Family History: Chapters IX-X, Jenkins', The Family of William Penn, 1899: PA

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                            The  Family of
                             William Penn
                       Founder of  Pennsylvania
                       Ancestry and Descendants
 

Page 130


                            IX. THOMAS PENN.


Three children of William Penn and Hannah Callowhill, as we have seen, were
married,--Thomas, Margaret, and  Richard. Of Margaret (Freame) we have
already spoken.1 It remains, in this branch of the Founder's family, to speak
of Thomas and Richard and their descendants. We therefore take up Thomas and
his line. 

At the death of his father, Thomas was in his seventeenth year,--an
apprentice, as we have seen, with Michael Russell, in London. Apparently he
resided in the city from that time until he came to Pennsylvania in 1732.
Here he stayed nine years, and in 1741 returned to England. In 1751 he was
married; in 1775 he died. About 1728 he appears to have been engaged in
business of some sort in London, and to have had a partner. He writes to his
brother John, April 26 of that year, and signs the letter "Thomas Penn and
Company;" in it he speaks of "my business on partnership, of which I some
time since acquainted thee."2 

It is as the principal Proprietor of Pennsylvania for nearly thirty years
that Thomas Penn has distinction. His influential connection with the
Province was second only to that of his father. 

The will of the Founder remained in dispute for nine years, 1718 to 1727. A
summary of the several steps in the case is given in the "Breviate in the
Boundary Dispute,"3 and the subsequent arrangements concerning the
Proprietary estate are outlined in an article by the late Eli K. Price, in
the American Law Register for August, 1871. Probate of the Founder's will was
granted at Doctors' Commons, November 14-18, 1718. Hannah Penn then executed a
"Deed Poll of Appointment," upon her powers under the will, by which she
assigned half of Pennsylvania and the Delaware counties to her son John, and
divided the other half between Thomas, Richard, and Dennis. In October, 1721,
a suit was begun by Hannah Penn, in the Court of Exchequer, in her own right
and for her five children (who were then all minors), to establish the will
and her and the children's rights under it against all the other parties in
interest,--the 

    1 Some further details concerning her may be given later. 

    2 MS. letter in Historical Society of Pennsylvania collections. 

    3 "Pennsylvania Archives," 2d series, Vol. XVI. 


Page 131


two earls to whom the powers of government were devised; Springett Penn, as
heir-at-law of William Penn, Jr.; the surviving trustees in Pennsylvania,
named in Penn's will; and the younger children of William Penn, Jr.1 This
suit in the Exchequer Court, after many delays, during which Dennis Penn,
Henry Gouldney (one of the mortgagees), the Earl of Oxford, and Hannah Penn
all died, was decided favorably to the will July 4, 1727. The "family deed
sextipartite," to which an allusion has been made, was then framed, by which
it was agreed that John Penn should have half the Pennsylvania and Delaware
property, Thomas one-fourth, and Richard one-fourth, and that John's share
should be charged with certain money payments to Margaret (Freame). In
1729/30, January 13 and 14, "Indentures of Lease and Release" were executed
by the two surviving trustees of the old Ford mortgage, Joshua Gee and John
Woods, to the three brothers, in the shares agreed on, half to John, a
quarter to Thomas, and the other quarter to John and Thomas, as trustees for
Richard. June 24, 1735, Samuel Preston and James Logan, surviving trustees in
Pennsylvania under the will, released the estates on their part. The will of
the Founder was thus established, and the enjoyment of the Proprietary rights
lodged in the possession of the three surviving sons of his second wife. 

There had been some question in the minds of the young Proprietaries what use
to make of their inheritance. Prior to Springett Penn's death, in 1730 (? 1731), 
a negotiation with him had been on foot to sell to him and his brother
William a life-right in the Proprietorship, and there was another negotiation
for the purchase by John, Thomas, and Richard of all Springett's claims.
After his death the claims of William Penn, 3d, were extinguished by the
payment to him of five thousand five hundred pounds.2 

    1 The reference to Gulielma Maria, his daughter, in this suit, shows 
      that she was then the wife of Aubrey Thomas. 

    2 This sum was secured to him by a mortgage, and on this he borrowed 
      two thousand five hundred pounds of Alexander Forbes, his father-in-law. 
      The mortgage was finally extinguished by the three Proprietaries, 
      January 29, 1740/41. 


Page 132


Thomas Penn's residence in Philadelphia covered nine years,--the later period
of Governor Gordon's administration, and his death; the interval, 1736-38, in
which James Logan was acting Governor; and the first three years of Governor
Thomas's perturbed administration. During these nine years the State-House,
now Independence Hall, was built and Christ Church was given its present
dimensions, the "Indian Walk" took place, and the great Indian Council of
1736 was held in the Friends' meeting-house at Second and Market Streets.
This was the period when the "Palatine" German immigration was at full
height, and the Scotch-Irish were also coming freely. 

Leaving England in the summer of 1732, Thomas Penn reached the Delaware in
August, and landed at Chester on the 11th of that month. An express rode with
a letter from him to Governor Gordon, at Philadelphia, and that official
hastened to receive him with due honor. The Governor, "and all the members of
the Council who were able to travel, accompanied with a very large number of
gentlemen," set out next day for Chester, waited on him, and paid him their
compliments in due form. That he was embarrassed by the ceremonial, as the
story attributed to Keimer the printer, cited in Watson, avers, is not very
probable; he does not appear to have been a person unequal to the demands of
the station he occupied, whether it might be that of mercer's apprentice or
something higher. The company dined at Chester, then set out for
Philadelphia, and near the city the mayor, recorder, and aldermen, "with a
great body of people," met the party and extended the civic welcome. There
was general anxiety to see the visitor, for since the brief stay of William,
Jr., twenty-eight years before, and his angry departure, there had been none
of the family of the Founder seen here. There were crowds in the streets as
the cavalcade entered, and women and children gathered on the balconies and
door-stoops to see the new arrival,--"a son of William Penn!" That they found
a personable man we may infer from the portraits of him. 

The stories which were told afterwards of Thomas Penn, 


Page 133


the outcome of his stay here, are preserved by the omnivorous Watson, and may
be read in his "Annals." They represent his manners as cold. This may have
been. I presume him to have been a self-contained and somewhat formal man,
with little disposition to what in a later day has been called "gush." The
democratic colonists doubtless tried him by the tradition, then still fresh
among them, of his father's gracious and graceful manner, and they are said
to have found his brother John, when he came two years later, a more affable
person. We may take from Watson the story of that worthy Welshman, descendant
of the bards of Cambria, the Reverend Hugh David, who visited Thomas Penn to
read him a congratulatory poem recalling the honorable connection of the
Penns with the royal house of Tudor, and who retired from the presence much
disappointed. Relating his experience afterwards to Jonathan Jones, of
Merion, Hugh said with great disgust, "He spoke to me but three sentences:
'How dost thou do?' 'Farewell!' 'The other door!' " It is past denial that
such brevity of speech and lack of poetic appreciation must figure poorly in
the Welsh chronicle. 

Thomas Penn addressed himself with energy to the Proprietary affairs. The
situation had greatly changed since the days of continuous outlay and no
income in the first years of the settlement, and of perpetual struggle to
balance income and outgo in the period when the Founder broke down. There was
now a large revenue from the sale of lands and quit-rents, and the expense of
the government could be sustained by the increasing numbers of the people. 

In September, 1734, John Penn arrived at Philadelphia with his sister
Margaret--the "Pegg" of the Ruscombe family life--and her husband Thomas
Freame,1 and now all the children of Hannah Callowhill but Richard--for
Dennis 

    1 Thomas Freame had come over earlier, probably in 1732, and had 
      returned to England. With some persuasion his wife now accompanied 
      him to Pennsylvania. She finally returned to England in 1741 with 
      her brother Thomas. 


Page 134


had died in 1722--were gathered at Philadelphia. John returned to London in a
year, to carry on the controversy with Lord Baltimore over the Maryland
boundary, but Thomas and the Freames remained at Philadelphia. 

Thomas Penn established himself at Philadelphia in a residence between Bush
Hill and the Schuylkill, with grounds esteemed handsome in that day, and long
known as the "Proprietor's Garden." A young Virginian, Daniel Fisher, who had
come to Philadelphia to seek his fortune, and who walked late in the
afternoon of the first day of the week in May, 1755, "two miles out of town,"
found the garden, though somewhat neglected, more attractive, he thought, than
that of ex-Governor James Hamilton at Bush Hill. It was, he says, "laid out
with more judgment." The house, of brick, was "but small," with a kitchen,
etc., "justly contrived for a small rather than a numerous family,"--a
bachelor's establishment, plainly. "It is pleasingly situated," says the
writer, "on an eminence, with a gradual descent, over a small valley, to a
handsome, level road, out through a wood, affording an agreeable vista of
near two miles." The greenhouse, at that season empty, its plants and flowers
disposed in the pleasure-garden, "surpassed everything of its kind" Daniel
Fisher had seen in America, and he looked with pleasure on "a good many
orange, lemon, and citron trees, in great perfection, loaded with abundance
of fruit, and some of each sort seemingly ripe." There was also a neat little
deer park, but he was told that no deer were then kept in it. 

At the time of Daniel Fisher's visit to the Proprietor's Garden, Thomas Penn
had been absent from Philadelphia fourteen years. He returned to England in
1741. He had taken a somewhat active part in the affairs of the Province,
especially in the treaties and conferences with the Indians, and had been
occasionally present at the meetings of the Governor's Council. The Council's
minutes record him as present March 26, 1741, and at a meeting October 14,
that year, several Cayuga chiefs being present, Governor Thomas told them
that "Mr. Penn had hoped to have seen the Chief 


Page 135


of their Nations here this summer, but being disappointed, and being obliged
to go for England, he had left the Governor in his place." 

The Pennsylvania Gazette, August 20, 1741, has this paragraph: 

"This Day the Honourable Thomas Penn, Esq., one of the Proprietors of this
Province, attended by a Great Number of the Principal Inhabitants of this
City, set out for New York, in order to embark on board his Majesty's Ship
Squirrel, Capt. Peter Warren Commander, for Great Britain." 

Apparently he did not sail from New York, however, but from a port in New
England, and his ship did not get away until October. The following letter to
Richard Hockley,1 who was about to sail from England for Pennsylvania, to act
as agent for Thomas Penn, gives the time and circumstances of his arrival in
England: 

"DEAR DICKEY:  "As we have been in pain for you, hearing Privateers were off
our Capes, and shoud have great pleasure in hearing you were safe, I conclude
it has fared so with you, and that you will be glad to hear my Sister
[Margaret Freame], with her Children and myself are arrived, in perfect
health, as wee have been ever since our departure, which was this day five
weeks from New England; wee expected after seeing the mast ship in the
morning to have proceeded to Portsmouth, but the wind blowing hard at South
our Captain judged propper to put in here, where it blows hard, but as soon
as the wind is fair wee propose to sail for Portsmouth, from where I shall be
very glad to see you. Enclosed is a letter from my Brother which put in the
Post if he is not in Town, and desire Joseph Freame to get the enclosed bill
for £1000 accepted and take his receipt for it. Wee all affectionately salute
you, and I am 

       "Your Very Sincere Friend, 
    "THO: PENN 
 "PLYMOUTH HARBOR, Nov 22d 1741." 

