Christopher Guy Vere Davidge, of

Little Houghton House Little Houghton House is a Grade II*-listed, nineteenth century Manor House with parts going back to 1685. The house has been owned by notable people, including Cecil Davidge and Christopher Davidge, both of whom served as High Sheriff of Nor ...

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two 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 Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

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 * Janu ...

and won the

Silver Goblets The Silver Goblets & Nickalls' Challenge Cup is a Rowing (sport), 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 ...

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

three times.

Biography

Davidge was born in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, son of

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

and Ursula Catherine Smyth, and the grandson of Cecil William Davidge. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

and

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

and rowed in the

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

boat in the 1949

Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. It is also known as the Uni ...

. 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 Rowing at the 1952 Summer Olympics featured seven events, for men only. The competitions were held from 20 to 23 July. Medal summary Participating nations A total of 404 rowers from 33 nations competed at the Helsinki Games: * * * * * ...

in Helsinki. He was in the

coxless pair A coxless pair, abbreviated as a 2- and also known as a straight pair, is a racing shell used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each ...

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

to the Russians Buldakov and

Ivanov Ivanov, Ivanoff or Ivanow (masculine, , Sometimes the stress is on Ива́нов in Bulgarian if it is a middle name, or in Russian as a rare variant of pronunciation), or Ivanova (feminine, , ) is one of the most common surnames in Russia and Bu ...

. 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 comp ...

where he was a member of the unplaced eight. 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 winni ...

. In 1959 he switched to the

double scull A double scull, also abbreviated as a 2x, 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") ar ...

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 m ...

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 at ...

and beating George Justicz and Nicholas Birkmyre. Davidge competed for Great Britain again

rowing at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

. He was in the

coxless four A coxless four, abbreviated as a 4- and also called a straight four, is a racing shell 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 ...

with Michael Beresford, Colin Porter, and John Vigurs, coming fifth. Davidge represented

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and won a gold medal at the

1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games were held in Perth, Western 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 ...

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. Early life and education Tilbury s ...

. 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 ...

. 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. The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the respon ...

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 gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in rowing Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in rowing 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 ...

20th-century English sportsmen Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire

Biography

See also

References