George Champagné Explained

Honorific Prefix:Canon Rev.
George Champagné
Office:Canon of Windsor
Term Start:1808
Term End:1828
Predecessor:Samuel Goodenough
Successor:Richard Adolphus Musgrave
Death Date:26 October 1828
Alma Mater:Trinity College, Dublin
Parents:Arthur de Robillard Champagné
Marianne Hamon
Spouse:None known
Relations:Forbes Champagné (brother)
Josiah Champagné (brother)

Canon Rev. George Champagné (– 26 October 1828) was an Anglican clergyman who was Canon of Windsor from 1802–28.[1]

Early life

Champagné was born into a family of French Huguenot exiles who established themselves in Ireland.[2] He was the eldest son of the Very Rev. Arthur de Robillard Champagné, Dean of Clonmacnoise, and Marianne Hamon, daughter of Colonel Isaac Hamon. His grandmother was Jane Forbes, daughter of Arthur Forbes - 2nd Earl Granard. He had three brothers: Lt.-Gen. Forbes Champagné; Rev. Arthur Champagné, vicar of Castlelyons; and Gen. Sir Josiah Champagné. He had six sisters including Jane (wife of the Earl of Uxbridge), Henrietta (wife of Sir Erasmus Dixon Borrowes, 6th Baronet), and Marianne (wife of Sir Charles des Voeux, 1st Baronet).[2] [3]

His paternal great-grandfather, the Chevalier Josias de Robillard, Seigneur de Champagné de Torxé, Saintonge,[4] fled France after the 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau for Holland,[5] where he joined William of Orange's army. He married Marie de la Rochefoucauld of the noble house of the same name. Their daughter Susanne married Henri de la Motte-Fouqué, baron de Saint-Seurin et de Tonnay-Boutonne, and was mother of Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué. Their eldest son, Josias de Robillard, Champagné's grandfather, distinguished himself at a young age in service of Major-General Isaac de Monceau de la Melonière, who commanded a regiment of exiles in William's army during the Irish campaigns.[2]

Champagné was educated at Trinity College, Dublin receiving his M.A. in the spring of 1773.[6]

Career

He served as the Vicar of Stoke, Warwickshire (1777–1785),[7] followed by Vicar of Nuneaton (1785–1802),[8] and the Vicar of Twickenham (1802–18).[9] [10] Champagné was appointed to the third stall in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle in 1802, a position he held until 1828.

In 1818, he gave the Dean and Canons some shares in the South Sea Company to be used as an endowment to purchase clothes or books amongst the pupils of the National School at Windsor. The endowment is still awarded and is known as the Champagne Gift.[11]

Personal life

Champagné died on 26 October 1828.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Fasti Wyndesorienses, May 1950. S. L. Ollard. Published by the Dean and Canons of St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle
  2. Book: Agnew . David Carnegie Andrew . Protestant Exiles from France in the Reign of Louis XIV: Or, The Huguenot Refugees and Their Descendants in Great Britain and Ireland . 1871 . Reeves & Turner . 127 . Forbes Champagné. . 23 June 2018 . en.
  3. Book: Burke . John Bernard . A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British Empire . 1845 . H. Colburn . 451 . 23 June 2018 . en.
  4. Book: Revue de Saintonge & d'Aunis: bulletin de la Société des archives . 1890 . 298 . 23 June 2018 . fr.
  5. Book: Brady . William Maziere . Clerical and Parochial Records of Cork, Cloyne, and Ross . Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green . 1864 . 98–99 . chevalier de Champagné josias. . 23 June 2018 . en.
  6. Book: Alumni Dublinenses: A Register of the Students, Graduates, Professors and Provosts of Trinity College in the University of Dublin (1593-1860) . Trinity College Dublin . 146 . 23 June 2018 . en.
  7. Oxford Journal - Saturday 5 April 1777
  8. Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette - Thursday 14 July 1785
  9. Stamford Mercury. Friday 29 October 1802. p.3.
  10. Clergy Deceased . The Gentleman's Magazine, and Historical Chronicle . 1828 . 647 . E. Cave . en.
  11. Book: Cobbett . Richard Stuteley . Memorials of Twickenham: Parochial and Topographical . 1872 . Smith, Elder & Company . 151 . 23 June 2018 . en.