Staff College, Camberley

Staff College, Camberley

Staff College, Camberley
Active 1802 - 1997
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Type Training
Role Staff Officer Training
Garrison/HQ Camberley, Surrey

Staff College, Camberley, Surrey, was a staff college for the British Army from 1802 to 1997, with periods of closure during major wars. In 1997 it was merged into the new Joint Services Command and Staff College.

Contents

Origins

In 1799 Colonel John Gaspard Le Marchant, 7th Hussars, submitted a proposal to the Commander-in-Chief of the British Army for a Royal Military College in three departments. A private officer training school, based on the idea of a senior or staff department in the proposed college was opened in the same year by Colonel Le Marchant, at the Antelope Inn, High Wycombe, with himself as Commandant. This was officially recognised by royal warrant in 1801 as the senior department of the Royal Military College which was to open in 1802 in Marlow.[1] Le Marchant now assumed the office of Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent-General.[2]

The course, for which students were to pay until 1858, lasted two years. The role was specifically stated in 1808 as being to train future commanding officers as well as staff officers. The senior department moved to Fareham in Surrey in 1813 and to the Royal Military College buildings at Sandhurst in 1820.[3]

Decline, independence and subsequent growth

The College underwent a decline and by 1857 the annual admissions had fallen to just six.[3]

In 1858 the name was changed to the Staff College and it was made independent of the Royal Military College in 1870.[3] It now had its own Commandant and Adjutant, although continued to be administered by Sandhurst until 1911. However it now had properly conducted entry and final examinations, and primarily military subjects were taught. Purpose-built dedicated premises were approved in 1858, and built between 1859 and 1863 to a design by James Pennethorne, adjacent to the Royal Military College (but over the county boundary in Camberley).[4] During the 1870s there were just 40 students although numbers increased to 60 students in the 1880s.[3]

In 1903 officers of the Colonial forces first joined the college and in 1905 naval officers were first introduced.[3]

The College was completely restructured in 1938, with a junior wing at Camberley, for officers of an average age of 29 years, and a senior wing at Minley Manor, Farnborough, for graduates of the former aged about 35 years.[5]

In 1994 it was announced that a new Joint Services Command and Staff College would replace the Staff College, the Royal Naval Staff College, RAF Staff College, and Joint Service Defence College in 1997.[6]

Commandants

Commandants since the College gained its independence in 1870 have been:[7]
Commandant, Staff College, Sandhurst

Commandant, Staff College, Camberley

Note the college was closed during the War

References

  1. ^ Marlow Tour Marlow Society
  2. ^ Major-General John Gaspard Le Marchant (1766-1812) Defence Academy
  3. ^ a b c d e General Sir William Robertson: the life story of the Chief of The Imperial General Staff by G.A. Leask
  4. ^ British listed buildings: The Staff College Camberley
  5. ^ Vote a. Number of Land Forces Army Estimates, 1949–50
  6. ^ Ministry of Defence: The Joint Services Command and Staff College National Audit Office Report 2002
  7. ^ Army Commands
  8. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 
  9. ^ Archibald Alison at Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  10. ^ London Gazette: no. 24580. p. 2990. 10 May 1878. Retrieved 2011-09-05.
  11. ^ The Peerage.com
  12. ^ The Catholic Who's Who by Francis Cowley Burnand, p.10
  13. ^ Whitaker's Almanack 1894