Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972), aviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall.
Chichester was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, and suffered a miserable childhood as the myopic second son of an unloving Anglican clergyman, Reverend Charles...
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Sir Francis Charles Chichester KBE (17 September 1901 – 26 August 1972), aviator and sailor, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for becoming the first person to sail single-handed around the world by the clipper route, and the fastest circumnavigator, in nine months and one day overall.
Chichester was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, and suffered a miserable childhood as the myopic second son of an unloving Anglican clergyman, Reverend Charles Chichester, seventh son of Sir Arthur Chichester, 8th Baronet (see Chichester Baronets). His mother was Emily Annie, daughter of Samuel Page. He was sent to a residential boarding school at the age of 6, and attended Marlborough College as an adolescent during the first World War. At age 18, Chichester emigrated to New Zealand, where in ten years he built up a prosperous business in forestry, mining and property development, only to suffer severe losses in the Great Depression.
After returning to England in 1929 to visit family, he took...
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