John Penrose

Although born in Devon, John Penrose spent most of his life in Wiltshire and for 32 years was vicar at West Ashton between 1890 and 1922. He came from a long line of Church of England vicars, as he followed his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather into Holy Orders. All four were also called John Penrose.

The fifth-generation Penrose was educated at Rugby School, and then Christ Church, Oxford. At Rugby, he was a very good rifle shooter and competed in the Ashburton Shield. His son was in the winning Winchester team in 1905, and his grandson was in the Charterhouse team that won the Shield in 1931. Penrose captained the Oxford University rifle shooting team. He was ordained in 1874 and worked in several parishes before taking up the post at West Ashton.

In addition to shooting, Penrose became one of the best-known archers in the south-west of England, and in 1904 won the UK Championship and, with it, the coveted Spedding Memorial Challenge Cup. At the 1908 London Olympics, he finished fourth in the Double York Round, although he had more total hits and golds than the bronze medallist Henry Richardson (USA), but he lost out to the American on total points scored.

Penrose was a keen ornithologist and enthusiastic amateur carpenter. He also enjoyed driving and was one of the first people in Wiltshire to own a car, and was still seen behind the wheel in his eighties.