kwake hondo kwokutanga kwakaitwa muna 1864 apo akaperekedza chiremba wePrussian muHondo yeSchleswig-Holstein, nemabasa akapoteredza Düppel. Hanzvadzi yake Ellen Wordsworth Crofts akaroorwa naSir Francis Darwin uye aiva amai vemunyori Frances Cornford. 