On 12 March 1994, the first 32 women were ordained as Church of England priests. The service was officiated by Bishop Barry Rogerson in Bristol Cathedral.
Rogerson ordained the women in alphabetical order, so Angela Berners-Wilson is considered the very first woman to be ordained.
The youngest woman to be ordained was Karen MacKinnon, with Jean Kings being the second youngest. The oldest was 69.
In 2004 the tenth anniversary of the ordinations was celebrated at Bristol Cathedral and, by then, one of the women priests had died and 14 had retired.
The 32 women ordained on the day were: (Complete list copied from the Order of Service)
- Angela Berners-Wilson, a university chaplain
- Waveney Bishop
- Christine Clarke
- Judith Creighton
- Faith Cully
- Brenda Dowie
- Carol Edwards, of St Christopher’s, Brislington
- Annis Fessey
- Jan Fortune-Wood
- Susan Giles
- Jane Hayward
- Jean Kings, part-time parish deacon who was also chaplain at University of the West of England
- Karen MacKinnon, full-time parish deacon
- Audrey Maddock
- Charmion Mann
- Helen Marshall
- Glenys Mills, Christ’s Church, Clifton
- Jillianne Norman
- Clare Pipe-Wolferstan
- June Plummer
- Susan Restall, St Mary’s, Yate
- Susan Rose
- Susan Shipp
- Margery Simpson
- Sylvia Stevens
- Judith Thompson
- Anita Thorne
- Sheila Tyler
- Pauline Wall
- Rosemary Dawn Watling, at the time a 61-year-old Anglican nun and deacon in a vicarage in Bristol
- Valerie Woods, Vicar of Wood End in Coventry
- Ailsa Newby
The officiating bishop believed it would be 10 years before the first woman bishop was appointed.
Credit: Wikipedia