William Penn was born on 14 October 1644 and baptised on 23 October 1644 in All Hallows by the Tower, Barking, the oldest church in London pre-dating the Tower. First educated at Chigwell School and then privately.
His father, Admiral William Penn, came from a distinguished Anglican family, from Minety in Wiltshire. Admiral William Penn married a Dutchwoman, Margaret Jasper, daughter of a rich merchant in Rotterdam at St Martin’s Church in Ludgate on 6 June 1643. He became an admiral during the Cromwell Protectorate and was granted an Irish estate at Shanagarry near Cork. Nevertheless he retained links to royalty during this period.
From 1656-60 the Penn family was based at Macroom Castle, County Cork in Ireland. The family now also included Margaret born 1651 and Richard born 1655 plus a slave named Jack plus a parrot. It was here that William first heard about Quakerism.
In 1660 he attended Christ Church College, Oxford at age of 16 when the Church of England was the only accepted form of worship.
In 1661 he was sent down from Christ Church College, Oxford for being a Quaker and not conforming to university rules which was a great disappointment to his father. William decides to go travelling in Europe where he visits Paris, Saumur and Turin.
In 1664 he enrols to study law at Lincoln’s Inn in London.
During the following year 1665 the Great Plague took the lives of 100,000 Londoners, 20% of the population.
Sep 2-5, 1666 The Great Fire of London destroyed 15% (13,200) of the city’s housing including St Paul’s Cathedral.
William goes to Ireland 1666/7 to manage his father’s 12,000 acre estate. Here he meets Sir William Petty with whom he forms a lifelong friendship. He had been Physician-General for Ireland and then land surveyor under Oliver Cromwell. Here he again came into contact with the Quaker movement and the Society of Friends.
At this time Quaker worship was illegal and those attending were frequently rounded up and thrown into prison.
(Quakerism – the simple idea that every man woman and child could have a direct experience of God, unmediated by priests or doctrines. Given the name as they seem to have the habit of Quaking at the Word.
The Framework of Quaker belief was: passive resistance, opposition to the death penalty, freeing of slaves, establishing of schools, fair wages for servants, refusal to take an oath of any kind and the keeping of hats on always indoor or out. Quakers didn’t call the months and days of the week by their names – always first, second, third.)
In October 1668 Penn visits High Wycombe with Thomas Loe and George Whitehead before going on to visit Duke of Buckingham. Later that year he was accused of blasphemy – the penalty – imprisonment in the Tower of London for first time. Whilst there he writes ‘No Cross, No Crown’ and is released in July 1669.
In 1670 his father died leaving him considerable property in England and Ireland. That same year he and William Mead went on trial for preaching in Gracechurch St. His legal defence was so compelling though that he convinced the jury that he had committed no offence. However, under strong pressure from the judge the jury was encouraged to change their minds but even though the jury was locked up without food for 2 nights they refused to change their minds. The verdict was finally accepted and here a clear legal precedent was established guaranteeing the rights of juries to reach independent decisions which cannot be overturned by any judge.
However, shortly afterwards, his open preaching got him into trouble again in 1671 and Penn spends 6 months in Newgate Prison
On April 4, 1672 Penn marries Gulielma Springett, step-daughter if Isaac Pennington*, who he first met in 1668. She lived at Bury Farm in Amersham. Her teacher was Thomas Ellwood, one time secretary to John Milton. They married at King John’s Farm in Chorleywood which was then used as a meeting house for Quakers. They set up home in Basing House, 46 High Street, Rickmansworth where they stayed for 5 years before moving to Warminghurst in West Sussex, a manor house complete with gardeners and servants. Basing house was demolished but rebuilt in 1740 and is now the home of The Three Rivers Museum. The couple’s first three children died at Basing House as did Penn’s brother Richard in 1673 at 18.
(*Isaac Penington of The Grange, Chalfont St Peter,. His father was Lord Mayor of London 1642/43 and one of parliament’s judges who had condemned Charles I to death for which he died in the Tower in 1661. He was imprisoned 6 times for a total of 5 years between 1660-70 for his Quaker beliefs and eventually his estates were sequestrated. He married Lady Mary Springett in 1654 and so became step-father to Gulielma Maria Posthuma who was the posthumous daughter of Sir William Springett, a captain in the parliamentary army who died at the siege of Arundel. Gulielma is a Latinisation of her father’s name and Mary. Gulielma was described as virtuous, generous, wise, humble, frank and had great skill in physic and surgery.)
The debt owed by King Charles II’s to Penn was settled on March 4 1681 by granting the family a large area on the west bank of the Delaware river. Penn wanted to call the area Sylvania (Latin for woods), which the king changed to Pennsylvania in honour of his father. Perhaps the king was glad to have a place where religious and political outsiders (like the Quakers, or the Whigs, who wanted more influence for the people’s representatives) could have their own place, far away from England. One of the first counties of Pennsylvania was called Bucks County, named after Buckinghamshire in England.