The death of John Penn, in 1746, left Thomas Penn the holder of three-fourths
of the Proprietary and family land in Pennsylvania and Delaware. One-fourth
had come to him in fee, as we have seen, and two-fourths had been left 

    1 Penn MSS., Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 


Page 136


him in life-right by John. He thus became, prospectively if not already, a
rich man. Thenceforward for almost thirty years, to his death in 1775, he was
the chief of the Penn family and a figure of the first importance in the
public affairs of Pennsylvania. Throughout the period following his return to
England he was continually in correspondence with the Lieutenant-Governors and
other officials, and with his legal and business representatives in
Pennsylvania, and the mass of letters from and to him, in the collections now
owned by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, is so extensive that it has
been fully examined by but few persons. 

Thomas Penn's letters bear the mark of an energetic, prudent, and capable
man. His and the other Proprietary correspondence, Mr. W. R. Shepherd says,1
after a fuller and more careful inspection than almost any one else has
given, is creditable to the writers. "Our real cause for surprise," he
thinks, "should be that in their voluminous correspondence with their
officers in the Province, so few harsh and unkindly expressions appear." 

The change in Thomas's financial condition made by the inheritance of John's
half of the property was important. Down to that time, according to his own
statement, in a letter of October 9, 1749, to Richard Peters,2 he had spent,
year by year, almost the whole of his income. "People imagine, because we are
at the head of a large province," he says, "we must be rich; but I tell you
that for fifteen years, from 1732 to 1747, I laid by [only] about £100 a
year." He had been inclined to think, as is shown in a letter from Margaret
Freame to their brother John Penn, in 1736, that he was doing in Pennsylvania
the chief work for the united Proprietary interest, and should have
corresponding compensation. He suggested, she wrote John, that he should be
paid three thousand pounds for his expenses in 

    1 "Proprietary Government in Pennsylvania," by William Robert 
       Shepherd. New York, 1896. 

    2 Copy of letter in Historical Society of Pennsylvania collections. 


Page 137


managing the family affairs here,--two thousand pounds by John and one
thousand pounds by Richard.1 

While in Pennsylvania Thomas Penn engaged in some commercial ventures. John
Barclay--one of the sons of Robert Barclay, author of the famous Quaker book,
the "Apology"--was a merchant in Dublin, Ireland, and to him Thomas consigned
flaxseed and flour.2 

After returning to England, Thomas Penn lived in London for a time. Letters
in 1743 were addressed to him, "To the 

    1 Extracts from this letter, dated Philadelphia, June 14, 1736: 

      "We [Margaret and Thomas Freame, no doubt] went up to Pennsbury, 
      where we could not be long by ourselves; at last we got an opportunity 
      to speak to our brother." He was "pretty warm" over a proposal of 
      John's, "but on thinking it over became more mild." He would not, 
      however, send a proposed power-of-attorney (for the sale of some property, 
      apparently), "for you att home [John and Richard] that dont love 
      any trouble will dispose of it for what you can get. . . . He much 
      wonders at my brother Richard's declining to come over. . . . I heartily 
      wish all your affairs were so well settled as the Family might enjoy life 
      rather than suffer it." 

     The Freames, at this time, were remaining in Pennsylvania for the 
     purpose of selling their lands, some of which appear to have been at 
     Tulpehocken, in what is now Berks County. Thomas Freame writes to 
     John Penn that there are plenty desiring to buy, but they want small 
     tracts and have little ready money, while he wishes to sell in large blocks 
     and for cash. He says, writing from Philadelphia, March 22, 1736/7, "I 
     met with a very great Disappointment, for those Dutchmen that I wrote 
     you were about a large part of my Land went up with me to see it. 
     They approved of the Land and agreed wth me for a price, so that I 
     began to think of seeing you this Summer, I having been informed that 
     they had sixteen hundred pounds in Gold by them, but it proved otherwise, 
     for they would pay but £150 this summer and the rest Six years 
     hence. This would have done very well if I could afford to let my 
     money lay at Interest, but that is not what I want, therefore I did 
     nothing with them." Later, in September, 1736, he again writes to 
     John that as soon as he is able to ride (he had been unwell) he is going 
     to Tulpehocken "with some Palatines lately come in, to whom I have 
     some expectation of disposing of half that tract." 

    2 John Barclay signs himself in his letters "thy sincere friend and 
      affectionate kinsman," but the relationship is not clear. It was John 
      Barclay's niece, Christian Forbes, who had married William Penn, 
      Jr.'s, son, William Penn, 3d, in 1732, but this could hardly be regarded 
      as creating kinship with Thomas. 


Page 138


care of Mr. John Samuel, Merch't, in Three Kings Court, Lombard street," and
in 1745 and 1746 "at Mr. Draper's, Apothecary, in Charles Street, Convent
Garden." He was, however, much in the country with John, first at Feens,
where John continued to live after returning from Pennsylvania in 1735,1 and
later at a place called Hurley, or Hurley Place, near Maidenhead, in Berks,
to which John appears to have removed from Feens a year or more before his
death. John's health had not been good. There are frequent allusions in the
letters to his illness, and Bishop Vickris, writing to Thomas from Bristol,
in October, 1746 (near the time of John's death), much regretted the removal
from Feens to Hurley.2 

Thomas Penn had expected to return to Pennsylvania. In a letter to Richard
Peters, at Philadelphia, March 13, 1744, giving him a message for the
Indians, he says to tell them, "And, as for myself, that I fully expected to
return before this time, but some affairs have hindered me; however, I hope
to be in America some time the next year." 

    1 Feens was rented during John's absence, with its furniture, etc., and 
      "three fields" to a Walter Fisher for £32 2s. a year. The housekeeper 
      at the place was named Hannah Roberts. John Penn, after his return 
      to England, writes, December 2, 1735, to Thomas Penn, his steward or 
      agent (not of the family apparently, but a Penn, perhaps of Bucks; 
      there are several letters to and from him in the Historical Society's
      collections), "at Walgrave, near Twyford, Berks," thus: "I much want 
      to know if the Gentleman is Returned to feen's & when he will leave it, 
      for I should Like to come down next Week if the house is Clear, want 
      to know also if you have gott me a man for the Garden & horses, & if 
      you hear anything of a Person for the house that can Shave and Write 
      pretty well. I shall likewise want a maid servt. I wish you could gett 
      some good small beer brewed soon to be fitt to drink at Xmass. if Dick 
      Wilkins or Underwood has a good Sober Easy troting horse, shall want 
      one when I come down." 

    2 "I find you have got him into a more healthy and dry air, but I 
      fear my Good Friend, tis too late in the day. Oh how I lament his 
      ever putting a foot in that baneful place at Hurley, I greatly feared the 
      Consequences and often Dissuaded him from it." A bill for repairs at 
      "Hurley Great House," up to October 17, 1746, a few days before John's 
      death, was paid by the executors of his estate, William Vigor, Joseph 
      Freame, and Lascelles Metcalf. 


Page 139


And in a letter a few weeks later, May 9, he says, "I can't think of seeing
Philadelphia until the latter end of summer twelvemonth." 

Thomas Penn married, August 22, 1751, Lady Juliana Fermor, fourth daughter of
Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret. The Gentleman's Magazine for September, 1751,
reports the marriage: 

"Aug. 22. Hon. Thos. Penn (one of the two proprietors of Pennsylvania) was
married to Lady Juliana Fermor, youngest1 daughter to the E. of Pomfret." 

And the Pennsylvania Gazette, November 14, 1751, has the following paragraph: 

"By Capt. Hinton [ship "Philadelphia," John Hinton, from London] there is
advice that the Honourable Thomas Penn Esq; one of our Proprietaries, was
married the 22nd of August last, to the Lady Juliana Fermor, youngest
daughter of the Right Honourable the late2 Earl of Pomfret." 

In a letter to Richard Peters, September 29, 1751, Thomas Penn wrote,-- 

"As some of your letters are of a private nature, I shal now reply to such of
them as I have not taken notice of in my letter of business, but first I shall
tell you that for some time before I met with that unfortunate, and what had
like to have been fatal accident, I had determined on a change of life, and
had settled all the necessary points and made visits to the lady, which I
resumed on my return to Berkshire, and wee consummated our marriage the 22nd
of last month. This necessarily engaged my mind as well as person til
finished, that I could not sit down to write, but as my grand business is now
finished, and I am happily settled with a companion possessed with those
qualities that must render a reasonable man happy as well as of a Family
remarkable for their affection to each other, and into which I have been
received with marks of the greatest regard, I shall now sit down as a
correspondent to answer all my friends' letters. 

". . . Wee are turning our thoughts toward Pennsylvania, and if I 

    1 There is an error, apparently, in the statement that she was the 
      youngest daughter; two others, according to the list in Burke, were 
      younger than she. 

    2 "Late" is an error; he was then living, and died two years after, in 1753. 


Page 140


should be prevented from embarking the very next summer, if I live till the
spring after, I make no doubt of being ready then."1 

The "unfortunate" and nearly "fatal accident" alluded to above I have not
found described in the Penn papers, though it is, I am told, referred to in
some of them. It is said that Thomas and his brother Richard were riding in a
coach out of London, and having pistols with them,--for fear of highwaymen,
probably,--one of the weapons, in handling, was accidentally discharged,
causing a peculiar and serious wound upon Thomas's person. Evidently this
occurrence was a few months earlier than August, 1751. 

Lady Juliana Fermor was born in 1729, and was therefore much younger--some
twenty-seven years--than her husband, being, in fact, a woman in her youth at
the time of her marriage. There are several portraits of her preserved,2 and
one of these, a small full-length, painted by Peter Van Dyck (a descendant,
it is said, of the great Van Dyck) about the time of the marriage, represents
her as a well-looking lady, in her wedding-dress of white silk, made in a
style which illustrates strikingly the fashion of the time, the skirt being
spread out by hoops to enormous dimensions sidewise. She stands near the
fireplace of a handsome room, presumed to be in her father's house in
Albemarle Street, London. 

This marriage was an event of high importance to Thomas Penn and to all of
his family, most of whom, we may feel sure, had theretofore regarded him as a
confirmed bachelor,--he was nearly fifty,--and had been not inconsiderate how
his valuable estate as well as his present bounties would be ultimately
bestowed. An agreement had been made in 1732 between the three brothers,
John, Thomas, and Richard, "to devise their shares [of the Proprietary
estate] to the eldest son in tail male, remainder to other sons in like
manner," 

    1 He never realized these expectations; he did not again come to Pennsylvania. 

    2 Most of them in the possession of her descendant, the Earl of Ranfurly, 
      at Dungannon Park, Ireland. Cf. article by W. M. Conway, PENNA. MAG., Vol. VIII. 


Page 141


and upon failure of these to other members of the family in succession; this
agreement was confirmed by Thomas and Richard in 1750, and meantime John, in
his will, 1746, had left his estate to Thomas for life, with remainder to his
first son, "in tail male," and then successively, in like manner, to the other
sons. By this will of John, the will of Richard Penn, and the marriage
agreement of Thomas, to be mentioned presently, the descent of the
Proprietary estates was fixed. 

The Fermors (Farmers, Farmars) were a family of greater social distinction,
in the year 1751, than Thomas Penn. They accounted themselves as having had
an ancestor among those Norman invaders of England who were enriched at Saxon
expense in the Conqueror's time, and they had reached knighthood in 1586,
baronetcy in 1641, and the peerage in 1692. 

