Judy French

French was born on 18 November 1960 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.[1][2] She spent her childhood living in England, Kenya and the Middle East, as the family moved during her father's career as a telecom engineer.[3] Her mother was a Sunday school teacher.[3] She was educated at an English "boarding school that was originally set up for the daughters of United Reformed Church ministers".[3] She therefore originally attended a URC church with her school, but soon began attending the local Church of England church.[3] She was confirmed at the age of 14, having attended the church near her grandparents’ home in Portsmouth for preparation.[3]

After finishing school, French moved to Portsmouth where she began working as an accounts clerk at an insurance firm. She became a member of the church she was confirmed at which was a "middle of the road church with an Anglo-Catholic vicar". She joined its parochial church council (PCC) at the age of 19.[3]

After completing a history A-Level at night school, French became the first member of her family to attend university when she took up a place to study theology at St David's College, Lampeter in Wales.[2][3] During her time at Lampeter, the university chaplain was a woman and there had been female deacons in the Church in Wales since 1980.[3] She felt the call to ordination while at university.[3] She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1989.[2] She was selected for ordination in the Church of England, and matriculated into St Stephen's House, Oxford, an Anglo-Catholic theological college, in 1989.[2][3] She was one of only two women in her year, but became the only woman when the other left shortly after starting her studies.[3] After two years of training, she left St St Stephen's House to be ordained as a deacon.[2]

French was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1991.[2] From 1991 to 1994, she was parish deacon at All Saints Church, Botley in the Diocese of Portsmouth.[2][3] As then Bishop of Portsmouth, Timothy Bavin, was conflicted about women priests, she would have to move dioceses to join the priesthood.[3]

French was ordained as a priest in 1994, the first year that woman were ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England, during a service at Coventry Cathedral.[2][4] From 1994 to 1997, she served as an assistant curate at St Mark's Church, Bilton in the Diocese of Coventry;[2] St Mark's is in the broad church tradition but had an Evangelical vicar at the time.[3]

In 1997, French was appointed Vicar of St Mary the Virgin, Charlbury in the Diocese of Oxford;[2] this made her the first female incumbent in the Dorchester Episcopal Area.[3][4] She was also Area Dean of Chipping Norton between 2007 and 2012.[2][4] She was made an Honorary Canon of Christ Church Cathedral in 2012.[2] In March 2014, she was announced as the first Archdeacon of Dorchester, an appointment created by the division of the Archdeaconry of Oxford.[4] She led her last service as vicar on 25 May after 17 years in the role.[5][6] On 19 June 2014, she was collated as archdeacon during a service at Christ Church Cathedral.[7]