Penn, John (1760 -1834)

Burke’s General armory attributes the arms Argent on a fess sable three plates; crest a demi-lion rampant argent gorged with a collar sable, to the family of = Penn, of Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire; Penn, of Minety, Gloucestershire; and Penn of Penn’s Lodge, Wiltshire.

Probably John Penn (1760-1834), the 4th but only surviving son of Thomas Penn of Stoke Park, and Lady Juliana Fermor, daughter of Thomas, 1st Earl of Pomfret. His grandfather was William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. John Penn inherited half of Pennsylvania and the governorship of the province from him at fifteen and in 1782 went to live there. He returned to England in 1789, where he wrote plays, poems and literary criticism, and also, in 1798 and 1800, two pamphlets on the defence of the country. Penn went on to support Pitt, who saw to it that he obtained the governorship of Portland and the command of the local militia. He devoted himself to belles lettres and projects of social utility such as the Outinian Society (1817), which he founded to promote domestic happiness among married people. He died unmarried, 21 June 1834