John Denison-Pender

Who was John Denison-Pender?

John Cuthbert Denison-Pender, 1st Baron Pender GBE, KCMG, was a British Conservative politician. He retired from politics in 1922. In 1925 he was vice-chairman and joint managing director of Cable & Wireless Ltd., and governor of Cable & Wireless Holdings 1929-1945. In the years 1925-1940 he was a director of P&O, British-India Steam Navigation Company, National Provincial Bank, Eastman Kodak and Northern Assurance.

Denison-Pender was the son of Sir John Denison-Pender and his wife Beatrice Katherine. His paternal grandfather was Sir John Pender, the submarine communications cables pioneer. His half-uncle Sir James Pender was the first chairman of Eastman Kodak. He was educated at Hazelwood School in Limpsfield, Surrey, until the spring of 1896 when he went to Eton College, leaving in 1899. On leaving school he joined the Eastern Telegraph Company passing through several of their branches including cable laying. He was a member of the London County Council for South St Pancras between 1910 and 1919 and sat as Member of Parliament for Newmarket from 1913 to 1918 and for Balham and Tooting as a Coalition Conservative supporting the Coalition Government from 1918 to 1922.