Sir

Christopher Benson
Born
Christopher John Benson

(1933-07-20) 20 July 1933
Staffordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Chartered surveyor and company director
Spouse
Margaret Josephine Bundy
​
​
(m. 1960)​

Sir Christopher John Benson OAM DL (born 20 July 1933) is a British chartered surveyor and company director, formerly chairman of major companies and public bodies and a High Sheriff of Wiltshire.

Benson was born in Staffordshire in 1933,[1] the son of Charles Woodburn Benson, by his marriage to Catherine Clara Bishton. He trained as a chartered surveyor and became a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. He was knighted in 1988.[2] Also in 1988, he became a director of Sun Alliance and in 1993 was elected as its chairman. In 1997, he was appointed by the government to chair its Funding Agency for Schools.[3]

Benson has also served as chairman of MEPC plc, Costain Group, Boots, Albright and Wilson, and the London Docklands Development Corporation. Outside business, he is a vice-president of the Royal Society of Arts, a past High Sheriff of Wiltshire, a past Master of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen and a President of the Coram Foundation. He is an honorary bencher of the Middle Temple, serving on its Scholarship Fund Appeal Committee.[4]

Benson was awarded an honorary Medal of the Order of Australia on 28 January 2020 for service to the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United Kingdom.[5]

Personal life

In 1960, in Salisbury, Benson married Margaret Josephine Bundy,[6] a daughter of Ernest Jefferis Bundy. A justice of the peace, mayor of Salisbury (1969-1970),[7] and a deputy lieutenant of Wiltshire, Jo Benson was awarded the OBE in 1973.[2][8] She died on 1 August 2022.[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ “BENSON Christopher J / Bishton /Cannock / 6b 582” in General Index to Births in England and Wales, 1933
  2. 1 2 ”Benson, Sir Christopher (John)” in Who's Who online, accessed 28 April 2020 (subscription required)
  3. ↑ Fran Abrams, Labour berates Quango largesse in The Independent, 25 February 1997, accessed 27 April 2020
  4. ↑ Masters of the Bench: Sir Christopher Benson FRICS JP DL at middletemple.org.uk, accessed 27 April 2020
  5. ↑ "Order of Australia" (PDF). Gazette. Commonwealth of Australia. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  6. ↑ “BENSON Christopher J / BUNDY Josephine M / Salisbury / 7c 1047” in General Index to Marriages in England and Wales, 1960
  7. ↑ Elkins, Jordan (2 August 2022). "Former Salisbury mayor Lady Jo Benson OBE has passed away". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
  8. ↑ London Gazette, 14 February 1997, page 1925 (Commissions signed by the Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wiltshire on 3 February 1997)
  9. ↑ "Benson". Register. The Times. No. 73864. London. 17 August 2022. col 4, p. 49.
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