Charles Bonham-Carter


Sir Charles Bonham-Carter, 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 British 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 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 having 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, by October 1940 he had become ill and had to resign his post, effective 11 October 1940.
He was appointed Colonel of The Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment in 1936, a post he held until 1946.

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

There is a memorial to him in St Mary's Church, Buriton.