# Anthony Champion

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{{Short description|English poet and politician (1725 – 1801)}}
'''Anthony Champion''' (5 February 1725 – 22 February 1801) was an English lawyer and politician. A volume of his poetry and other writings was published after his death.

==Life==
Champion was the son of Peter Champion, and his wife Catherine. Peter Champion, a merchant, was a member of a family long resident in the parish of [St Columb](/source/St_Columb_Major) in Cornwall. Anthony was born in [Croydon](/source/Croydon) in 1725; he was first educated at [Cheam School](/source/Cheam_School), then in 1739 was sent to [Eton College](/source/Eton_College), where he was captain of the [oppidan](/source/oppidan)s in 1742. He matriculated at [St Mary Hall, Oxford](/source/St_Mary_Hall%2C_Oxford) on 28 February 1742/3,<ref>{{cite book |last=Austen-Leigh |first=Richard Arthur |title=The Eton College Register, 1698-1752 |year=1927 |publisher=Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co., Ltd. |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Eton_College_Register_1698_1752/7h_OAAAAMAAJ |page=65}}</ref> where his tutor was [Walter Harte](/source/Walter_Harte). After two years he left without taking his degree, and entered as a student at the [Middle Temple](/source/Middle_Temple). He became a [bencher](/source/bencher) of the Inn in 1779 and a [reader](/source/reader_(Inns_of_Court)) in 1785, and continued to reside within its precincts until his death.<ref name=dnb00>{{cite DNB|first=William Prideaux|last=Courtney|authorlink=William Prideaux Courtney|wstitle=Champion, Anthony|volume=10|page=33}}</ref><ref name=odnb>{{cite ODNB|id=5091|title=Champion, Anthony|date=3 January 2008}}</ref>

He was twice returned to parliament for a Cornish borough, on both occasions through the influence of the [Eliot family](/source/Eliot_family_(South_England)). His first constituency was [St. Germans](/source/St_Germans_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) (22 April 1754), the second was [Liskeard](/source/Liskeard_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) (30 March 1761). In the House of Commons he sat, like [Edward Gibbon](/source/Edward_Gibbon), who also represented the latter constituency, a mute observer of the scene, and although he dabbled in poetry, his writings remained unpublished until after his death.<ref name=dnb00/>

Champion died on 22 February 1801 at the Middle Temple, and was buried at [Temple Church](/source/Temple_Church). He was unmarried, and his bequests totalled more than £30,000. He left £1,000 to the Middle Temple; to his lifelong friend [William Henry, Lord Lyttelton](/source/William_Lyttelton%2C_1st_Baron_Lyttelton) he left £5,000 and his large collection of books and papers. In 1801 Lord Lyttelton published ''Miscellanies in verse and prose, English and Latin, by the late Anthony Champion''.<ref name=dnb00/><ref name=odnb/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

'''Attribution'''
* {{DNB|first=William Prideaux|last=Courtney|authorlink=William Prideaux Courtney|wstitle=Champion, Anthony|volume=10|page=33}}

==External links==
* {{NPG name}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Anthony}}
Category:1725 births
Category:1801 deaths
Category:People educated at Eton College
Category:Alumni of St Mary Hall, Oxford
Category:Members of the Middle Temple
Category:British MPs 1754–1761
Category:British MPs 1761–1768
Category:People educated at Cheam School
Category:18th-century English poets

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Anthony Champion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Champion) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Champion?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.