Arthur Cecil Champion

{{Short description|British priest}} {{Infobox Christian leader | type = priest | honorific_prefix = The Reverend | name = Arthur Champion | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | church = Church of England  | ordination = 1913 (priest) | ordained_by = Edmund Knox | rank =  | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1889|08|27}} | birth_place = Rutland, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1977|01|31|1889|08|27}} | death_place = Sway, Hampshire, England | buried = | resting_place_coordinates = | religion = Anglicanism | residence = | spouse = {{marriage|Evelyn Helen Guilford|1914||}} | children = | occupation = | education = | alma_mater = {{unbulleted list|Queens' College, Cambridge|Egerton Hall, Manchester}} }} '''Arthur Cecil Champion''' (27 August 1889 – 31 January 1977) was an Anglican priest and British Army chaplain.<ref>{{Crockford| surname=Champion | forenames=Arthur Cecil | id=21921}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Champion was born in Rutland, England, on 27 August 1889. He was the second son of the Rev. Arthur Champion and Ellen Mary Follett. He graduated from Queens' College, Cambridge with a B.A. in 1911 and an M.A. in 1923, and trained as a clergyman at Egerton Hall, Manchester.<ref name="Orders, Decorations and Medals 2012">{{cite book |author= |date=28 March 2012 |title=Orders, Decorations and Medals |url=https://archive.org/details/ordersdecosmedalsmar2012dixn |via=Internet Archive |page=234}}</ref>

==Ordained ministry== Champion was ordained as a deacon in 1912 and ordained as a priest in 1913 by Edmund Knox, Bishop of Manchester. He began his career as a curate: first at Saint James Church, Moss Side, from 1912 to 1914, and then at Longridge from 1914 to 1915.<ref name="Orders, Decorations and Medals 2012"/>

Champion was made a Temporary Chaplain to the Forces in 1915. He was then given the vicarship of Christ Church Portsdown in Waterlooville, which he held from 1916 to 1923.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.christchurchportsdown.org/about-us/church-history/vicars/ |title=Vicars |author= |website=Christ Church Portsdown |publisher=Elegant Themes |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref> During this time, he was Headmaster of Boundary Oak School, an independent preparatory school in Fareham.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.boundaryoakschool.co.uk/welcome/history/ |title=Boundary Oak School History |author= |website=Boundary Oak School |publisher=BO School 2023 |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= |year=1922 |title=The Dial |url=https://www.queens.cam.ac.uk/files/downloads/dial_42_1922_easter.pdf |page=5}}</ref> He and his wife, Evelyn Helen Guilford, served as joint principals.<ref>{{cite book |last=Whitaker |first=Joseph |year=1923 |title=an almanack for the year of our lord 1923 |url=https://archive.org/details/almanackforyearo0000jose_v7x4 |via=Internet Archive |publisher=the british dominions |page=1026}}</ref> This was followed by his appointment as vicar of Compton Gifford, Plymouth from 1923 to 1929, and Christ Church, Clifton Down from 1929 to 1938.<ref name="Orders, Decorations and Medals 2012"/>

From 1938 to 1951, he was the vicar of Hambleton.<ref name="Orders, Decorations and Medals 2012"/> In appreciation of his thirteen years service, he was presented with a painting of the village church of St Peter's & St Paul's by Lady Taylor and Vice Admiral Bertram Watson. In sharing his thanks with the parishioners, Champion remarked that he was the first vicar over the last three hundred years to leave the parish for another living.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=10 September 1951 |title=Rev. Arthur Champion retired |work=Portsmouth Evening News}}</ref>

After serving as rector of South Perrott from 1951 to 1956, Champion retired from ministerial duties.<ref name="Orders, Decorations and Medals 2012"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Arthur Cecil}} Category:1889 births Category:1977 deaths Category:People from Rutland Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Category:Alumni of Egerton Hall, Manchester Category:20th-century Church of England clergy Category:Royal Army Chaplains' Department officers Category:English military chaplains