Charles Trotter

Charles Maitland Yorke Trotter (8 February 1923 – 8 September 2003) was a British sports shooter and photographer who represented Guernsey and Kenya in both fullbore and smallbore disciplines. Trotter's achievements in rifle shooting made him one Guernsey's most decorated sportsmen.

Born in Edinburgh and educated at Elizabeth College, Guernsey, Trotter served in the Royal Engineers during World War II and then in Egypt after the war. After studying photography at the London School of Photo Engraving and Lithography, Trotter established a photography business in Nairobi from 1951 to 1962, achieving considerable success as a commercial photographer in British Kenya. During this time, Trotter represented Kenya at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics.

After returning to Guernsey in 1966, Trotter won H.M. The Queen's Prize in 1975, becoming only the second winner of the event from the island. He represented Guernsey in three consecutive Commonwealth Games from 1974, winning a bronze medal in the Fullbore Rifle singles event at Brisbane 1982.

Early life and education Charles Maitland Yorke Trotter was born on 8 February 1923 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He was the son of James Maitland Yorke Trotter (2 March 1888 – 1960) who generally went by his middle name, Maitland, and Margaret Dippie Trotter . Trotter's parents married in October 1921, two years before his birth.

At the age of six, Trotter returned to England where he attended boarding school, He was educated in Guernsey at Elizabeth College, an all-boys public school, where he started shooting, and represented the school at the schools' championships at Bisley three times, captaining the team in 1940. The two were involved in a head-on car collision in 1965, which rendered both disabled. In spite of the injuries which impaired his mobility, he was still able to continue shooting. In doing so, Trotter became only the second Guernseyman to win the competition, and he remains the island's most recent winner. He was awarded a gold medal, a gold badge, and £250 donated personally by the monarch herself, Elizabeth II. Soon after his return to the island, Trotter was voted as the island's Sportsman of the Year and was asked by the Guernsey Postal Services to be featured on one of its stamps in a series depicting disability in sport. Trotter reached the final of the Queen's prize on seven further occasions, also finishing twice in the top twenty-five of the St Georges prize, and won five bronze crosses in the Grand Aggregate. In 2001, Trotter gave up active participation in shooting, but remained in his role of President of the Old Elizabethan Rifle Club until his death, aged 80, in 2003. Trotter's substantial collection of shooting silver and memorabilia is held in an exhibit in Castle Cornet. In 2005, Trotter was one of the first ten people to be inducted into the Guernsey Sports Commission's wall of fame. After his death, Trotter's ashes were scattered at Bisley at the beginning of the 2004 Imperial Meeting.

Statistics International competitions

National titles Fullbore rifle H.M. The Queen's Prize: 1975 Hampshire Fullbore Championship: 1994 Guernsey Fullbore Championship: 1979 Guernsey Fullbore Grand Aggregate: 1973 Smallbore rifle Scottish Smallbore Championship: 1972 Guernsey Smallbore Championship: 12 times Smallbore Indoor Veteran Championship: 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988