The Champion de Crespigny Baronetcy, of Champion Lodge,

Camberwell Camberwell () is a district of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles and a common of which Goose Green is a remnant. This e ...

, in the

County of Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

, was a title in the

Baronetage of the United Kingdom Baronets are a rank in the British aristocracy. The current Baronetage of the United Kingdom has replaced the earlier but existing Baronetages of England, Nova Scotia, Ireland, and Great Britain. Baronetage of England (1611–1705) James I of E ...

, created on 31 October 1805 for Claude Champion de Crespigny. The Champion de Crespigny family originated in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. The name Crespigny is probably related to

Saint Crispin Saint Crispin may refer to: *Crispin and Crispinian (3rd century), martyrs (memorial: 25 October) * Crispin of Pavia (5th century), bishop (7 January) *Crispin of Viterbo Crispino da Viterbo (13 November 1668 – 19 May 1750) - born Pietro Fior ...

. The second part of the placename, igny, is common in the northwest of France: there are four places called simply Igny and many which include it in their name. It may be derived from the Latin ignis "fire," with the extended meaning of a hearth-fire and hence a place of settlement. On this basis, Crespigny first acquired its name as a settlement containing a church, a chapel or some form of a shrine to Saint Crispin. Retrieved from https://ayfamilyhistory.com/champions-from-normandy/ Claude Champion de Crespigny (1620–1697) settled in

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 ...

after the revocation of the

Edict of Nantes The Edict of Nantes () was signed in April 1598 by King Henry IV and granted the Calvinist Protestants of France, also known as Huguenots, substantial rights in the nation, which was in essence completely Catholic. In the edict, Henry aimed pr ...

and his sons served in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. His grandson Philip Champion de Crespigny (1704–1765) married Anne, daughter of

Claude Fonnereau Claude Fonnereau (22 March 1677, La Rochelle – 5 April 1740, Hoddesdon) was a French people, French Huguenot refugee who settled in England and became a prominent merchant. He was the founding father of the Fonnereau family in England. In 1735 ...

, and was the father of the first Baronet. The second Baronet sat as the

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. The fourth Baronet was a well-known military adventurer and sportsman. He was eccentric enough to bribe hangman James Berry into accepting him as assistant executioner on the occasion of a triple hanging in Carlisle on 8 February 1886. The title became extinct on the death of the eighth Baronet in 1952. Notable members of the family include the soldier and polo player Claude Champion de Crespigny (1873–1910), who was the son of the fourth Baronet, and the artist and author Rose Champion de Crespigny (1859–1935), whose second son became the seventh Baronet. The poet

Caroline de Crespigny Caroline Champion de Crespigny (1797–1861) was an early 19th-century English poet and translator. In the tradition of Romanticism, she published ''My Souvenir, or, Poems'' in 1844. Her translations, mainly from German into English, were often ...

was the daughter-in-law of the second Baronet. The 8th and last member was Sir Vivian Tyrell de Crespigny, OBE (25 April 1907 – 3 March 1952), who married Helen in 1930 and had a daughter Fleur (later Horley) in 1937, divorced and married Monica Fleming; Helen married one Whitehead. Both couples divorced and De Crespigny and Helen Whitehead remarried in 1947. They divorced in 1951 and he died the following year of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In 1775, Crespigny House was built for the first Baronet in

Aldeburgh Aldeburgh ( ) is a coastal town in the English county, county of Suffolk, England. Located to the north of the River Alde. Its estimated population was 2,276 in 2019. It was home to the composer Benjamin Britten and remains the centre of the int ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, where his brother, Philip Champion de Crespigny (1738–1803), was the

from 1780 to 1790. The family also lived at Champion Lodge in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, which was built in 1715 and demolished in 1841, and later at Champion Lodge in

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the River Blackwater, Essex, Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Champion de Crespigny baronets, of Champion Lodge (1805)

*Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 1st Baronet (1734–1818) *Sir William Champion de Crespigny, 2nd Baronet (1765–1829) **Augustus James Champion de Crespigny (died 1825) * Sir Claude William Champion de Crespigny, 3rd Baronet (1818–1868) *Sir Claude Champion de Crespigny, 4th Baronet (1847–1935) *Sir Claude Raul Champion de Crespigny, 5th Baronet (1878–1941) *Sir Henry Champion de Crespigny, 6th Baronet (1882–1946) *Sir Frederick Philip Champion de Crespigny, 7th Baronet (1884–1947) *Sir Vivian Tyrell Champion de Crespigny, 8th Baronet (1907–1952)

References

*{{Rayment-bt, date=March 2012 Extinct baronetcies in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom