Charles Bonham-Carter

Sir Charles Bonham-Carter
Birth name	Charles Bonham-Carter
Born	(1876-02-25)25 February 1876 Kensington, London, England
Died	21 October 1955(1955-10-21) (aged 79) Petersfield, Hampshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1896–1940
Rank	General
Unit	Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment
Commands held	2nd Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers 129th Infantry Brigade 4th Infantry Division Territorial Army
Battles/wars	First World War
Awards	Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Medal (U.S. Army) Legion of Honour (France)
Other work	Governor of Malta

General Sir Charles Bonham-Carter GCB CMG DSO (25 February 1876 – 21 October 1955) was a British Army officer and later Governor of Malta.

Early life

Bonham-Carter was born on 25 February 1876 in Kensington, London, the ninth of eleven children of Henry and Sibella Charlotte Bonham-Carter. His father was a director of an insurance company. He was educated at Clifton College near Bristol and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Military

Bonham-Carter joined the Army in 1896 and saw active service in the Second Boer War. He went to the British Army Staff College in Camberley and joined the British Expeditionary Force to France as a regimental officer. He held a number of staff posts in France and between 1917 and 1918 he was Brigadier General Staff (Training) at the General Headquarters, despite opposition he started programmes to train the men in general and vocational subjects. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and the American Distinguished Service Medal for his work and was mentioned in dispatches five times.

After the First World War Bonham-Carter served in Turkey and India, and in 1927 became Director of Staff Duties. In 1931 he moved to become General Officer Commanding the 4th Division in Colchester. In 1933 he was promoted to Lieutenant-General and became Director-General of the Territorial Army until 1936.

Malta

In 1936 Bonham-Carter was appointed Governor and Commander in Chief of Malta following the death of General Sir David Campbell. It was a time of political unrest on the island and a constitutional body was formed to find a more representative form of self-government, the earlier constitution had been suspended. The subsequent changes overseen by Bonham-Carter was to create something more representative and acceptable to the population. Although a strong supporter of the need to defend the islands after war was declared in 1939, but by October 1940 he had become ill and had to resign his post, effective 11 October 1940.

Retirement

Bonham-Carter took a number of posts in retirement including chairman of the Royal School, Bath, chairman of the Royal School for Soldier's Daughters in Hampstead. He was also a governor of his old school Clifton College. He died at home in Petersfield, Hampshire on 21 October 1955.

Family

Bonham-Carter married first, at Drogheda on 22 February 1902, Gladys Beryl Coddington, daughter of Colonel Arthur Blayney Coddington, and they had two sons. Following a divorce in 1909 he married Gabrielle Madge Jeanette Fisher in 1911 and they had a son, Victor Bonham-Carter. His brothers included Sir Edgar Bonham Carter and Sir Maurice Bonham Carter, the latter of whom is the grandfather of actress Helena Bonham Carter.

Honours

• 1917 – Distinguished Service Order
• 14 July 1917 – Brevet Colonel Charles Bonham-Carter, DSO, Royal West Kent Regiment is given permission to wear the Croix d'Officer of Légion d'honneur awarded by the President of the French Republic for distinguished service rendered during the course of the campaign.
• 1919 – Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
• 12 July 1919 – Brevert Colonel (temporary Brigadier-General) Charles Bonham-Carter, CMG, DSO, Royal West Kent Regiment is given permission to wear the American Distinguished Service Medal awarded by the President of the United States for distinguished service rendered during the course of the campaign.
• 1941 – Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath