Christopher Guy Vere Davidge, of Little Houghton House,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

DL (5 November 1929 – 22 December 2014) was a British rower who competed in the Summer Olympics three times in

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim Elliot and Pete Fleming, are kille ...

and

1960 It is also known as the " Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * J ...

and won the

Silver Goblets The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless pairs at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two clubs may ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

three times.

Biography

Davidge was born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, son of

Cecil Vere Davidge Cecil Vere Davidge of Little Houghton House DL (14 February 1901 – 27 January 1981) was a British lawyer and academic, who served as a Fellow and bursar of Keble College, Oxford, and as High Sheriff of Northamptonshire. Life Davidge w ...

and Ursula Catherine Smyth, and the grandson of

Cecil William Davidge Cecil William Davidge (28 March 1863 – 16 January 1936) was a professor of English, author and Freemason. Davidge was the father of the barrister and academic Cecil Vere Davidge and grandfather of Olympic rower Christopher Davidge. Ear ...

. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinates ...

and rowed in the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

boat in the 1949

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

. He returned to stroke Oxford in the 1951 Boat Race, when the Oxford boat sank, and the race was rerun on the following Monday. He was in the winning Oxford crew in the 1952 race and umpired the

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

and 1975 races. In 1952 Davidge competed for Great Britain, rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He was in the

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with Sweep (rowing), sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke (rowin ...

with David Callender and came fourth. In 1955 Davidge was runner-up partnering J A Gobbo in the

to the Russians Buldakov and Ivanov. In 1956 he competed for Great Britain

rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1956 Summer Olympics featured seven events, for men only. The competitions were held from 23 to 27 November on Lake Wendouree, Ballarat, Australia. Medal summary Participating nations A total of 242 rowers from 25 nations com ...

where he was a member of the unplaced

eight 8 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 8 or eight may also refer to: Years * AD 8, the eighth year of the AD era * 8 BC, the eighth year before the AD era Art * The Eight (Ashcan School), a group of twentieth century painters associated with the ...

. He won the Silver Goblets at Henley in 1957 and 1958, partnering

Tony Leadley David Antony Terence Leadley, known as Tony Leadley (born 1928), is a British rower. Leadley was born in 1928 in Bedford, England. He was educated at Bedford Modern School, and the University of Cambridge. In 1953 Leadley was part of the wi ...

. In 1959 he switched to the

double scull A double scull is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two persons who propel the boat by sculling with two oars each, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly ...

s and won the

Double Sculls Challenge Cup The Double Sculls Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's double sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two clubs may combine to ma ...

at Henley partnering

Stuart Mackenzie Stuart Mackenzie (5 April 1936 - 20 October 2020) was an Australian rower. He was an Australian champion and Olympic medalist, who also competed for Great Britain at the 1962 World Championships. Club and state rowing Mackenzie was educated a ...

and beating

George Justicz George C. Justicz (born 27 February 1931) is a former rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Olympic games and won Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta four times and the Wingfield Sculls. Biography Justicz was born in P ...

and

Nicholas Birkmyre Nicholas John Birkmyre (born 21 February 1937) is a former rower who competed for Great Britain in the 1960 Olympic games and won Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta four times. Biography Birkmyre was born at Cranleigh, Surrey, a ...

. Davidge competed for Great Britain again

rowing at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowing at the 1960 Summer Olympics featured 7 events, for men only. The competitions were held from 30 August to 3 September on the Lago di Albano. Medal summary Men's events Participating nations A total of 410 rowers from 33 nations co ...

. He was in the

coxless four A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars, without a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on t ...

with Michael Beresford,

Colin Porter Colin Frederick Porter (born November 23, 1975) is a former American professional baseball player. An outfielder, Porter reached the Major League Baseball level in with the Houston Astros and also the St. Louis Cardinals in . Drafted by the As ...

, and

John Vigurs John Phillip Chambre Vigurs (21 March 1930–7 September 1994) was a British rower. He competed in the men's coxless four event at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He also represented England and won a gold medal in the coxed four at the 1958 Briti ...

, coming fifth. Davidge represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and won a gold medal at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Australia, from 22 November to 1 December 1962. Athletic events were held at Perry Lakes Stadium in the suburb of Floreat and swimming events at Beatty Park in North Perth. The ...

in the coxless four with Michael Clay, John Beveridge and

John Tilbury John Tilbury (born 1 February 1936) is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM (group), AMM. Early life and education ...

. In 1963 Davidge won Silver Goblets again, this time partnering Stuart Mackenzie. Davidge later served as President of the

Leander Club Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world, and the oldest non-academic club. It is based in Remenham in Berkshire, England and adjoins Henley-on-Thames. Only three other surviving clubs were founded prior t ...

. Davidge was also awarded an

"for services to Rowing". He died on 22 December 2014, aged 85. He was

High Sheriff of Northamptonshire This is a list of the High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities ...

in 1988, following his father

, who was High Sheriff in 1950. On 14 March 1994 he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Northamptonshire.

References

Bibliography * Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Davidge, Chris 1929 births 2014 deaths Sportspeople from Northampton English male rowers British male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1952 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1956 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Stewards of Henley Royal Regatta People educated at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford Oxford University Boat Club rowers Rowers at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England High Sheriffs of Northamptonshire European Rowing Championships medalists Medallists at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games

Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...

Biography

See also

References