Percy Chatterton

Sir Percy Chatterton (8 October 1898 – 25 November 1984) was an English-born Papua New Guinean educator, clergyman and politician. He served as a member of the House of Assembly from 1964 to 1972.

Biography Chatterton was born in Ashton upon Mersey, near Sale, Cheshire in England in 1898, the son of Alice (née Macro) and Henry Herbert Chatterton. After attending the Stationers' Company's School in London between 1906 and 1912, he finished his education at the City of London School, matriculating in June 1916. He began a science degree at University College but was called up into the army in June 1917. As a Quaker committed to non-violence, he served with the Middlesex Regiment as a stretcher-bearer in France. Although he returned to university after the war, he did not complete his degree.

In 1921 Chatterton began working as a physical education and science teacher at the Friends School in Penketh. He also taught at a Sunday school and ran a Boy Scout troupe. After marrying Christian Ritchie Finlayson in June 1924, the couple moved to Papua. He ran the LMS school in Hanuabada between 1924 and 1939, with Christian teaching the infant year groups.

After retiring in 1963, Chatterton turned to politics. He was appointed to Education Advisory Board in 1963, and was elected to the new House of Assembly from the Central Special constituency in the 1964 elections. He became a regular columnist in Pacific Islands Monthly in 1966, and was re-elected in 1968 from the Moresby Open seat, but did not run for re-election in 1972. He was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours that year and awarded an honorary LLD by the University of Papua New Guinea.

After ending his columns in Pacific Islands Monthly in 1973, he published a Hiri Motu translation of the Bible the following year, alongside a memoir Day That I Have Loved. He was knighted in the 1981 Birthday Honours and was featured on postage stamps in 1982. He died in Port Moresby in November 1984 and was given a state funeral.