London – 11 January 2008. The Chancery regrets to announce the death of Mr Sidney Shipton, OBE, – a Knight First Class of the Royal Order of Francis I. Mr Shipton was invested into the Order in London in November 2006.
Sidney Lawrence Shipton was born in London in 1929 and was a solicitor by profession with a Bachelor’s of Law from the University of London. He practised Law from 1954 until the 1970s when he became a full time professional in the voluntary not for profit sector. He obtained his Master’s in Business Administration from Middlesex Business School. Mr Shipton was a Freeman of the City of London; a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Mr Shipton was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Years Honours list.
Those within the Order will have known Mr Shipton for his longstanding work as the Co-ordinator (and later Director) of the Three Faiths Forum (a National interfaith dialogue forum for Muslims, Christians and Jews and partner money of the Constantinian Order.
Sidney Shipton held both honorary offices and the post of Chief Executive with several national and international voluntary organisations. He served on the Board of Deputies of British Jews for many years. For some years he was the honorary secretary of the British Section of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists and honorary secretary and later vice chairman of the British Section of the World Jewish Congress. In 1987 he set up and organised an educational and charitable organisation with the purpose of bringing together Jews of differing streams of Judaism, background and heritage with a view to promoting mutual understanding. Mr Shipton was an Executive Member of the London Civic Forum and was an active participant in three Wilton Park Conferences on Islam. During 2005-2006 Mr Shipton participated in interfaith conferences in Sarajevo, Seville and Doha.
Requiescat in pace.