Sir Reginald Stuart Champion, (21 March 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British

colonial administrator Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...

and

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

clergyman. He was

Governor of Aden This is a list of British colonial administrators of Aden from the 1839 Aden Expedition to the 1967 withdrawal from Aden. They were appointed from British India until 1937 when the Chief Commissioner's Province of Aden became the Colony of A ...

from 1944 to 1951.

Early life

The son of Philip Champion and Florence Mary Hulburd, Champion was educated at

Sutton Valence School Sutton Valence School (SVS) is a private school near Maidstone in southeast England. It has 560 pupils. It is a co-educational day and boarding school, boarding school. There are three senior boarding houses: Westminster, St Margaret's and Sutto ...

. In 1912 he enlisted in the

West Kent Yeomanry The Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry was a British Army regiment formed in 1794. It served in the Second Boer War and the World War I, First World War. It amalgamated with the Royal East Kent Yeomanry, Royal East Kent (The Duke of Connaught's Own) ...

, and in 1913 was commissioned in the

East Surrey Regiment The East Surrey Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1959. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 31st (Huntingdonshire) Regiment of Foot, the 70th ( ...

Palestine

During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in the Middle East; in 1917 he was assigned to the

Occupied Enemy Territory Administration The Occupied Enemy Territory Administration (OETA) was a joint British, French and Arab military administration over the Levantine provinceswhich had been part of the Ottoman Empire for four centuriesbetween 1918 and 1920, set up on 23 October ...

in Palestine. He transferred to the Colonial Administrative Service in 1920, and served as District Officer in

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

until 1928. He was wounded in Palestine.

Aden

Champion was Political Secretary in

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

from 1928 to 1934, Financial Adviser to the Emirate of Trans-Jordan from 1934 to 1939, and District Commissioner in the Galilee from 1939 to 1942. He also carried out political missions to the Yemen in 1933–34 and 1940. He was appointed Chief Secretary to the Government of Aden in 1942, and was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Aden in 1944.

Aden riots

In the Aden riots following UN Resolution 181 (II) in 1947, Champion dispatched the

Aden Protectorate Levies The Aden Protectorate Levies (APL) was a military force recruited from indigenous tribal populations, for the local defence of the Aden Protectorate under British rule. The Levies were drawn from all parts of the Protectorate and were armed, t ...

, a military force of local Arab-Muslim recruits, to quell the disturbances. The APL was responsible for much of the killing in the riot, which resulted in the death of 82 Jews, 33 Arabs, 4 Muslim Indians, and one Somali. He retired from the Colonial Service in 1951.

Retirement

After his retirement from government service, Champion entered the

Lincoln Theological College Lincoln Theological College was a Church of England theological college in Lincoln. History Founded by Edward White Benson, when he was chancellor of Lincoln Cathedral, the college opened on 25 January 1874. It was also known as ''Scholae Cance ...

in 1952, being ordained a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

in January and a priest in December. The same year, he was appointed a curate at All Saints’,

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town, l ...

. In 1953 he was appointed Vicar of

Chilham Chilham is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It sits on the north bank of the Great Stour around to the southwest of Canterbury and northeast of Ashford. It is a mostly agricultural parish, with settlemen ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

. He retired from active ministry in 1961. In retirement he lived in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

. Champion was appointed

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 ...

in 1934, a CMG in 1944, and a KCMG in 1946.

Family

Champion married Margaret Macgregor, daughter of Very Rev. W. M. Macgregor, in 1920. They had two sons and a daughter.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Reginald 1895 births 1982 deaths People educated at Sutton Valence School Colonial Administrative Service officers Governors of Aden East Surrey Regiment officers Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Officers of the Order of the British Empire Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George ategory:20th-century Church of England clergy