Their seat was at Easton Neston, in Northamptonshire, where Sir George Fermor
(knighted by Elizabeth in 1586) had entertained James I., in 1603, so
acceptably that his son, Hatton Fermor, was also made a knight by that
charming and generous monarch.1 In 1641, the family being then staunchly
royalist, Charles I. made a baronet of Sir William Fermor, and in 1692 his
son Sir William, being then equally in favor with William III., was made a
peer, with the title of Baron Lempster. Lord Lempster married three times,
his third wife being Sophia, daughter of Thomas, Duke of Leeds, and one of
his children by her was Thomas Penn's father-in-law, the second Baron
Lempster, who was made by George I. Earl of Pomfret (Pontefract, in
Yorkshire, pronounced Pomfret) in 1721. He married, 1720, 

    1 Robert Fermor (or in after-spelling Farmer and Farmar), a younger 
      son of Sir George of Easton Neston, went to Ireland in the army of
      Elizabeth, received confiscated Irish estates in Cork and Tipperary, and 
      was "slain" in that island in some of the fighting there. His grandson, 
      Major Jasper Farmar, a neighbor of William Penn's at Shangarry, became 
      a purchaser of land in Pennsylvania at the early settlement, and 
      coming over in the ship "Bristol Merchant," in 1685, died on the voyage. 
      Major Farmar's son, Edward Farmar, was later a prominent citizen at 
      Whitemarsh, near Philadelphia. 


Page 142


Henrietta Louisa, daughter of John Lord Jeffreys, and had a large
family,--Burke gives a list of eleven children. The eldest, George, succeeded
to the peerage on the death of his father in 1753. Four died young. One
daughter, Henrietta, married, 1747, John Conyers, Esq., of Copt House, Essex;
Sophia married John Carteret, Earl Granville; Charlotte married William Finch,
Esq., and died in 1813. These were older than Lady Juliana; the two younger,
according to Burke's list, were Louisa, who married Sir Thomas Clayton,
Bart., and Anne, who married, July 15, 1754, Thomas, first Viscount Cremorne,
the husband, later, of Philadelphia Hannah Freame.1 

The Earldom of Pomfret, it may be here mentioned, became extinct June 8,
1867, by the death of the fifth Earl, George William Richard (born December
31, 1824), who was unmarried. He was the great-grandson of Thomas, the first
Earl, father of Lady Juliana Penn.2 

The marriage with Lady Juliana was preceded by elaborate property
arrangements. The settlement made upon her and the children whom she might
have was drawn up with great care and a prodigious expenditure of legal
phraseology. August 14, 1751, eight days before the marriage, the bridegroom
expectant executed a "Lease for a year in order to the Settlement upon the
marriage of Thomas Penn with Lady Juliana Farmor," and later the settlement
was executed, quadripartite, Thomas Penn being of the first part; "the Right
Honourable Thomas, Earl of Pomfret, Baron of Lempster, and Knight of the most
Honourable 

    1 Philadelphia Hannah, born at Philadelphia in 1740 (not 1746, as is 
      twice by mistake stated in preceding pages of this essay), was married 
      to Lord Cremorne, May 8, 1770, and had a son and a daughter who both 
      died young. 

    2 John Jay Smith, in his address ("Penn-Logan Correspondence," Vol.  I.), 
      cites some information as to this last Earl. Granville John Penn 
      (Thomas Penn's grandson) had been his guardian. He left two sisters, 
      one married to Sir Thomas George Hesketh, M. P., of Rufford Hall, 
      Leicestershire, and the other to Colonel Thomas W. Ogilvy. Portions 
      of his property descended to these sisters and to his cousin, Sir George 
      William Denys, of Draycott Hall, Yorkshire. 


Page 143


Order of the Bath," of the second; Lady Juliana, of the third; and Messrs,
Barclay1 & Hyam, the Quaker merchants of London, of the fourth part. It can
hardly be supposed that any one but the lawyers--and possibly Thomas
Penn--ever read in full this latter extended document, much less followed
intelligently all its repetitious details. The original, on eight skins of
parchment, each twenty-six by thirty-four inches, is in the collections of
the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Printed in the private volume
prepared in 1870 by the late William Henry Rawle, American counsel for the
family,2 it covers sixty-four pages octavo, in solid array, without the
relief of one paragraphic break. 

The effect of this settlement was to leave Thomas Penn's property, including
the Proprietary estate in Pennsylvania, to (himself) the settler's use for
life, with remainder to his eldest son by Lady Juliana, "in tail male," with
remainder then to their second son, then to the third and every other son
successively, then to his first and other sons successively by any other
wife, then to his brother Richard Penn, then to his nephew John Penn, 2d,
eldest son of Richard, then to the first and every other son successively of
John Penn, then to Richard, 2d, son of Richard (brother of John, 2d), then to
Richard Penn, 2d's, eldest son, then to Richard, 2d's, second son, then to
Richard, 2d's, third and other sons successively,--all these being "in tail
male." Finally, all these failing,--which as a matter of fact they all did by
the year 1869, something over a century after this extended entailment in the
male line,--the property was to descend to the heirs of Thomas Penn "in tail
general." It is by virtue chiefly of this last clause in the settlement that
the present and recent heirs of the Penn property in Pennsylvania, in the
line of the Founder's second marriage, are the Stuarts of Bedfordshire (of
whom we shall speak later), descendants of Thomas Penn's daughter, Sophia Margaretta. 

    1 This was David Barclay, another son of Robert of Ury, the "Apologist," 
      and brother to John of Dublin, already mentioned. 

    2 "Articles, Wills, and Deeds creating the Entail of Pennsylvania and
      Three Lower Counties upon Delaware in the Penn Family." Philadelphia, 1870. 


Page 144


Some idea of the presents bestowed by the bridegroom at his marriage may be
suggested by the bill of James Cox, a London silversmith, which accompanied a
letter, September 2, 1751.1 The list of articles furnished by Mr. Cox includes
a brilliant hoop ring, a gold watch chain, a "gold seal for Mr. Hockley," "an
onyx [word illegible] in gold, complete," a "double coat engraved," etc., all
to the cost of £56 16s. 6d., while, as the letter explains, there was some
other article of greater value preparing by artists of the highest skill. 

A complimentary letter on his marriage, addressed him by Cossart de St.
Aubin, agent in London for the Moravians (from 1746 to 1755), is preserved.
It is addressed to Thomas Penn, at Hitcham, near Maidenhead, and proceeds: 

"Permit me Sir to congratulate you on your happy marriage. I can assure you
it has given me great joy and also to our good Mr. Spangenberg [Moravian
bishop], who joynes with me in warmest wish for your happiness. . . . May you
live long and happy, to the Comfort of all that are dear to you. I flatter
myself our people [the Moravians] are included in the number, and that they
desire nothing more but to enjoy your protection, and that of your
Descendants to the remotest ages. 

"(P. S.) Mr. Spangenberg and Company set out for America the end of the week.
He should have been exceeding glad to wait on you. He goes with Capt. Bryant,
who falls down the river today or Monday, bound for N. York." 

What changes in his religious connections took place in consequence of Thomas
Penn's marriage, and the social position which he now assumed, are not very
clearly defined. He had hardly considered himself one of the Friends for a
long time, and yet he had not very definitely abandoned association with
them.2 In 1743, when Governor Thomas 

    1 The letter apologizes for delay in waiting on T. P., as the writer had 
      been suddenly called to attend "Mr. Whitefield," on account of his 
      "sudden and unexpected departure," and could not fail to respond 
      without disobliging him. 

    2 His brother John, as already stated, was buried in the old ground of 
      the Friends, at Jordans, with his father and mother. In 1736 Margaret 
      (Freame), writing from Philadelphia to John, says, "Your appearance 
      among Friends was, I hear taken very kindly, and your behaviour just 
      like yourself." John not only appeared among the Friends, however, 
      about that time, but elsewhere as well, for in the same letter Margaret 
      says, "I am glad to find you had so kind a reception at Court, and if 
      you were to go often now the ice is broken I believe it would be of sarvis." 


Page 145


was contending with the Pennsylvania Assembly, and war with France was
impending, Thomas Penn wrote him, "I felt obliged to solicit the ministry
against the Quakers, or at least I stated that I did not hold their opinions
concerning defence. I no longer continue the little distinction of dress."1
After his marriage he went regularly to church, but down to 1771 certainly,2
and probably all his life, he never took the sacrament. A deposition made in
1758 showed that he considered himself a member of the Established Church
from about that time. His son John, born 1760, was baptized at the church of
St. Martin's in the Fields. In a letter to Governor James Hamilton, 1760,
alluding to the visit to England of William Logan (son of James Logan),
Thomas said, "You may be assured I shall treat him with regard, and shew him
I have no disregard to those of his profession [the Friends], except on their
levelling republican System of Government so much adopted by them."3 

Before his marriage Thomas Penn had settled in a town house. Letters in 1747,
and perhaps earlier, were addressed to him "at his house in the New Street,
Spring Gardens, near Charing Cross." This continued to be his city residence
until his death. In 1750 letters were addressed to him "at Hitcham, near
Maidenhead Bridge, Bucks." Nine years after his marriage (1760) he acquired
the handsome and valuable estate of Stoke Poges, in Bucks, where for over
eighty years the family home remained, and where the name of Penn, through
himself, his sons, and grandchildren, acquired new and honorable distinction. 

    1 "Letter-Book of Thomas Penn," Vol. II., in Historical Society of 
      Pennsylvania collections. 

    2 See statement made for him, May, 1771, post. 

    3 He might have done well, when in this frame of mind concerning systems
      of government, to read some of his father's writings on the subject, 
      of the period 1680 to 1690. 


Page 146


October 18, 1760, in a letter to Governor Hamilton, at Philadelphia, he
wrote,-- 

"You will be pleased to hear the others [children] with their mother, [are]
well at Stoke, to which we are removed, I having bought it: it is a very
large old house, that we passed when I went with you to see the Duke of
Marlborough's, and was then my Lady Cobham's." 

Stoke Poges is most famous as having the church-yard which Gray's immortal
"Elegy" describes; in this yard the poet's remains are buried. The residence,
Stoke, belonged to Sir Edward Coke in Queen Elizabeth's time, and here he
entertained that difficult female but vigorous monarch, his royal mistress,
in 1601. Later it became the property of Anne, Viscountess Cobham, and at her
death it was sold to Thomas Penn. The old manor-house furnished the place and,
in part, the subject for Gray's humorous poem, "The Long Story," whose
descriptions may interest us in this connection if not in any other.1 

At Stoke Thomas Penn, with his family, continued to live, except when in the
city, and there he is buried. The alterations and new erections made by his
son John have materially changed the appearance of the place since 1775; but
then, as now, it was a costly and elegant residence. 

