Birthday Honours 2015
Nicholas Penny
Knight Bachelor
Director General
“For services to the Arts.”
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London Gazette notice
Knights Bachelor
Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood
St. James’s Palace, London SW1
13 June 2015
THE QUEEN has been graciously pleased, on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty's Birthday, to signify her intention of conferring the honour of Knighthood upon the undermentioned:
Dr. Nicholas Beaver PENNY F.B.A.
Director General, National Gallery
For services to the Arts.
Source: The London Gazette, issue 61256 · Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0
Location
London
In context
Each honour in context
Role, region and citation as recorded for each award.
Knight Bachelor
Birthday Honours 2015- Role at the time
- Director General
- Region
- London
“For services to the Arts.”
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Birthday Honours 2015
Nicholas Penny
Knight Bachelor
“For services to the Arts.”
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Birthday Honours 2015
Nicholas Penny
Knight Bachelor
“For services to the Arts.”
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Birthday Honours 2015
Nicholas Penny
Knight Bachelor
“For services to the Arts.”
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In context
The bigger picture
How common is this award?
The Knight Bachelor was awarded 30 times in the Birthday Honours List 2015 — about 2% of the list.
What organisation were they with?
Director General.
How widely is this recognised?
4,560 people have been recognised for Arts & Culture.
Counts reflect the 1937–2026 honours lists in our records; earlier years are not yet included.
Honoured alongside them
Others awarded the Knight Bachelor in the Birthday Honours 2015
Adrian White
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Surrey
“For services to International Trade and Investment.”
Andreas Whittam Smith
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For public service, particularly to the Church of England.”
Bernard Gray
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Oxfordshire
“For public service, particularly to Defence.”
Charles Downes
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Fife
“For services to Higher Education and Life Sciences.”
Christopher Clark
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
“For services to British German relations.”
Ciaran Devane
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Cancer Patients.”
Francis Mcloughlin
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Further Education.”
Gareth Edwards
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Mid Glamorgan
“For services to Sport and for charitable services.”
Gary Verity
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
North Yorkshire
“For services to Tourism and the Tour De France Grand Depart 2014.”
George Morrison
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Down
“For services to the Music Industry and to Tourism in Northern Ireland.”
Harshad Bhadeshia
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Cambridgeshire
“For services to Science and Technology.”
Henry Angest
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For political service.”
Hussein Pirmohamed
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Merseyside
“For services to Medicine.”
Iain Mcmillan
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Stirling and Falkirk
“For services to the Scottish Economy.”
Ian Weller
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Lincolnshire
“For services to HIV Research.”
James Macmillan
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
Glasgow
“For services to Music.”
Karl Jenkins
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Composing and Crossing Musical Genres.”
Kevan Collins
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Education.”
Lenworth Henry
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Drama and Charity.”
Michael Davis
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Holocaust Commemoration and Education.”
Naim Dangoor
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For charitable services.”
Nicholas Weller
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
West Yorkshire
“For services to Education.”
Patrick Head
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Motorsport.”
Paul Kenny
PersonKnight Bachelor · 2015
London
“For services to Trade Unions.”
In the same field
Others recognised for Arts & Culture
Across the 1937–2026 honours lists in our records, 4,560 people have been recognised for Arts & Culture. See the full list →
Malorie Blackman
PersonDame Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Literature.”
Cerys Matthews,
PersonOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Bourne End, Buckinghamshire
“For services to Music.”
Mukesh Sharma
PersonOfficer Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Newtownabbey, County Antrim
“For services to Heritage.”
Julia Catherine Donaldson
PersonDame Commander Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Horsham, West Sussex
“For services to Literature.”
Richard Starrs
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Stockton on Tees, North Yorkshire
“For services to Heritage.”
Adam Joolia
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Brighton, East Sussex
“For services to Young People and to Music.”
Julia Jones
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Carmarthenshire, Dyfed
“For services to Music.”
Margaret Irvine
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Birsay, Orkney
“For services to Drama and to the community in Orkney.”
Shirley Henderson (shirley Mcgill)
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Aberdeen, City of Aberdeen
“For services to Drama.”
James Fraser
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Dunblane, Stirling and Falkirk
“For services to Tourism and Heritage in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.”
John Fannon
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Weymouth, Dorset
“For services to Heritage.”
Helen Fannon
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Weymouth, Dorset
“For services to Heritage.”
Daniel Crow
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Southampton, Hampshire
“For services to Artists and to Arts and Heritage.”
David Cottle
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Swansea, West Glamorgan
“For services to Jazz Music.”
Rebecca Chapman
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Norwich, Norfolk
“For services to Inclusive Theatre.”
Marilyn Blieck
PersonBritish Empire Medal · 2026
Prestwick, Ayrshire and Arran
“For services to Music and to the community in Ayrshire.”
Christopher Gaze
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
“For services to British Arts and Culture in Canada.”
Stephen Watson
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Belfast, City of Belfast
“For services to Broadcasting and to Kidney Transplant Awareness and to Fundraising in Northern Ireland.”
Iain Varah
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Dunmow, Essex
“For services to Public Libraries, Culture and Leisure.”
Peter Talbot
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Eastbourne, East Sussex
“For services to the Arts.”
Paul Stacey
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
London, Greater London
“For services to Theatre.”
Lisa Riley
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Leeds, West Yorkshire
“For services to Drama and to Charity.”
Garry Richardson
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Seale, Surrey
“For services to Sport Broadcasting.”
Suzanne Raine
PersonMember Of The Order Of The British Empire · 2026
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
“For services to Heritage.”
Source & provenance
Where this record comes from
Knight Bachelor · 2015
London Gazette (official record), issue 61256, notice 2347494. View the official notice ↗
Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list (Birthday Honours List 2015).
Published 13 June 2015.
Location (London) comes from the Cabinet Office / gov.uk published honours list, not the Gazette notice, which records no recipient home location.
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