Julie Nicholson (born 1953) is a British

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

and the mother of the late Jenny Nicholson, who was killed in the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, also referred to as 7/7, were a series of four co-ordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamist terrorists that targeted commuters travelling on Transport in London, London's public transport during the ...

Jenny Nicholson

Jennifer "Jenny" Nicholson was a 24 year old musician who was killed in a

suicide attack A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

Mohammad Sidique Khan Mohammad Sidique Khan (20 October 1974 – 7 July 2005) was a British terrorist. He was the oldest of the four Islamist suicide bombers and believed to be the leader responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, in which bombs were detonated ...

in the 7 July 2005 London bombings. She was commuting from

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

when the attack happened on the eastbound Circle line at Edgware Road station. Her train had been diverted from its usual route due to a mechanical problem. Shortly before the attack, Jenny had phoned her boyfriend, James White.

Response

Julie Nicholson was on holiday in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

when she and her husband, Greg, learnt Jenny had died. After going on extended compassionate leave, she decided to step down as priest from the parish of St Aidan with St George, in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, eight months after Jenny's death, since she could not forgive the attacker. While announcing her intention to resign as vicar, Nicholson described how “It's very difficult to stand behind an altar and lead people in words of peace and reconciliation and forgiveness when I feel very far from that myself.” She continued to work in Bristol with a community youth group. While mourning Jenny's death, Nicholson began to write down her thoughts. These were later turned into a book: ''A Song for Jenny.'' A film of the same name was released on 5 July 2015, as an adaptation of the book. It was released almost exactly 10 years after Jenny's death. Nicholson appeared in a 2025 four-part

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary titled ''7/7: The London Bombings'', which explored the attacks and subsequent investigations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholson, Julie 1953 births Living people British Anglicans July 2005 London bombings British women non-fiction writers Church of England priests 21st-century British non-fiction writers 21st-century British women writers