The children of Thomas Penn and Lady Juliana seem to 

    1 "The estate having been seized by the Crown for a debt, James I. 
      granted the manor in fee to the celebrated lawyer, Sir Edward Coke, 
      who in 1601 (being then Attorney-General) entertained Queen Elizabeth 
      here very sumptuously. Upon the death of Sir E. Coke, at Stoke Poges, 
      in 1634, the manor came to his son-in-law, Baron Villiers of Stoke 
      Poges and Viscount Purbeck. Stoke House was in 1647, for a short 
      time, the residence of King Charles I., when he was a prisoner in the 
      power of the army. Lord Purbeck died in 1656, and about 1720 the 
      manor was sold by his heirs to the family of Gayer. In 1724 it was 
      purchased by Edward Halsey, Esq., whose daughter and heir married 
      Sir R. Temple, afterwards Lord Cobham. This lady (then a widow) 
      died here in 1760, when this estate was conveyed to the son of William 
      Penn, Esq., founder of Pennsylvania. In 1848 the manor was purchased 
      from the Penn family by the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, 
      who was created Baron Taunton in 1859."--Sheahan's History of Bucks, 
      London, 1862. 


Page 147


have been eight in number, of whom four died in infancy or youth, while four
grew up, and three of these married. The first child was named William. He
was born June 21, 1752, and died February 14, 1753. He was buried at Penn, in
Bucks. A daughter, Juliana, was born May 19, 1753, and lived to grow up and
marry. A second son, Thomas, was born July 17, 1754, but died September 5,
1757, and was buried at Penn. Twin children, William and Louisa Hannah, were
born July 22, 1756, and both died young, the former April 24, 1760, and the
latter June 10, 1766. Both are buried at Penn. 

In the parish church at Penn, under the northeast corner of the nave, there
is a large vault, made in the last century, in which there are six small
coffins. Four of these contain the remains of the children who are named
above as dying young,--William, Thomas, William, and Louisa Hannah,--one
contains those of a son of Richard Penn, and the other, simply marked "P," is
not identified. 

The grief of the parents at the loss of all but one of their first five
children is expressed in letters from Thomas Penn. The death of William, the
third son, who lived to be nearly four years old, especially affected him. In
a letter to Richard Peters, at Philadelphia, March 8, 1760, he had mentioned
the birth of "a fine boy" (John) "this day fortnight," and quickly following,
in other letters, appear the following paragraphs: 

To Governor Hamilton, April 10, 1760: "I am in a very anxious state. My son
William was attacked with a slow fever about two months ago; at first it was
thought intermitting, but has since been almost always upon him, and affected
his Breathing, so that his situation is very doubtful." 

To Richard Peters, April 11: "[He] has slow fever, and some appearance of
knots and obstructions in his flesh, which are said to be the cause of it. .
. . His mother having taken him to Marybon, for the benefit of the Air, and
not to be without the reach of advice, makes my journeys to and from that
place several times in the day absolutely necessary." 

Another letter to Governor Hamilton, May 10, announces the death of the
little boy on the 24th of April, and adds, 


Page 148


"[it is] an irreparable loss to me, as I had, from the opinion of my friends,
as well as from what I myself observed in the Child, great reason to believe
that both his Capacity and Disposition were such as would have rendered him a
valuable and useful man." Writing to Peters the same day, he said the boy was
a good scholar and had a "disposition sweet, though very lively." "My hopes
now," he added, "are on a child not three months old, who very providentially
came before this dreadful time, or his Mother might have suffered greatly
under it." And writing also to Richard Hockley the same day, he said the
death "leaves my only hope [as to a son] in one less than three months old, a
very slight dependence, and yet many such have succeeded." 

This child (John) lived to grow up and to attain ripe years. Two other
children--Granville, born in December, 1761, and Sophia, born in December,
1764--also grew up and died at an advanced age. 

Thomas Penn was in declining health for some years preceding his death. In
December, 1769, his brother Richard writes to him at "Westgate Buildings,
Bath," saying he hears he is in better health than he had been. In May Thomas
was again at Bath, returning to Stoke Park June 9. On July 4 Richard, writing
to him, refers to "the Doctor's orders for you to proceed immediately to
Tunbridge Wells." To that place Thomas went, and a little later (August)
tried the coast air at Margate. 

A statement filed among the Penn papers, under date of May 17, 1771, a
memorandum, apparently, submitted for a legal opinion, presents a number of
interesting biographical data at this point. Thomas Penn, it seems, had been
nominated by the Lord Mayor of London "to be a Sheriff of the City of London
and County of Middlesex." The statement thereupon says,-- 

"Mr. Penn was 40 years ago admitted a freeman of the City of London, and has
twice voted for a Member [of Parliament], once for Sir John Barnard, and
lately for Mr. Trecothick. Mr. Penn has no property whatever within the City
of London, and never lived within the city, is 


Page 149


near, if not quite 70 years old, has had a stroke of the Palsy, and cannot
walk without help. Mr. Penn was originally bred a Quaker. Since his marriage,
which is many years ago, he has gone to church regularly, but he has never
received the Sacrament. However, having gone regularly to church, I don't
think he can be looked upon as a Protestant Dissenter. Mr. Penn desires to be
advised what he can do to prevent serving this disagreeable office, or being
fined for not serving the same." 

The opinion of "Ja: Eyre, Lincoln's Inn Fields,"--evidently the counsel
consulted,--is placed upon the same sheet as the foregoing. His opinion is
that nothing can be done at present. Mr. Penn will have to await the
election,--he may not be elected; then, if seventy years old or over, he
might resist a suit for the fine on the ground that he is not physically a
"fit and able person," as required by the law.1 

By the opening of 1775 Thomas Penn's strength was evidently far spent. His
wife was now conducting the Pennsylvania correspondence. She writes from
Stoke to Governor John Penn, January 7 of that year, "Mr. Penn is going to
London for the winter." Then follow, in successive letters, same to the same,
the following passages: 

Stoke, January 10: "Mr. Penn has no particular complaint, but I think the
winter does not agree with him, and that he is weaker, though he goes out
every day." 

London, February 21: "I am sure that he rather loses than gains strength. As
I know your affection for him, I cannot write without giving you some account
of his health." 

London, March 1: "I think Mr. Penn is visibly worse the last two months, tho'
he still looks well at times, and goes out in the Coach as usual." 

Finally there comes this announcement,-- 

"I know the news I have to communicate will affect you, But the consideration
that poor Dr Mr. Penn had long since been no Comfort to 

    1 "Pricking" influential persons for high sheriff appears to have been a 
      device of politics in that day. The Duke of Newcastle, in his vast
      electioneering schemes, practised it, obtaining the favor of the person 
      who desired to escape the office by securing for him the King's "gracious 
      permission" to be excused. Cf. "English Historical Review," Vol. XII. p. 455. 


Page 150


himself will I hope make the hearing it is at an end less painful to you. It
pleased God to release him yesterday, March 21, in the evening. . . . 

"SPRING GARDENS, March 22." 

He was taken to the country for burial. In the church at Stoke Poges is a
tablet with the following inscription: 

     In a Vault
  In this Church are
  deposited the Remains of
     Thomas Penn,
  of Stoke Park in this Parish (Son of William Penn
       Founder of Pennsylvania),
    Born 1701. Married 1751. Died 1775.
 And of his wife the Rt Hon. Lady Juliana Penn,
    Born 1729. Married 1751. Died 1801.
       Also the remains of their Sons
  John Penn of Stoke Park. Born 1760. Died 1834.
     And Granville Penn of Stoke Park.
    Born 1761. Married 1791. Died 1844.
 Also Isabella, wife of the above Granville Penn,
     eldest daughter of Gen1 Gordon Forbes, Col. 29th Regiment.
    Born 1771. Married 1791. Died 1847.
        And of their Sons
   Granville John, late of Stoke Park. Born 1802. Died 1867.
    Thomas Gordon, in Holy Orders. Born 1803. Died 1869.
      William, Born 1811. Died 1848.
       Also their Daughters
 Sophia, 1st wife of F. M. Sir Wm Gomm G.C.B. Col. Coldstream Guards.

The character of Thomas Penn has perhaps been sufficiently suggested. It is
not easy to conclude that, on the whole, he was other than a just man,
according to his light. He was undoubtedly kind and considerate to many
different members of his family who desired his assistance or favor. He was
guardian for William Penn, 3d's, son, Springett, the last male Penn in the
elder line; he interested himself energetically to save some of her estate to
the widow of his spendthrift cousin, Walter Clement; he educated and assisted
his nephew John, the Governor; and from the day when we found him a lad in
London, doing errands for his mother at Ruscombe, he certainly was honestly 


Page 151


serviceable to many persons. Much severity has been bestowed upon him; these
approaches to praise are no more than his due. 

Thomas Penn's portrait, in the possession of the Earl of Ranfurly, painted at
the time of his marriage (a copy of which was added, March, 1896, to the
collections of the Pennsylvania Historical Society), is "a small full-length
of a perfectly dressed and somewhat precise gentleman, in the costume of the
middle of the eighteenth century. He wears an embroidered grayish lilac silk
coat and breeches, and a long white satin waistcoat. He stands at the open
door of a wainscoted room, with uncarpeted wooden floor. Through the doorway
an antechamber can be seen, with a window opening upon a pleasant country
view."1 

A painting by Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1764, shows the four children of Thomas
and Lady Juliana Penn, then living: Juliana, a girl of eleven; Louisa Hannah,
eight; John, four; and Granville, three. It is a fine example of Sir Joshua's
work; a criticism which might be suggested is that the two girls appear too
mature for their years. This painting is in possession of William Dugald
Stuart, at Tempsford Hall, Beds. A "splendid mezzotint," made by Charles
Turner in 1819, dedicated to John Penn (one of those in the picture), and
probably executed by his order, is described by Mr. Conway as then (1884) in
the possession of the Earl of Ranfurly. 

         SUMMARY: CHILDREN OF THOMAS AND LADY JULIANA PENN.

1. William, born June 21, 1752; died February 14, 1753; buried in the vault
at the parish church at Penn, in Bucks. 

2. Juliana, born May 19, 1753. She married, May 23, 1771, William Baker,
Esq., of Bayfordbury, Herts, and died April 23, 1772, and was buried at Stoke
Poges. She left one child, a daughter, Juliana (surname Baker), who married,
January 18, 1803, John Fawset Herbert Rawlins, Esq., and died s. p., 
September 11, 1849, at Gunters Grove, Stoke Courcy, Somerset. 

    1 Article by W. M. Conway, PENNA. MAG., Vol. VIII. p. 357. See 
      it also for details as to other portraits of Thomas Penn. 


Page 152


3. Thomas, born (Gentleman's Magazine) July 17, 1754; died (plate on coffin
at Penn) September 5, 1757. The coffin-plate says his age was "2 years and 1
month," and apparently there is an error here; probably the figure 2 should be 3. 

4. William, born July 22, 1756, and died April 24, 1760; buried at Penn.
Details concerning him, in letters of his father, have been given. 

5. Louisa Hannah (twin with William), born July 22, 1756; died June 10, 1766;
buried at Penn. 

6. John, born February 23, 1760; baptized March 21, 1760, at the church of
St. Martin's in the Fields; died unmarried June 21, 1834. Details will be
given of him later. 

7. Granville, born at the city residence, New Street, Spring Gardens,
December 9, 1761; married, June 24, 1791, Isabella Forbes; died September 28,
1844, leaving issue. See later. 

8. Sophia Margaretta, born December 25 (? 21), 1764; married Archbishop
William Stuart; died April 29, 1847; buried at Luton, Beds, leaving issue.
See later. 


Page 153


                      X. THE DESCENDANTS OF THOMAS PENN.


At the death of Thomas Penn, three of his children were living,--John,
Granville, and Sophia Margaretta. John, the "heir," the baby whose coming
just before the affecting death of his brother William seemed providential,
and served in some measure to distract the mother's grief, was a lad of
fifteen; Granville was thirteen, and Sophia ten. 

Thomas Penn left an extended and carefully drawn will. It was dated November
18, 1771, and had three codicils, the last being of June 23, 1774. It was
admitted to probate April 8, 1775. Though the descent of the Proprietary
estate had been strictly provided for in the family agreements and
settlements, he had a large private estate, real and personal, to dispose of.
He appointed his wife, Lady Juliana, and his son-in-law, William Baker,
executors for the personal estate, except that in Pennsylvania. He committed
to them also the disposal of real property at Bristol and Gloucester. His
nephew, Richard Penn, and Richard Hockley, were appointed executors in
America. At Philadelphia, ex-Governor James Hamilton, Rev. Richard Peters,
and Richard Hockley were appointed trustees to sell certain private lots and
tracts, and remit the proceeds to the executors in England. Stoke Park was
devised to the English executors as an entailed trust for five hundred years,
the life use of it to his son, John Penn, "without impeachment of waste." The
furniture at Stoke went to John. Lady Juliana received the city house, with
money, plate, etc. Provision was made for the education of the children. John
was to have an allowance of three hundred pounds a year till he was fifteen,
and then five hundred pounds a year until twenty-one. 

The son-in-law, William Baker, as previously stated, had married Juliana Penn
in 1771, and she had died the following 


Page 154


year. The widow, Lady Juliana, now found him a valuable aid in the
administration of her husband's extensive affairs. She writes, April 25,
1775, to Rev. Mr. Peters, "It has pleased God to raise us up in England a
most active and capable friend in Mr. Baker, who is Guardian, with me, to the
children, and without whom I should not have known what to have done." Many
letters at this period, on the family account, are by Mr. Baker.1 

A letter to Edmund Physick, agent at Philadelphia, by the two executors,
April 5, 1775, says that by his quarterly statement on 29th September, 1774,
he had a balance of fourteen thousand pounds, and they have since received,
in four remittances, thirteen thousand nine hundred pounds. They hope he will
state his later accounts, and remit. "The total stop which will be put to the
trade of the five Middle Colonies by the Bill now depending in Parliament, if
the Association entered into by the Congress is adhered to, will make the
Communication between America and Great Britain, and the opportunity for
remitting, more difficult." 

Writing to James Tilghman, the same date (5th), the executors said,-- 

"There are three great points which require much attention: the settlement of
the dispute with Connecticut, the adjustment of the western boundary with
Virginia, and the composition of arrears proposed with the settlers in the
three lower counties." 

In a letter to Governor John Penn, at Philadelphia, May 29, 1775, Lady
Juliana says,-- 

"I am returned to Stoke with my two little girls.2 Miss Baker has been
innoculated this spring, but is now well, tho' she was ill enough with it to
make me very uneasy for some time, and I have the happiness of finding my
boys in perfect health; they dined at home to-day, and desired me to add
their compliments," etc. 

The two boys were no doubt receiving their education preparatory to college.
John was entered later at Clare 

    1 Mr. Baker was sometime member of Parliament for Hertfordshire. 

    2 These were her daughter Sophia and her granddaughter the little 
      Juliana, who survived Mrs. Baker's death in 1772. The "boys" were, of 
      course, John and Granville. 


Page 155


Hall, Cambridge. The entry records him as a "nobleman,"--by virtue of his
mother's rank. He received his M.A. degree in 1779. When he came of age, in
February, 1781, he was at Brussels, and had been there for some time. "About
March" of that year, he says,1 "I left my family to return to England. I
lived between Stoke and London the remainder of the year, and after somewhat
preparing myself for understanding the beauties and sights of Italy, and
procuring letters . . . set off in the winter for Calais. By the favor of Mr.
Schutz, I obtained a permit from the Comte de Vergennes, signed by the F.
King, to land at Calais--which the war made necessary." He went to Lisle,
thence to Brussels, had, he says, few acquaintances, read Roman classics,
took lessons on the harpsichord ("afterward laid aside"), and attended the
Court of the Viceroy of the Austrian Netherlands, the Prince de Saxe Teschen.
Then he proceeded to Spa. "I am in lodgings at a painter's house," he says. He
hired "a little horse," at half a guinea per week, rode through the forest,
and produced an ode--his muse inclined to odes--of fifteen stanzas of six
lines each. He praised the 

   "Elysian views that now once more, 
    Ere six revolving years are o'er, 
      Entice my voluntary feet." 

Proceeding to Doesseldorf, to Coblentz, and other Rhine cities, he went to
Munich and Augsburg, and reached Paris January 31, 1783. "One of my first
things was waiting on the American Commissioners at Paris. . . . When I
arrived the treaty of peace had been signed three days." 

Lady Juliana Penn died November 20, 1801. A notice in the Gentleman's
Magazine for November of that year says, "At her house at Ham, Surrey, in her
73d year, [on the 20th] closed a pattern of Christian excellence by a serene
and peaceful death, Lady Juliana Penn . . . relict of the late Hon. Thomas
Penn," etc. 


    1 MS. "Commonplace Book," in collections of the Historical Society of
      Pennsylvania. 


Page 156


The limitations of our present study forbid our giving as much space to John
Penn as he deserves. On the whole, he is a curious and interesting
personality. He inherited, apparently, traits of his father, the prudent
business-man, and others of his grandfather, the idealist and reformer. He
was sixteen when the American Revolution caused the collapse of the family's
great colonial proprietorship, but the event does not seem to have soured or
seriously shocked him. Like his uncle John, he remained a bachelor to the end
of his life. He evidently enjoyed his large possessions, but probably his
greatest pleasure was in the expenditure of his money,--much of it on objects
which many men would not have cared for. He was an amateur in the arts,
something of a poet, something of an architect, a gentlepaced reformer, a
chevalier who rode without raising much dust, and an official who did not
disdain routine affairs. 

The return of peace permitted him to visit Pennsylvania. In June (1783) he
sailed from Falmouth for New York. The voyage was long, and closed with a
mild experience of shipwreck. "After seven weeks," his manuscript record
says, "we were awaked at one o'clock in the morning by the noise and motions
of the vessel stranded off Egg Harbour, on the Jersey coast. After firing
minute guns, and being avoided by one ship in sight, we were taken up by the
Three Friends, Capt. Anderson, a small sloop from Philadelphia, bound to New
York, which carried us there. We got on board at 6 o'clock in the
morning." 

John Penn now took up his residence in Philadelphia, and remained here for
five years. The Assembly of Pennsylvania, the single-bodied Legislature
established under the Constitution of 1776, had four years before his
arrival, in the throes of the Revolution, seized the Proprietary estates. The
act is dated November 27, 1779. It is entitled "An Act for vesting the estates
of the late Proprietaries of Pennsylvania in this Commonwealth," and this
title presents the substance of what follows. A clause of the preamble
declares that "the claims heretofore made by the late Proprietaries to the
whole of the soil [etc.] cannot longer 


Page 157


consist with the safety, liberty, and happiness of the good people of this
Commonwealth," and section 5 enacts "that all and every the estate, right,
title, [etc.] of the heirs and devisees, grantees, or others claiming as
Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, whereof they or either of them stood seised,
or to which they or any of them were entitled," on the 4th of July, 1776,
"except as hereinafter excepted, . . . shall be, and they are hereby vested
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, for the use and benefit of the citizens
thereof." 

The property excepted was the private lands and the Proprietary tenths, or
manors. Quit-rents due the Proprietaries on the public lands were to cease
and determine. One hundred and thirty thousand pounds, "sterling money," was
appropriated "to the devisees and legatees of Thomas Penn and Richard Penn,"
and "to the widow and relict of the said Thomas Penn," in such proportions as
the Legislature should thereafter direct. No part of the money was to be paid
until at least one year after the making of peace between England and the
United States, and then not more than twenty thousand pounds, nor less than
fifteen thousand, in any one year. 

The estate thus appropriated by the State John Penn valued, according to an
elaborate statement in his "Commonplace Book," at £1,536,545 4s. 3d. This
money loss was composed of three items: (1) the arrears of current quit-rent
payments; (2) the quit-rent right, capitalized (at twelve years' purchase);
(3) the value of the unsold lands. As to the last, he computed that
21,592,128 acres of land were taken. There had been 552,784 acres assigned in
manors and family grants, and 4,132,976 acres had been sold on quit-rent. The
unsold area, "at the lowest valuation," he estimated as worth £1,295,527 12s.
4 3/4d. "The loss then suffered is that of the [right of] government;
three-fifths of royal, one-fifth of other mines; and of lands and money to
the value of" the sum above stated.1 


    1 The amount of money received by the State of Pennsylvania from 
      the sale of the Proprietary lands, after the divestment, up to 1789, is 
      stated at £824,094 0s. 7d. The amount of the claim made upon the 
      British government by the heirs was £944,817 8s. 6d. Cf. Janney's 
      "Penn," p. 535, foot-note. 


Page 158


John Penn addressed himself to the care of the remaining property. He and the
other heirs petitioned the Assembly, without result, in relation to the
sequestration. He felt some inclination to make his home here. His cousin
John, who had been Governor when the catastrophe of 1776 occurred, had
remained, and on the whole was well liked and cordially treated. John (our
present subject) says, "I felt indeed the accustomed amor patrioe and
admiration of England, but sometimes a republican enthusiasm which attached
me to America, and almost wholly tempted me to stay.1 I may date my becoming
wholly an Englishman from the breaking up of that Assembly [1784] and
publication of its minutes relative to the treatment of our memorial." He
bought fifteen acres on the west bank of the Schuylkill, for six hundred
pounds sterling, in 1784,--"a dear purchase," he calls it,--and began the
erection upon it of the small mansion which still stands there in the
Zoîlogical Garden, now a part of Fairmount Park.2 This he named "The
Solitude,"--from the Duke of WÅrtemberg's, he explains. His city house
appears to have been "at the corner of Market and 6th streets;" at any rate,
it was there, Monday, May 26, 1788, "at 9 a.m.," that his plate, furniture,
etc., were sold at auction, preparatory to his return to England.3 

    1 He records in his "Commonplace Book" the names of the members of 
      "the Convention for improving the American Government," 1787. He 
      called promptly on Dr. Franklin when the latter returned from France. 
      The diary of General Washington, during his attendance upon the 
      Federal Convention, contains this entry: "Thursday 19 [July, 1787] 
      Dined at Mr. John Penn's (the younger) drank tea, and spent the evening 
      there." The diary of John Penn, in April, 1788, of a trip on horseback 
      from Philadelphia to Reading, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Lancaster, 
      appears in the "Commonplace Book," and is printed in the PENNA. 
      MAG., Vol. III. 

    2 It continued to be a part of the Penn estate until it was taken by 
      the city for the Park. 

    3 The gross proceeds were £564 4d. Taxes and commissions off, it 
      realized £539 11s. 10d.--PENNA. MAG., Vol. XV. p. 373. 


Page 159


Returning to England, probably in 1788, he entered upon a busy and indeed
active career. A pension--four thousand pounds a year--was voted by the
Parliament to the Penns in compensation for their American losses,1 and the
instalments of the allowance by the State of Pennsylvania began to be paid in
1785. John Penn, therefore, felt himself a fairly rich man, and he began in
1789 the erection of a large and handsome residence at Stoke. The early plans
for it were by Nasmith, but they were completed by Wyatt.2 The old manor-house
with its historic memories, which had been the family residence for thirty
years, was partly taken down.3 In 1798 John Penn was sheriff of
Buckinghamshire. 

    1 The Penn annuity was voted by the House of Commons May 14, 
      1790. The petition of Lady Juliana Penn for compensation had been 
      presented in that House February 8, 1788, by the Right Hon. Frederick 
      Montagu, who spoke of the services of Admiral Penn in adding to the 
      domain of England by the capture of Jamaica. Mr. Pitt consented, 
      "on the part of the King," that the petition be received.--Gentleman's 
      Magazine. 

    2 Britton and Brayley's "History of Buckinghamshire" (London, 
      1801) describes Stoke as it appeared at the beginning of the present 
      century, and calls it "one of the most charming and magnificent 
      residences in this part of the country." The account proceeds: 

      "It is built chiefly with brick, and covered with stucco, and consists 
      of a large, square centre, with two wings. The north or entrance front 
      is ornamented with a colonnade, consisting of ten Doric columns, and 
      approached by a flight of steps, leading to the Marble Hall. The south 
      front, 196 feet in length, is also adorned with a colonnade, consisting of 
      twelve fluted columns of the old Doric order. Above this ascends a 
      projecting portico, of four Ionic columns, sustaining an ornamental 
      pediment. The Marble Hall is oval, and contains four fine marble 
      busts, supported on scagliola pedestals. . . . 

      "The park, though rather flat, commands some very fine views, particularly 
      to the south, where the eye is directed over a large sheet of 
      water to the majestic Castle of Windsor, beyond which Cooper's Hill 
      and the Forest Woods close the prospect. A large lake winds round the 
      east side of the house, with a neat stone bridge thrown over it. The 
      lake was originally formed by Richmond, but it has been considerably 
      altered by Repton, who also directed the laying out of the Park." 

    3 A portion of it, however, was preserved, and is still (1897) in use. 
      It is of brick, ivy covered, and has decided architectural interest. 
      Over the front door-way is the date of the original erection, 1555. The 
      interior, among other attractions, has a beautiful old fireplace. Rooms 
      in the second story were fitted up by the Penns "as pleasure-rooms, or 
      resting-places, and furnished with portraits, hangings, and other decorations 
      in keeping with the age of the erection." In this old house Sir 
      Edward Coke wrote his famous "Institutes." 


Page 160


In 1802 he was member of Parliament for the borough of Helston, Cornwall. In
1805 he was appointed royal governor of the Isle of Portland, in Dorsetshire,
on the Channel coast, and this place--practically a sinecure, it may be
presumed--he retained for many years. He acquired here about 1815, from the
Crown, "the ruins of Rufus Castle, and a few acres 'round it," paying one
hundred and fifty pounds therefor, and began, upon plans by Wyatt, the erection 
of another costly and handsome place, known since as Pennsylvania Castle.1 

At Stoke, besides building the new house, John Penn erected in 1799 a
cenotaph to the poet Gray. This is after a design by Wyatt, and stands in the
grounds of Stoke Park, but near the church-yard, where the remains of Gray are
interred with those of his mother.2 On three sides of it are selections from
the Ode to Eton and the Elegy, and on the fourth the inscription: 

    1 November 11, 1815, writing from Portland to William Rawle, Jr., of 
      Philadelphia, John Penn said, "I see this place is called 'Pennsylvania 
      Castle' in the new Weymouth guide, though only christened so in joke 
      by the late Duchs of Bolton and Sir J. Hippesley. This therefore seems 
      destined to be its name." 

      John Jay Smith, in his address before the Historical Society of  
      Pennsylvania, November, 1867, described this place as he saw it in 1865. 
      It was, he said, "though castellated, a modern residence, calculated for 
      a large family, and abounding in every comfort. On a small, mounted 
      brass cannon on the front lawn, with its muzzle pointed seaward, is 
      inscribed that it was presented by an intimate friend, a nobleman, to 
      John Penn, 'member of Parliament.' . . . By careful shelter and artistic 
      planting, John Penn succeeded in surrounding the castle with belts of 
      beautiful trees." 

    2 John Penn paid much attention to the fame of Gray. Besides 
      erecting the cenotaph, he formed a splendid collection of Gray's 
      works. In the library of Stoke was the original manuscript of the 
      Elegy and a copy of every edition then published of it and Gray's 
      other poems. 


Page 161


          THIS MONUMENT
     IN HONOUR OF THOMAS GRAY
     WAS ERECTED IN 1799, AMONG
   THE SCENES CELEBRATED BY THAT
   GREAT LYRIC AND ELEGIAC POET.
    HE DIED JULY 30TH 1771 AND
  LIES UNNOTICED IN THE CHURCHYARD
   ADJOINING, UNDER THE TOMBSTONE 
 ON WHICH HE PIOUSLY AND PATHETICALLY
    RECORDED THE INTERMENT OF HIS
     AUNT AND LAMENTED MOTHER.

John Penn also erected a memorial to Sir Edward Coke. It stands in the park,
about three hundred yards from the north front of the house. It is a fluted
column sixty-eight feet high, and is surmounted by a statue, heroic size, of
the famous old jurist. The column was designed by Wyatt; the statue is by Rossi. 

Like many another builder of great houses, John Penn found them costly. His
letters to his correspondents in Philadelphia contain at times serious
complaints of poverty. Writing to Thomas Cadwalader,1 from London, August 13,
1824, he says,-- 

"I am really, by the failure of remittances, obliged to make a great and
heroic effort at economy. I have had no party as usual, this year, and do
[not] accept invitations, as I cannot give them, besides reducing my dinners,
when alone, to one or two dishes. This is to enable me to pay off a debt of
between four and 5000 pounds, incurred in a great measure in consequence of
my dependence on remittances, by putting in complete repair, which was found
necessary, the north or entrance colonnade of Stoke." 

Again, to the same, from the same place, January 26, 1825,-- 

"I have been at length so far irritated by this tendency of my expenses to
exceed my income as to have resolved to put on to the world an appearance 

    1 General Thomas Cadwalader received the power-of-attorney of John 
      Penn in 1815, and of Richard Penn (son of the first Richard) in 1817, 
      then tenants in tail male, to make sale of their lands in Pennsylvania.


Page 162


of economy, rather singular; as for full half a year I have confined my
dinners to a single joint; though it is little in character with the great
houses I have built myself." 

In 1822, July 24, he writes that he has bought a farm adjoining Stoke for
five thousand seven hundred and fifty pounds. Burke ("General Armory") says,
under his notice of Granville Penn, that the family owned in Bucks the manors
of Stoke Poges and Eton, "the latter purchased by the late John Penn, Esq." 

Of the city house, which had been his father's residence, he writes, January
1, 1816, to Thomas Cadwalader,-- 

"This part of the town, which as a garden is represented in the elegant
'MÇmoires de Grammont,' a scene of the revelry of some of Charles the
Second's courtiers, and in 'The Spectator' a promenade invited by Sir R. de
Coverley's water party, was built over [i.e., built upon] sixty years ago,
when my father fixed himself in this house; the best in the street, and
opening into St. James' Park." 

Not only as a civil-life governor, but also as an avowed defender of England,
John Penn appears. He was lieutenant-colonel of the First (Eton) Troop of the
First (South) Regiment of the Royal Bucks Yeomanry. Two portraits of him hung
in the picture-gallery at Pennsylvania Castle, one in "full court-dress," and
another "in full military array, sword in hand, at the head of the Portland
troop of horse, which he had organized for the defence of the English coast
against the expected invasion of Napoleon."1 

Besides his labors of authorship, one other undertaking of John Penn's
requires particular notice. This was his philanthropic enterprise, begun
about 1817, and named in 1818 the "Outinian Society." Its original object was
to promote matrimony, and it was called at first the Matrimonial 

    1 John Jay Smith's Address.--This portrait is by Sir William Beechey, 
      P.R.A., and was engraved by R. Dunkeston, and published 1809. A 
      drawing by Tendi, from a bust of John Penn, by Deare, engraved by 
      L. Schiavonetti, was published 1801.--"Dictionary of National Biography." 


Page 163


Society; later its scope was broadened and the other name adopted.1 The
announced object was to aid social reforms which were liable to be neglected,
but the marriage concern was chiefly kept in mind.2 The Society held meetings
monthly, in the season at Mr. Penn's town house, and at other times in the
country, at Leamington, Cheltenham, Bristol, etc., where a lecturer, who was
the secretary of the Society, delivered a lecture to the audience of genteel
persons who assembled. The scheme may have been thought amusing, but at any
rate considerable companies gathered to enjoy it, whose names are preserved
to us in the official reports of the Society. These were printed in the best
style of the art, and, as we may presume, at Mr. Penn's expense.3 For a time
it must have been quite a fashionable function. To give it a start,--which
was somewhat difficult apparently,--the Marchioness of Salisbury lent her
patronage, and thus encouraged others of quality to attend. In the intervals
of the lecture at Mr. Penn's town house the company walked in the gardens,
giving the affair something the character of a Greek philosophical academy.
The frontispiece to the principal volume of the Society's Reports is a
picture: 

"The Portico, Spring Gardens, No. 10 New Street (the only Portico) belonging
to J. Penn, Esq., with the Company assembled, as it appears during the
delivery of the Outinian Lectures, every Saturday throughout the Season." 

The Society was recorded as "Founded in the hundredth 

    1 The name is from a line in the Odyssey, which, freely rendered, 
      means, "No one is my name, Nobody is what my father, my mother, and 
      my friends call me." 

    2 The obituary notice in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1834, says, "Some 
      years ago Mr. Penn raised many a smile by his employing more than 
      one lecturer gravely to persuade youth of both sexes to enter into the 
      holy bonds of matrimony." 

    3 The list of those who attended within the first two or three years 
      appears to make about fifteen hundred names, many of them "passim,"
      --attending more than once. There were marchionesses, countesses, 
      viscountesses and baronesses, and other ladies, besides many gentlemen 
      of rank and distinction. 


Page 164


year after the death of the benevolent WILLIAM PENN, and in the year of the
second peace of AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. For securing the advantage of benevolence
and justice, with the aid of monitory suggestions, in Critical and Ethical
lectures, where NO OTHER provision can easily be made for that purpose: or
particularly proposing to lessen those evils incident to the pursuit of
Happiness by Marriage, or otherwise, from which the complaint has sprung that
'the business of Everybody is that of Nobody.' " 

A medal of the Society had, obverse, the bust of William Penn with the
Charter of Pennsylvania in his arms, and the legend: "Outinian Society
Founded 1818. William Penn deceased 1718." Reverse, Ulysses assailed by
Polyphemus. 

The Report announced that a "mediatrix," a "confidential female," would serve
the Society in the matrimonial movement, but to allay possible fears of the
too extended scope of her enterprising labors it was stated that she was not
to promote marriages "of young or inexperienced heirs or heiresses of
fortune;" in these cases the persuasive effort would be to restrain their
ardor until they had full opportunity to secure "suitable matches." The copy
of a blank appears in a report; this was to be sent out by the Society, to be
filled up with the description of eligible parties, under no less than
fifty-one different headings. It was called "The True Friend, or a Table
shewing the Exact Situation in Life and Personal Qualities of known
Marriageable Ladies." 

The Society continued in some form of activity for several years; by 1825 it
appears to have been concerned with befriending new inventions,--an improved
breakfast-waiter, a lamp-label bearing street names, etc.,--and to have
relaxed its matrimonial zeal. 

Apparently, John Penn regarded himself as following in the footsteps of his
grandfather the Founder; at what distance he does not make plain. In one
letter he says his Society is simply carrying on the "useful business of the
form of humanity established by William Penn." Writing 


Page 165


to Francis Hopkinson, at Philadelphia, from Stoke, August 14, 1820, he says,-- 

"If I can be said to differ observably in opinion from a grandfather with
whom I conceive that I essentially agree more than with any other man of
either past or present times, it is in the circumstance that I would allow
them [the fine arts, to which he had just previously alluded] within the
bounds of morality a larger scope than may suit the provisions of a Lycurgus.
This would be, however, for the same end of a true liberty, of which William
Penn made so good a use." 

His literary labors are represented in a number of works, all of the amateur
order. In 1796 he printed a tragedy, "The Battle of Edington, or British
Liberty," derived from the history of King Alfred. This was privately
produced at the Haymarket Theatre, the critics cut it up, and the author
answered the critics. In 1798 he issued his "Critical, Poetical, and Dramatic
Works," in two volumes, octavo. In 1811 Cambridge University encouraged him
with the degree of LL.D. 

Besides the portraits of John Penn already mentioned, there is one by Pine,
painted in 1787, and presented by him, December 18 of that year, to his
friend Edmund Physick, of Philadelphia. The portrait was supposed later to be
that of his cousin John Penn the Governor, and a copy was placed, under this
supposition, in the capitol at Harrisburg.1 

At the death of John Penn, June 21, 1834, his brother Granville succeeded. He
was born at the city house, New Street, Spring Gardens, December 9, 1761. He
had matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford, November 11, 1780, but did not
take a degree. He entered the civil service, and became an assistant chief
clerk in the War Department, for which, upon retiring, he received a pension
of five hundred and fifty pounds a year. June 24, 1791, he married Isabella,
eldest daughter of General Gordon Forbes, Colonel of the Twenty-ninth
Regiment of Foot. General Forbes was "of the family of Forbes of Skillater,
in Aberdeenshire;" 

    1 Cf. PENNA. MAG., Vol. I. p. 115. 


Page 166


his wife Mary was the "eldest daughter of Benjamin Sullivan, Esq., of Cork,
Ireland." 

At his marriage, Granville Penn "settled in London."1 He occupied his leisure
with literary labors, the results of which remain to us in numerous
substantial volumes, two of which, the "Memorials" of his great-grandfather,
Sir William Penn, are of value and form one of the chief sources of knowledge
concerning the Admiral. The other works are largely theological; some,
however, being classical commentary and criticism. Mr. Penn's first book,
"Critical Remarks on Isaiah," appeared in 1799; the Life of Admiral Penn was
published 1833. 

Granville Penn was a justice of the peace for Buckinghamshire, presumably
after his succession and residence at Stoke. He died at Stoke, September 28,
1844, and it has been observed that this was almost precisely two centuries
after the birth of his grandfather, William Penn the Founder,--a remarkably
long period to be covered by three succeeding generations.2 

The children of Granville and Isabella Penn were nine in number, four sons
and five daughters, as follows: 

1. John William, died in infancy; buried at Stoke Poges, December 18, 1802. 

2. Granville John, born November, 1803; died at Stoke, unmarried, March 29,
1867. See below. 

3. Thomas Gordon, died unmarried, September 10, 1869. See below. 

4. William, died unmarried, at Brighton, January 7, 1848. He was M.A. of
Christ Church, Oxford. 

5. Juliana Margaret, died in infancy; buried at Stoke Poges, March 21, 1804. 

6. Sophia, married (first wife of) Sir William Maynard Gomm, field-marshal,
K.C.B., and died without issue, 1827. (Her husband was an officer of high
distinction in the English military service. His father was killed at the
storming of La Pointe-Ö-Påtre, in Guadeloupe, 1794, and he--the son--was
gazetted an ensign before he was ten years old. His most notable service was
in the Peninsular war. After the death of his first wife, he married
Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Kerr, but died childless. Upon his return from
service in India, he purchased the Penn mansion in London, in Spring Gardens,
and made it his residence.) 

    1 In a house in Hertford Street, Mayfair, it would appear from an 
      allusion in John Jay Smith's Address. In 1801, the notice of his 
      mother's death states, he lived at Petersham. 

    2 William Penn was fifty-eight years old when his son Thomas was 
      born, and Thomas Penn was sixty-one when his son Granville was born. 


Page 167


7. Louisa Emily, died unmarried, May 27, 1841. 

8. Isabella Mary, died unmarried, at Brompton, January 28, 1856. 

9. Henrietta Anne, died unmarried, at Brompton, June 13, 1855. 

Granville Penn's will is referred to at some length in the Gentleman's
Magazine, 1845. It was proved January 16 of that year, and was dated February
9, 1836. It left to Granville John Penn, his eldest living son, substantially
the whole of the disposable estate, including three thousand pounds a year of
the Parliamentary annuity (charged, however, with some annuities and
legacies), the premises in New Street, Spring Gardens, and the estate at West
End, Stoke Poges, Bucks (the same, probably, purchased by John in 1822). The
entailed property passed to Granville John Penn, as tenant in tail male, by
the provisions of previous wills and settlements.1 

Of the nine children of Granville Penn, it will be seen above that only one
married, and she left no issue. In the line of Thomas Penn, therefore, this
branch of the family ends here, and our account of it will be completed when
we speak of Granville John and his brother Thomas Gordon. Referring first to
the latter, it may be said, briefly, that he was M.A. of Christ Church
College, Oxford, took orders in the English Church, and at his death,
September 10, 1869, 

    1 The "Dictionary of National Biography," in its article on Granville 
      Penn, states that Pennsylvania Castle, with all its historical contents, 
      was subsequently, in 1887, purchased by J. Merrick Head, Esq. 


Page 168


was the last male descendant of William Penn, Founder of Pennsylvania,
bearing the name of Penn. With him the male entail of the Proprietary estate
ended, and it passed to the heirs of his aunt Sophia, the wife of Archbishop
Stuart. He was a man "of most extensive reading and research," but he was
declared by a commission of lunacy incapable of managing his estates, which
were consequently in Chancery until his death. 

Granville John Penn maintained the ancient usage of the family by twice
visiting Pennsylvania. His first visit was in 1851, his second in 1857. He
presented to the Historical Society of Pennsylvania the large Indian wampum
belt which is preserved among its collections, and which has come to be
affectionately regarded by many as a present made by the Indian chiefs to the
Founder at the "Great Treaty" of 1683. He was cordially received in
Philadelphia on both visits, and in 1857 was entertained at supper in the
Letitia House, since removed to and now standing in Fairmount Park.1 

This, however, was only one among many attentions paid him. "He was the
recipient of a public dinner; the Mayor and Councils of Philadelphia gave him
a public reception, and his speeches on both occasions were remarkable for
classical taste and dignified delivery. These attentions he returned by a
very elegant collation under tents at 'Solitude.' He afterwards visited many
parts of this State, and extended his tour to Washington, Ohio, etc.,
expressing himself everywhere delighted with our scenery and people, and
highly gratified to witness so much that was beautiful, and such 

    1 See Horatio Gates Jones's account of the supper at the Letitia 
      House, in PENNA. MAG., Vol. IV. p. 412. "The chief dishes were 
      baked and boiled shad. [It was the 29th of April.] Mr. Penn appeared 
      to enjoy the whole affair very much. . . . Among the many jokes . . . 
      I remember one which seemed to amuse Mr. Penn not a little. Some 
      one said that the shad was a remarkable fish, because it always returned 
      to the same river where it was hatched. 'Is that the case?' asked Mr. 
      Penn. 'O, yes,' was the reply, 'and there is no doubt, Mr. Penn, that 
      you are to-night eating part of a lineal descendant of one of the shad of 
      which your great ancestor partook when he lived at Pennsbury Manorl' " 


Page 169


great prosperity. His name was a passport to many kindnesses and civilities."1 

Granville John Penn studied at Christ Church College, Oxford, and received
there his degree of M.A. Dr. Langley, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
was tutor to him and his brother. He was educated for, and became, a
barrister-at-law. His early education, as well as that of his brother, was
conducted by their father; they had never gone to school previous to their
entering college.2 His early years were passed at his father's house, or
"with Lord and Lady Cremorne, or at Stoke Park, whither the family, at the
period of the Weymouth season, regularly migrated, during their uncle John's
residence at the Portland Castle."3 

Granville John Penn was a deputy lieutenant and magistrate for Bucks.
Succeeding to his father at Stoke, in 1844, the family home was kept there
until the sale of the property a few years later.4 A picturesque and
interesting description of the place as it appeared in 1845, before the
breaking up, is given in John Jay Smith's Address, from which we are now
freely citing. He says,-- 

"The family at Stoke Park then [1845] consisted of the widow of Granville
Penn--her husband being then very recently deceased--a very old lady,
Granville John, three unmarried sisters, and the youngest brother, William,
who was educated for the Bar. The mother, the three daughters, and the three
sons are now [1867] all deceased, but a more 

    1 John Jay Smith's Address. 

    2 Ibid.--From the same: "While at college he acted as one of the 
      pages at the coronation of George the Fourth--a position much sought 
      for by young men of family. He was fond of relating that on this 
      great occasion, the young pages, unaccustomed to waiting on others, 
      forgot to bring in the hot dishes; the royal company was consequently 
      obliged to be contented with the cold collation set out for show during 
      the ceremony; after which the newly-fledged servitors had the satisfaction 
      of consuming the turtle soups, the game, and other delicacies 
      intended for royalty!" 

    3 John Jay Smith. 

    4 It has already been quoted from Sheahan's "History of Bucks" that 
      the manor was purchased by Mr. Labouchere (later Baron Taunton) in 
      1848. Sheahan also says that Stoke Court, the residence (1862) of 
      Abraham Darby, Esq., was purchased of the Penns in 1850. 


Page 170


happy and united family than they formed twenty-five years ago it would be
difficult to describe. Their surroundings were all of the very first class,
as regards a truly noble residence, an extensive and perfectly kept park,
abounding in deer and other game, a library of great size and value, liveried
servants, fine horses and coaches, with everything that could make life
desirable. The picturesque park that has seen so many successive generations
come and go, as we rambled among its beautiful and ancient trees, was as
silent as any scene amid our own native forests. The servants had mowed the
extensive lawns, the hot-house gardeners had set out the Italian portico with
newly flowered plants, covering the pots with lycopodiums and mosses, and the
attendants had all disappeared before breakfast was announced: every sound
was stilled and the place was all one's own. The deer silently wandered among
the ferns half as tall as themselves; the librarian, himself a learned man and
an author of merit, was at his post to hand the guests any book they required. 

