Staff College, Camberley

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.

Origins
In 1799 Colonel John 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. Le Marchant now assumed the office of Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent-General.

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.

Decline, independence and subsequent growth
The College underwent a decline and by 1857 the annual admissions had fallen to just six.

In 1858 the name was changed to the Staff College and it was made independent of the Royal Military College in 1870. 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). During the 1870s there were just 40 students although numbers increased to 60 students in the 1880s.

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

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.

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.

Commandants
Commandants since the College gained its independence in 1870 have been: Commandant, Staff College, Sandhurst Commandant, Staff College, Camberley
 * 1870-1878 Major-General Edward Hamley
 * Feb-May 1878 Major-General Archibald Alison
 * 1878-1885 Major-General Charles Creagh-Osborne
 * 1885-1888 Major-General Edward Clive
 * 1888-1893 Colonel Francis Clery
 * 1893-1898 Colonel Henry Hildyard
 * 1898-1903 Colonel Herbert Miles
 * 1903-1906 Colonel Sir Henry Rawlinson
 * 1907-1910 Brigadier-General Henry Wilson
 * 1910-1913 Major-General Sir William Robertson
 * 1913-1914 Brigadier-General Launcelot Kiggell
 * Note the college was closed during the War


 * 1919-1922 Major-General Hastings Anderson
 * 1922-1926 Major-General Sir Edmund Ironside
 * 1926-1931 Major-General Charles Gwynn
 * 1931-1934 Major-General John Dill
 * 1934-1936 Major-General Clement Armitage
 * 1936-1937 Major-General Viscount Gort
 * 1937-1938 Major-General Sir Ronald Adam
 * 1938-1939 Major-General Bernard Paget
 * 1939-1941 Major-General Robert Collins
 * 1941-1942 Major-General Montagu Stopford
 * 1942-1943 Major-General Sir Alan Cunningham
 * 1943-1944 Major-General Douglas Wimberley
 * 1944-1946 Major-General Philip Gregson-Ellis
 * 1946-1948 Major-General Richard Hull
 * 1948-1951 Major-General Dudley Ward
 * 1951-1954 Major-General Gerald Lathbury
 * 1954-1956 Major-General Charles Jones
 * 1957-1958 Major-General Nigel Poett
 * 1958-1961 Major-General Reginald Hewetson
 * 1961-1963 Major-General Charles Harington
 * 1963-1966 Major-General John Worsley
 * 1966-1967 Major-General Mervyn Butler
 * 1967-1970 Major-General John Sharp
 * 1970-1972 Major-General Allan Taylor
 * 1972-1974 Major-General Patrick Howard-Dobson
 * 1974-1975 Major-General Hugh Beach
 * 1975-1978 Major-General John Stanier
 * 1978-1980 Major-General Frank Kitson
 * 1980-1982 Major-General David Alexander-Sinclair
 * 1982-1984 Major-General John Akehurst
 * 1984-1986 Major-General Patrick Palmer
 * 1986-1988 Major-General John Waters
 * 1988-1989 Major-General John Learmont
 * Mar-Dec 1989 Major-General Jeremy Mackenzie
 * 1989-1991 Major-General William Rous
 * 1991-1993 Major-General Michael Rose
 * 1993-1994 Major-General Christopher Wallace
 * 1994-1996 Major-General Anthony Pigott