CHRISTOPHER

See also:

• CHRISTOPHER CODRINGTON (1668-1710)
• CODRINGTON, SIR EDWARD (1770-1851)

CODRINGTON (1668-1710)  , British soldier and colonial governor, whose father was captain-general of the Leeward Isles, was born in the island of Barbados, West Indies, in 1668 . Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, he was elected a fellow of All Souls, and subsequently served with the British forces in Flanders, being rewarded in 1695 with a captaincy in the Guards . In the same year he attended King William III. on his visit to Oxford, and, in the absence of the public orator, was chosen to deliver the University oration . In 1697, on the death of his father, he was appointed captain-general and commander-in-chief of the Leeward Isles . In 1703 he commanded the unsuccessful British expedition against Guadeloupe . After this he resigned his governorship, and spent the rest of his life in retirement and study on his Barbados estates . He died on the 7th of April 1710, bequeathing these estates to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts for the foundation of a college in Barbados . This college, known as the Codrington college, was built in 1714-1742 . To All Souls College, Oxford, he bequeathed books worth £6000 and £10,000 in money, out of which was built and endowed the Codrington library there .