- Born 12th September 1887 the Son of William and Eleanor Pennington of Barrow-in-Furness
- Gunner, 79644 23rd Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery
- Injured by Gas Poisoning 8th August and died 11th August 1917, aged 29 years
- Burried at Oultersteene Communal Cemetry Extension, Bailleul, France
- Commemorated on the Furness Railway War memorial in Barrow Station foyer and on his family’s headstone at St. Cuthbert’s, Kirkby
[UPDATE June 2026]
Gunner William Pennington was not named on the Kirkby War Memorial presumably as he was resident in Barrow prior to the war. However, his family had close ties with Kirkby having moved there by 1919. Many of them are mentioned on the Pennington gravestone at St. Cuthbert’s including his sister Edith Eleanor Pennington who was headmistress of the infant’s department at Burlington school for over 20 years.
An extensive research into this gravestone and the family has been completed as part of the “FURNESS: Stories Behind the Stones” project and a direct link is given below.
ALSO OF WILLIAM PENNINGTON,
GUNNER, R. G. A.
YOUNGEST SON OF THE ABOVE
WHO WAS KILLED BY GAS-POISONING
AUGUST 11TH 1917, AGED 29 YEARS.
INTERRED AT OULTERSTEENE, BAILLEUL.