CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Joanna Penberthy

Anglican priest

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 10, 2026
Entity authorityQ27679113
Source-derived summary

Joanna Susan Penberthy (born 1960) is a retired Welsh Anglican bishop. From 2016 until 2023 she served as the bishop of St Davids in the Church in Wales. She was the first woman to become a bishop in the Church in Wales, when she was consecrated a bishop on 21 January 2017.

She has ministered in the Church of England and the Church in Wales: she has served as a deaconess in the Diocese of Durham and the Diocese of Llandaff, as a deacon in the Diocese of Llandaff, the Diocese of St Asaph, and the Diocese of St Davids, and as a priest in the Diocese of St Davids, the Diocese of Bath and Wells, and the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon. Her final appointment before being raised to the episcopate was as rector of the Benefice of Glan Ithon in the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon (2015 to 2016).

Early life and education

Penberthy was born in 1960 in Swansea, Wales. She was brought up in Cardiff, and was educated in the city at Cardiff High School, a comprehensive school. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1981; as per tradition, her BA was promoted to a Master of Arts (MA Cantab) degree in 1985. In 1983, she entered St John's College, Nottingham, an Evangelical Anglican theological college, to train for ministry. During this time, she also studied for a Master of Theology (MTh) degree, which she completed in 1984.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Joanna Penberthy” as anglican priest. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Joanna, Penberthy and Anglican.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1960, 2016, 2023, 2017—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1960. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Joanna, Penberthy and Anglican providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Joanna Penberthy”, the useful work is to connect “anglican priest” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27679113. VIAF identifies the subject as 4759152381780601950003. The Library of Congress control number is no2018046215. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 2016, 2023 and 2017.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Joanna Penberthy”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Joanna Penberthy primary sources, Joanna Penberthy archive and Joanna research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Joanna Penberthy”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Joanna Penberthy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.