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 – 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, becomes m ...

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

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 * Ja ...

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 club A rowing club ...

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 thre ...

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. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

and Trinity College, Oxford 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 ...

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 ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

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 oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right h ...

with

David Callender David Callender (25 July 1930 – 18 March 2022) was a British rower. He competed in the men's coxless pair event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Callender died in Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River ...

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, bg, Иванов, russian: ИвановSometimes 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, bg, Иванов ...

. 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 As ...

. He won the Silver Goblets at Henley in 1957 and 1958, partnering Tony Leadley. In 1959 he switched to the double sculls and won the Double Sculls Challenge Cup at Henley partnering Stuart Mackenzie and beating George Justicz 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 com ...

. 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 th ...

with

Michael Beresford John Michael Beresford (born 1934) is a British retired rower who competed at the 1960 Summer Olympics. Biography Born in London on 23 March 1934, Beresford was educated at Bedford School. He rowed internationally for seven years in coxed an ...

, Colin Porter, and John Vigurs, 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 b ...

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 Michael Vincent Clay (born August 30, 1991) is a former American football linebacker and coach who is the special teams coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Playing career On April 27, 2013, Clay signe ...

, John Beveridge and John Tilbury. In 1963 Davidge won Silver Goblets again, this time partnering Stuart Mackenzie. Davidge later served as President of the Leander Club. Davidge was also awarded an

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