| | Stephen Fergus Champ is related to us via the Childs family. This page is to illustrate how his talents have been passed down to his children and grandchildren
Stephen Fergus Champ was born in Peterborough in 1907. He attended Eastboune Art College for two years and the Royal College of Art in South Kensington for a further two years. He married Marion White in 1932 and accepted a post at the College of Art at Auckland, New Zealand. A daughter Mollie was born in 1933/4 . They returned to England in 1935 to become head of the Chichester School of Art. After the war Champ became head of art at Cranbrook School in Kent, twin daughters were born in 1947 and in 1950 moved to Devon as principal of Paignton School of Art; he became principal of Torbay School of Art in 1954. . He died in 1984.
While at Eastbourne College of Art both Stephen Champ and Marion White were taught by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942). Marion was friends with Tirzah Garwood (1908-1952), whom Ravilious was to marry in 1930. Tirzah's father Colonel John Garwood was chairman of the Board of Guardians and the employer of Marion's father Robert White. Their son James, born in Eastbourne, was a master photographer of rural life and landscape.
Eastbourne School of Art(s and Crafts), later renamed the College of Art and Design. Renowned printmaker Tavener taught there from 1953 to 1980; artist, illustrator and designer Ravilious studied and was a tutor there. His students in the 1920s included the wood engraver and weaver Stephen Fergus Champ, who later became a distinguished art teacher and administrator in his own right, both in England and New Zealand.
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