John Kenneth Pennington (1927–25 August 2011) was a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, Nottingham City councillor and Sheriff of Nottingham.

Family

He was born in Wigan in 1927. He studied law at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

where he met his future wife, Jean. Rejecting a career in law, for two years he worked at a large textiles printing firm on Oxford Road before training for ordination at Lincoln Theological College. After working in Liverpool, Rotherham, India and Blackburn, he moved to Nottingham in 1966.

Ordained ministry

Pennington was ordained a deacon in 1952 and a priest in 1953. He held the following appointments: *Curate at

Holy Trinity Church, Wavertree Holy Trinity Church is in Church Road, Wavertree, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Liverpool, the archdeaconry of Liverpool, and the deanery of Toxteth and Wavertree. The church is recor ...

, Liverpool 1952–1956 *Curate at Rotherham 1956–1959 *Priest in Charge at

Christ Church College, Kanpur Christ Church College, Kanpur is a college established in 1866, affiliated with Kanpur University, in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. Earlier in 1840, SPG Mission School was established to educated Christian students. Later its name turned to prese ...

, Diocese of Lucknow 1959–1963 *Vicar at St Philip's Church, Nelson 1964–1966 *Area Secretary for USPG in Derby, Leicester and Southwell 1966–1971 *Area Secretary for USPG in Derby and Sheffield 1971–1975 *Lecturer at

St Mary's Church, Nottingham The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the oldest parish churchDomesday Book: A Complete Translation (Penguin Classics) of Nottingham, in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest church after the Cathedral in the city of Nottingham. The church ...

1975–1992

Political career

Living in Nelson, Lancashire, he helped

Sydney Silverman Samuel Sydney Silverman (8 October 1895 – 9 February 1968) was a British Labour politician and vocal opponent of capital punishment. Early life Silverman was born in poverty to a migrant Jewish parents from Jassy, Romania. His father was a d ...

MP retain his seat of

Nelson and Colne Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in the

1964 United Kingdom general election The 1964 United Kingdom general election was held on 15 October 1964, five years after the previous election, and thirteen years after the Conservative Party, first led by Winston Churchill, had regained power. It resulted in the Conservatives, ...

in a very difficult contest, beating a pro-capital punishment candidate who had suffered the murder of a relative. He moved to Nottingham in 1966, was elected a Labour councillor in 1976 to represent Bestwood Park, and re-elected in 1979 to represent Bridge ward. During his final year as councillor, in 1982–83, he was made Sheriff of Nottingham. In 2006 he was made an honorary alderman of Nottingham.Nottingham City Council press release 5 May 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennington, John Kenneth 1927 births 2011 deaths Sheriffs of Nottingham Nottingham City Councillors 20th-century English Anglican priests People from Wigan Alumni of the University of Manchester