Priests do not officiate when Quakers marry. This is because the ‘Friends’ — as they are called — believe everyone can communicate directly with God via their inner light. When Loxley Park residents John and Catherine Kemp wed in 1967, they married themselves by holding hands and exchanging solemn vows.
Afterwards, the couple’s Quaker wedding certificate was signed by over 100 guests who acted as witnesses (though a traditional marriage certificate was also issued). The ceremony took place at the Quaker meeting house in Manchester, where John and Catherine first met when he was 21 and she was 19. Both were at university in the city — John undertaking a PhD in organofluorine chemistry, and Catherine studying bio-chemistry, a subject in which she later completed a PhD.
John, 84, was born in Bingley, and grew up in Guildford. Catherine, 82, is from York. They lived most of their lives in Canterbury, where John worked as a medicinal chemist, designing drugs for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer. Catherine was also employed by the company, but after two years left to teach at an infants’ school.
The couple came to Loxley Park from Canterbury at the urging of Rachel, one of their daughters who lives in Sheffield. Another daughter, Vanessa, lives in Bristol. “We moved here two-and-a-half years ago,” says John, “and don’t believe we could have found a nicer place to live. Our first-floor apartment has a view of the lake that is only a few feet from the living room window. There is plenty of parking for our car, and because we have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, we can accommodate visitors. There is also a small study.”
Another occupant of the apartment is the couple’s cat. She is called Callisto, named after Jupiter’s second largest moon, which is one of the many celestial bodies John has studied via his telescope. He is an enthusiastic umbraphile — someone who goes in search of solar eclipses, which he has observed in the Netherlands Antilles, India and Zambia. Another of John’s hobbies is photographing orchids and insects. Every Sunday morning, he and Catherine attend the Quaker meeting house near Sheffield’s Anglican cathedral.
