Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, 1931-2022
Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, 1931-2022
GONHS notes with much sadness the passing of Field Marshal Sir John Chapple, Governor of Gibraltar 1993-1995 and Honorary Life Patron of the Society.
When Sir John arrived in Gibraltar as an experienced birdwatcher, he very quickly began to participate in GONHS’s organised activities and would often turn up at Jews’ Gate or Europa Point to join local birders in their watches. He was steadfast in his support for GONHS, had an excellent rapport with other active members and was particularly interested in and encouraging of younger members.
Until that point, the Governor in office had always been GONHS’s Patron but when he left Gibraltar, Sir John was appointed Honorary Life Patron for his singular contribution to GONHS and its aims.
GONHS was not the only organisation with such a blessing: as his obituary in The Times notes, “He was a patron, fellow, president, ambassador, trustee and member of a dizzying number of organisation, 99 at one count, including the Zoological Society of London, the Royal Geographical Society, which he had joined at 16, and the WWF.”
If GONHS was among the smallest of such organisations, this did not diminish Sir John’s interest in the organisation. He wrote to us annually, by hand in an attractive script, often congratulating us for our publications and highlighting points of particular interest to him.
His letters, and indeed his affection for GONHS and Gibraltar, will be sorely missed.
A full obituary will be included in the next issue of Gibraltar Nature News.
Our condolences to his family.