In 1682 Penn sailed to America leaving Gulielma and children – Springett 7, Letitia 4 and William aged 17 months, behind. Before departure he met with Sir William Petty, who purchased some land in Pennsylvania from him, for he hoped to settle there. Petty told Penn not to oversell his colony, to keep land back for later development and to ensure the land is surveyed accurately. Both men at this time were members of the Royal Society.
The crossing on ‘Welcome’ took 8 weeks with an outbreak of smallpox claiming 30 lives. There Penn starts to build Pennsbury Manor in Bucks County. Here he also lays down the democratic principles for governing the state of Pennsylvania:
Fair treatment for native Americans
No military
Prison was for reform, not only to punish
Freedom of religion
Care for the poor and orphans
Education for all boys and girls
All men were to be given the vote
The state would be governed by a 72 member council and 200 strong House of Representatives. This was later said to be an inspiration for the constitution of the United States.
As for town planning Philadelphia ‘City of Brotherly Love’ was to be designed on a grid system with public squares and parks. This was because Penn had seen the ravages of the Great Plague/Fire of London.
Stained glass window located in the Oak Room at High Wycombe Town Hall
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Penn also explored the interior where he befriended the local Indians, the Lenapes tribe. Their chief Tamamend is reported to have said ‘We will live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the creeks and rivers run, and while the sun, moon and stars endure.’
Penn had hoped that Pennsylvania would be a profitable venture for himself and his family. With this in mind he marketed the colony throughout Europe in various languages and, as a result, settlers flocked to Pennsylvania. However, despite Pennsylvania’s rapid growth and diversity, the colony never turned a profit for Penn or his family. In fact, Penn would later be imprisoned in England for debt.
(Two paintings from the period with Penn: Benjamin West 1772, Edward Hicks 1847. (Copies of these can be viewed in ‘The Pennsylvanian’ pub in Rickmansworth.)
On the top of the City hall in Philadelphia there is a 27 ton bronze statue of William Penn 35 feet tall, the tallest atop any building in the world. The city hall is 548 feet high with the statue which looks out towards Penn’s house, Pennsbury Manor in Bucks County.
Penn returned to England in 1684.
In 1687 Penn persuaded King James II to issue the Declaration of Indulgence suspending many laws that penalised Quakers. (Jordans Meeting House dates from that time.) Two years later he was imprisoned on suspicion of high treason as a close associate of the former king and later goes into hiding on his Irish estates.
In 1693 he was cleared of all charges. He had written by this time an essay ‘Towards the present and future peace of Europe by the establishment of a European Parliament envisaging the constitutional arrangements for the United States of Europe.’
In 1694 Gulielma died. They had had 8 children but only 3 survived beyond the age of 5. Gulielma 1673 dy, William and Mary b 1674 (twins) both die young at Rickmansworth, Springett 1676-1696, Letitia b 1678, William b 1681, Unnamed child b 1683 and Gulielma Maria b 1685-9. Penn is ill for 2 months.
1696 sees Penn marry Hannah Callowhill and goes to live in Bristol, the 2nd centre of Quakerism. She was 25 and he was 52. They had 9 children. Unnamed daughter 1697 dy, John b 1700, Thomas b 1702, Hannah 1703-6, Margaret b 1704, Richard b 1706, Dennis b 1707, Hannah Margarita 1708-09, Louis b 1707
In 1696 the notorious window tax was first imposed in England. Through the years this led to anxious owners blocking up numerous windows to escape payment which often greatly aggravated illnesses.
In 1699 Penn sets sail for America again on board the ‘Canterbury’ and the voyage takes 13 weeks. With him go Hannah and 20 year old Letitia. On arrival Hannah gives birth to John. He was visiting America once more where he hoped to spend the rest of his life. In those years he put forward a plan to make a federation of all English colonies in America. There have been claims that he also fought slavery, but that seems unlikely, as he owned and even traded slaves himself. However, he did promote good treatment for slaves, and other Pennsylvania Quakers were among the earliest opponents of slavery. Returned to England in 1701 due to illness and financial troubles.
1708 he was confined to Debtors Prison in the Fleet prison in London.
Once free he meets Peter the Great of Russia, tells him of Quaker beliefs and Peter attends a Quaker meeting.
The Winter of 1708/9, named the Great Frost, saw the River Thames freeze over for 3 months. It was so cold that people would wake up to find themselves frozen to their bedsheets and axes had to be used to slice bread. When the Thames finally thawed in the spring, widespread flooding and famine followed.
1712 Penn had a stroke and suffered from loss of memory. Hannah holds the family together and assumed oversight of the government of Pennsylvania.
Penn died in 1718 at his home in Ruscombe, near Twyford in Berkshire, and was buried next to his first wife in the cemetery of the Jordans Quaker Meeting House. His family retained ownership of the colony of Pennsylvania until the American Revolution.