Sir John Pennycuick (6 November 1899 – 14 January 1982) was an English barrister and judge. He was a High Court judge from 1960 to 1974, and

Vice-Chancellor of the Chancery Division The chancellor of the High Court is the head of the Chancery Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. This judge and the other two heads of divisions (Family and King's Bench) sit by virtue of their offices often, as and wh ...

from the recreation of the office in 1970 until 1974. He was also an amateur tennis player who competed at the

Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly called Wimbledon, is a tennis tournament organised by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in collaboration with the Lawn Tennis Association annually in Wimbledon, London. It is chronologically the ...

between 1925 and 1931.

Early life and legal career

Pennycuick was the only son of the British Army officer and engineer Colonel John Pennycuick, (1841–1911). His father was the tenth of the eleven children of Brigadier John Pennycuick (1789–1849), who was killed in the

Battle of Chillianwala The Battle of Chillianwala (also spelled Chillianwallah) was fought in January 1849 during the Second Anglo-Sikh war in the Chillianwala region ( Mandi Bahauddin) of Punjab, now part of Pakistan. The battle was one of the bloodiest fought by t ...

in the

Second Anglo-Sikh War The Second Anglo-Sikh War was a military conflict between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company which took place from 1848 to 1849. It resulted in the fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab region, Punjab and what sub ...

. He was educated at

Winchester College Winchester College is an English Public school (United Kingdom), public school (a long-established fee-charging boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) with some provision for day school, day attendees, in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It wa ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

."Pennycuick, Rt. Hon. Sir John"
''

Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...

'' (online ed.,

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1 December 2007). Retrieved 14 April 2025. He also attended the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academy, military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial Commissioned officer, officer train ...

, and became a second lieutenant in the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in 1919. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in 1925, where later he became a

bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

in 1954. He became a

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

in 1947.

Legal career

He was appointed as a High Court judge in 1960, in the

Chancery Division The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (England ...

, and received the customary knighthood. Pennycuick became the first modern

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

in July 1970 when the office was revived to replace the title of "Senior Judge" for the head of the Chancery Division. He was appointed as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former ...

in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 1974, and retired as a full-time Chancery judge in September 1974, although he continued to occasionally sit as a judge. He was appointed Tresurer of the Inner Temple from 1978 to 1979.

Tennis career

Once Sir John began started to work in the law courts, he took up

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

and became a notable amateur player who went onto win 12 career singles titles between 1925 and 1938. In major tournaments between 1925 and 1931, he competed at the

six times in the men's singles events. He advanced to the third round in 1925 where he lost to the Indian player Jagat Mohan Lal, and 1926 where he was beaten by

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

international

Jan Koželuh Jan Koželuh (29 January 1904 – 4 June 1979) was a Czech tennis player of the 1920s, not to be confused with his older brother Karel Koželuh (1895–1950), a player of the same era. Although Karel was inducted into the International Tennis H ...

. His career singles highlights included winning the Cinque Ports Championships three times in 1926, 1927 and 1929, the Hampshire Championships in 1927, the South Herefordshire Championships in 1931 and 1934, the Birchington Open in 1933 and 1936, the Wiltshire Championships in 1934 and 1935, and the Kent Coast Championships in 1937 and 1938.

Family

He married Lucy Johnstone in 1930, and they had one son and one daughter. His wife predeceased him in 1972.

References

Sources

* Obituary in ''The Times'', 15 January 1982, p. 10.

External link

Portrait from the National Portrait Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pennycuick, John Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 1899 births 1982 deaths Chancery Division judges Knights Bachelor People educated at Winchester College Alumni of New College, Oxford Coldstream Guards officers Members of the Inner Temple English King's Counsel 20th-century English lawyers English male tennis players British male tennis players 20th-century English sportsmen