"One felt assured, on passing into the great entrance-hall, beneath a funeral
hatchment in memory of the late proprietor, that he was not entering a house
of consistent Quakers, for one of the first objects was a pair of small brass
cannon, taken by Admiral Penn in his Dutch wars, elegantly mounted and
polished; and near by, opening on the left, was a fine billiard-room. Family
prayers were not neglected: the numerous servants were regularly assembled,
as is a usual custom in England: the service of the day is reverently read,
and all, from the head of the house to the humblest individual, on their
knees give thanks for mercies received. The house was not wanting in
memorials of Pennsylvania, a large portion of the Treaty Tree, sent by some
members of the Historical Society, with a silver label on it, ornamenting the
grand drawing-room of the second story, which was reached by a superb, long,
and rather fatiguing marble staircase. The birds of Pennsylvania, too, were
represented in elegant glass cases, together with Indian relics, and a finely
preserved beaver, which animal was once the annual tribute of the Penns to the
Crown." 

Granville John Penn died rather suddenly, March 29, 1867, no one but his
man-servant being with him. He had, it is said, "an unsigned will" in his
hand. His estate passed to his brother, Rev. Thomas Gordon Penn, already
mentioned. 

We return now to the last of the children of Thomas and Lady Juliana Penn,
Sophia Margaretta. From her two family branches are in existence,--that of
the Stuarts, present representatives of the Penn inheritance in Pennsylvania, 


Page 171


under the entail, and that of the Earl of Ranfurly. Sophia was born in
December, 1764. She married, in April (? or May), 1796, William Stuart, who
subsequently became Archbishop of Armagh, in the Established Church, and
consequently "Primate" of Ireland. 

The father of Mr. Stuart was a famous figure in English politics,--John,
third Earl of Bute,--who was the early associate and adviser of George III.,
and for several years his Prime Minister, the shining mark for the shafts of
Wilkes and "Junius." The wife of the Earl of Bute was the only daughter of
that even more famous person, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. The children of the
Earl included five sons, of whom William was the youngest, and was "designed
for the church." He was prepared at Winchester School, studied at St. John's
College, Cambridge, received his M.A. in 1774, obtained a fellowship, and
later received the vicarage of Luton, Bedfordshire.1 This place he held over
fourteen years, faithfully performing his parish duties, when he became,
1793, Canon of Windsor. Later he was appointed Bishop of St. David's, and in
1800 made Archbishop of Armagh.2 He took the degree of D.D. in 1789. Boswell,
in his "Life of Johnson," mentions him as having been introduced to the Doctor
"at his house in Bolt Court," and as "being, with all the advantage of
high-birth, learning, travel, and elegant manners, an exemplary parish
priest, in every respect."3 

    1 A thin living, "G. P." (Granville Penn, no doubt) says in the Gentleman's 
      Magazine for June, 1822, "with only two hundred pounds a year, 
      although the duty was very laborious." 

    2 "G. P." earnestly refutes the idea that his elevation came from his 
      father, or was due to his father's influence, and points out that the Earl 
      of Bute died March 10, 1792, and that Mr. Stuart's promotion from his 
      parish work to the deanery did not come until next year. 

    3 Maria Edgeworth says of Archbishop Stuart (in a letter to her aunt, 
      Mrs. Ruxton, of Black Castle, April 28, 1809), "The Primate was very 
      agreeable during the two days he spent here [Edgeworthstown]. My 
      father traveled with him from Dublin to Ardbraccan, and this reputed 
      silent man never ceased talking and telling entertaining anecdotes till 
      the carriage stopped at the steps at Ardbraccan. This I could hardly 
      credit till I myself heard his Grace burst forth in conversation. The 
      truth of his character gives such value to everything he says, even to 
      his humorous stories. He has two things in his character which I think 
      seldom meet--a strong taste for humor, and strong feelings of indignation. 
      . . . He is a man of the warmest feelings, with the coldest exterior 
      I ever saw." 


Page 172


As Archbishop for twenty-two years he filled a conspicuous place in the
affairs of the Irish Church. Extended allusion is made to him in Rev. John
Stuart's "History of Armagh."1 He died May 6, 1822. The peculiar and
distressing circumstances of his death have passed into the chronicle of the
time, and may be given here from the obituary article (May, 1822) in the
Gentleman's Magazine. The Archbishop was ill at his house in London. Sir
Henry Halford, an eminent physician, was called in, and prescribed a
"draught," which was ordered at an apothecary's near by. 

"His Lordship having expressed some impatience that the draught had not
arrived, Mrs. Stuart inquired of the servants if it had come; and being
answered in the affirmative, she desired that it might be brought to her
immediately. The under butler went to the porter, and demanded the draught
for his master. The man had just before received it, together with a small
vial of laudanum and camphorated spirits, which he occasionally used himself
as an external embrocation. Most unluckily, in the hurry of the moment,
instead of giving the draught intended for the Archbishop, he accidentally
substituted the bottle which contained the embrocation. The under butler
instantly carried it to Mrs. Stuart, without examination, and that lady, not
having a doubt that it was the medicine which had been recommended by Sir H.
Halford, poured it into a glass and gave it to her husband! In a few minutes,
however, the dreadful mistake was discovered, upon which Mrs. Stuart rushed
from the presence of the Archbishop into the street, with the phial in her
hand, and in a state of speechless distraction. Mr. Jones, the Apothecary,
having procured the usual antidote, lost not a moment in accompanying Mrs.
Stuart back to Hill street, where he administered to his Lordship, now almost
in a state of stupor, the strongest emetics, and used every means which his
skill and ingenuity could suggest to remove the poison from his stomach, all,
however, without effect. Sir Henry Halford and Dr. Baillie were sent for.
These physicians added their efforts to those of Mr. Jones, but with as
little success."2 

    1 Extracts from this are given in the Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XLI. 

    2 Writing from London to her step-mother, in Ireland, May 10, 1822, 
      Maria Edgeworth says, "The sudden death of the Primate, and the 
      horrible circumstances attending it, have incapacitated me from any 
      more home-writing at this moment. Mrs. Stuart gave him the medicine; 
      he had twice asked for his draught, and when she saw the servant 
      come in, she ran down, seized the bottle, and poured it out without 
      looking at the label, which was most distinct 'for external application.' 
      When dying, and when struggling under the power of the opium, he 
      called for a pencil and wrote these words for a comfort to his wife: 'I 
      could not have lived long, my dear love, at all events.' " 


Page 173


Mrs. Stuart, widow of the Archbishop, survived her husband twenty-five years,
and died April 29, 1847. She was buried at Luton, in Bedfordshire, in the
Stuart family vault. Her and the Archbishop's children were: 

1. Mary Juliana, born May, 1797; married, February 28, 1815, Thomas Knox,
Viscount Northland, who, succeeding his father, became second Earl of
Ranfurly, of Dungannon Park, County Tyrone, Ireland. The Earl of Ranfurly was
born April 19, 1786, and died March 21, 1858. His widow survived him, and died
July 11, 1866. They had eight children,--three sons and five daughters.1 The
eldest son, Thomas, who became third Earl of Ranfurly, will be mentioned
below. The second son, Major William Stuart Knox, was member of Parliament
for Dungannon 1851 to 1874. The third son, Granville Henry John Knox, born
1829, died 1845. 

2. William, born October 31, 1798; married, August 8, 1821, Henrietta Maria
Sarah, eldest daughter of Admiral Sir Charles Morrice Pole, Bart., K.C.B.,
etc. (Mrs. Stuart died July 26, 1853, and he remarried 1854.) William Stuart
was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he received his M.A.,
1820. He was a magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Bedfordshire, and high
sheriff 1846. He was member of Parliament for Armagh 1820-26, and for
Bedfordshire 1830-34. His seat was Aldenham Abbey, near Watford, Herts. He
died July 7, 1874. He had five children--three sons and two daughters--by his
first marriage.2 The eldest son, Colonel William Stuart, will be mentioned
below. 

    1 List in Burke's "Peerage." 

    2 List in Burke's "Commoners." 


Page 174


3. Henry, born 1804; died 1854; sometime member of Parliament for Bedford. 

4. Louisa, died unmarried September 29, 1823. Buried at Luton. 

The third Earl of Ranfurly, Thomas, son of the second Earl, and grandson of
Archbishop Stuart, was born November 13, 1816; married, October 10, 1848,
Harriet, daughter of James Rimington, of Broomhead Hall, County York; and
died May 20, 1858. His three children included his eldest son, Thomas
Granville Henry Stuart Knox, fourth Earl of Ranfurly, who was killed in 1875
while on a shooting expedition in Abyssinia, and his second son (brother to
the last named), Uchter John Mark Knox, fifth Earl, who was born August 14,
1856, and succeeded to the title on the death of his brother, just mentioned.
He is married and has children.1 An article in the PENNSYLVANIA MAGAZINE, by
W. M. Conway, describing some of the numerous Penn portraits and relics in
his possession at Dungannon Park, 1884, has been heretofore referred to. The
Knox family, of which he is representative, forms, it will be seen, one of
the two existing lines descended from William Penn through Thomas Penn. 

William Stuart, mentioned above, who died 1874, became, on the death of Rev.
Thomas Gordon Penn, unmarried, without issue, 1869, the "tenant in tail
general" to all the property which remained of that which John Penn, Thomas
Penn, and Richard Penn had entailed in Pennsylvania. By the failure of the
male line in every branch descended from William Penn's second marriage, it
now came to him as the oldest son of the only daughter of Thomas Penn who had
left issue, living at the time. Mr. Stuart thus received not only the John
Penn two-fourths, but the Thomas Penn one-fourth and the Richard Penn
one-fourth of the Pennsylvania property. By two indentures, dated August 5
and September 2, 1870, respectively, he "barred the entail," and by another
indenture, dated 

    1 Burke's "Peerage," 1891. 

Page 175


November 11, 1870, he confirmed all the Penn conveyances previously made.1 

By his will, William Stuart devised all his real estate to his son, Colonel
William Stuart. The latter was born in London (at the house of his
grandmother, widow of the Primate, Hill Street) March 7, 1825. He was member
of Parliament for Bedfordshire 1854-57 and 1859-68, and magistrate and deputy
lieutenant. He married, September 13, 1859, Katharine, eldest daughter of John
Armitage Nicholson, Esq., of Belrath, County Meath. She died October 16, 1881.
Colonel Stuart died December 21, 1893. They had issue: 

1. William Dugald. See below. 

2. Mary Charlotte Florence, born at Kempstone, Beds, May 2, 1863. 

3. Henry Esme, born at Kempstone July 15, 1865. 

4. Elizabeth Francis Sybil, born at Kempstone May 20, 1867. 

William Dugald Stuart thus represents now (1897) this branch of the Penn
family, descended from Thomas Penn. He was born at Southsea, Portsmouth,
October 18, 1860, and was educated at Eton and St. John's College, Cambridge.
He is a barrister-at-law of the Inner Temple. He entered the army and passed
several years in active service in the field as an officer of the King's
Royal Rifle Corps. His principal residence is at Tempsford Hall,
Bedfordshire, where he has in his possession the famous "portrait in armor"
of William Penn the Founder, a replica of which is in the collection of the
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the beautiful "Group of Four Children"
(Thomas Penn's), by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a replica of the Lely portrait of
Admiral Penn in the gallery of Greenwich Hospital, and other interesting
family relics. Attention has been given by him, in recent years, to the
remnants of the manor estates of the Penns in Pennsylvania. 

    1 This action is highly commended by Hon. Eli K. Price, in his pamphlet 
      "The Proprietary Title of the Penns," as making a perfect title 
      for holders of land derived from the family.