Sir Percy Chatterton (8 October 1898 – 25 November 1984) was an English-born

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

n educator, clergyman and politician. He served as a member of the

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies as the colony gained more internal responsible g ...

from 1964 to 1972.

Biography

Chatterton was born in

Ashton upon Mersey Ashton upon Mersey is an area in Trafford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre and immediately adjoins Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale to the east. It gives its name to t ...

, near Sale, Cheshire in England in 1898, the son of Alice (née Macro) and Henry Herbert Chatterton. After attending the

Stationers' Company's School The Stationers' Company's School was a grammar school for boys, later a comprehensive school in Hornsey, north London. Foundation The school was founded by the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers to provide education for sons ...

in London between 1906 and 1912, he finished his education at the

City of London School The City of London School, also known as CLS and City, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private day school for Single-sex education, boys in the City of London, England, on the banks of the River Thames next to the Millennium Bridge, ...

, matriculating in June 1916. He began a science degree at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

but was called up into the army in June 1917. As a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

committed to non-violence,Percy Chatterton: A life that was loved
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', February 1985, pp23–24 he served with the

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers Re ...

as a stretcher-bearer in France. Although he returned to university after the war, he did not complete his degree.Chatterton, Sir Percy (1898–1984)
Australian Dictionary of Biography In 1921 Chatterton began working as a physical education and science teacher at the Friends School in

Penketh Penketh is a civil parish and suburb of Warrington in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is located about west of Warrington town centre. It has a population of 8,699. It is in the historic county of Lancashire. The emblem/badg ...

. He also taught at a Sunday school and ran a Boy Scout troupe. In 1923 he joined the

London Missionary Society The London Missionary Society was an interdenominational evangelical missionary society formed in England in 1795 at the instigation of Welsh Congregationalist minister Edward Williams. It was largely Reformed tradition, Reformed in outlook, with ...

and agreed to be posted to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

in the

Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the ...

as a lay missionary teacher.6 Territorians honored
''

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier The ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' is a newspaper based in Konedobu, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. It was established on 30 June 1969. Its parent company, The Herald and Weekly Times (later purchased by News Corp Australia), had acquired w ...

'', 3 January 1972, p4 After marrying Christian Ritchie Finlayson in June 1924, the couple moved to Papua. He ran the LMS school in

Hanuabada Hanuabada is a coastal village in Papua New Guinea in the outskirts of the nation's capital, Port Moresby. It is the biggest village in the Motuan tribe and is often known by its locals as "HB". Hanuabada means "big village" (''hanua'' "village" ...

between 1924 and 1939, with Christian teaching the infant year groups. Chatterton was posted to Delena as a missionary in 1939 and was ordained into the Congregational Church four years later. He returned to Port Moresby in 1957, where he became a vicar in the Koki suburb. He was heavily involved in setting up Papua Ekalesia in 1962, the first locally-run church in the territory, becoming its first chairman. He sat on the Council of Social Services and Central District Advisory Council, and was appointed to the Liquor Commission in 1962.''Members of the House of Assembly'', p23 After retiring in 1963, Chatterton turned to politics. He was appointed to Education Advisory Board in 1963, and was elected to the new House of Assembly from the Central Special constituency in the 1964 elections. He became a regular columnist in ''

Pacific Islands Monthly ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', commonly referred to as "PIM", was a magazine founded in 1930 in Sydney by New Zealand born journalist R.W. Robson. Background ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' was started in Sydney in 1930. The first issue ran in August ...

'' in 1966, and was re-elected in

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

from the Moresby Open seat, but did not run for re-election in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

.New, younger voters pose uncertainty at PNG polls
''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1971, p26 He was awarded an OBE in the

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

that year and awarded an honorary LLD by the

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

. After ending his columns in ''Pacific Islands Monthly'' in 1973, he published a

Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of its capital city, Port Moresby. It is a simplified version of Motu, from the Austronesian language famil ...

translation of the Bible the following year, alongside an memoir ''Day That I Have Loved''. He was knighted in the

1981 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1981 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate ...

and was featured on postage stamps in 1982. He died in Port Moresby in November 1984 and was given a state funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterton, Percy 1898 births People from Sale, Greater Manchester People educated at the Stationers' Company's School People educated at the City of London School British Army personnel of World War I Alumni of University College London Schoolteachers from Cheshire English Congregationalist missionaries British emigrants to Papua New Guinea Territory of Papua people Papua New Guinean educators Papua New Guinean clergy Members of the House of Assembly of Papua and New Guinea Papua New Guinean writers Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1984 deaths Middlesex Regiment soldiers Congregationalist missionaries in Papua New Guinea