Edward Penington was an American pamphleteer. He was also a surveyor-general of Pennsylvania.
Background
Edward Penington was born on September 3, 1667 in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, South East England, United Kingdom (then Amersham, Bucks County, England). He was the youngest son of Isaac and Mary (Proude) Springett Penington. The family was one of comparative wealth. His grandfather, a London merchant, held several responsible city offices, among them that of lord mayor. As a member of the High Court of Justice which sentenced Charles I, he was sent to the Tower and his property was confiscated at the time of the Restoration. "Chalfont Grange, " the home of his son, was seized, but the family was not dispossesed until the year before Edward's birth. Following this loss, Mary Penington began to build a new home at Amersham. As the sole heir of Sir John Proude,
she was able to take care of her family comfortably.
Nine years before Edward was born, his parents had joined the Society of Friends and meetings were held in their home. Persecutions followed. Isaac Penington served four jail sentences, the last, at Reading, when his youngest son was five years old. He was a prolific pamphleteer, and the list of his writings filled twenty-six pages in the catalogue of Friends' books.
Education
Until Edward Penington was thirteen, a year after his father's death, he studied at home under tutors, one of whom was Thomas Ellwood, a recent convert to the Society of Friends. He continued his education at Edmonton. When Pennington was fifteen his mother died, leaving him "£100 to bind him to some handsome trade that hath not much of labor, " and four hundred pounds to be given to him when he had reached the age of twenty-two.
Career
Entering into the religious controversies of his sect, Edward Penington published in 1695 three pamphlets: The Discoverer Discovered, and Rabshakeh Rebuked, and His Railing Accusations Refuted, and, bound with the latter, A Reply to Thomas Crisp, all of which were answers to the attacks of Thomas Crisp upon George Fox and the Quakers. The next year two more pamphlets appeared: Some Brief Observations upon George Keith's Earnest Expostulation, and A Modest Detection of George Keith's (miscalled) Just Vindication of His Earnest Expostulation Published by Him As A Pretended Answer to a Late Book of Mine Entituled, Some Brief Observations, &c. His writings were argumentative, without unusual literary merit.
On April 26, 1698, Edward Penington was appointed surveyor-general of the province of Pennsylvania, an office which he held until his death. He accompanied William Penn to Philadelphia when the latter made his second trip, arriving Nov. 30, 1698. Penington assumed his duties at once. In 1701 he was appointed with James Logan attorney for the disposition of the property of Letitia Penn, the daughter of William Penn and Gulielma Springett, Penington's half-sister. When Letitia Penn returned to England in the early part of November, Penington's duties began. About one week later Edward Penington died in Philadelphia on November 11, 1701.
Achievements
Edward Penington was a distinguished pamphleteer. He bacame known as surveyor-general of Pennsylvania due to his service till his death.
Membership
Edward Pennington was a devout member of the Society of Friends.
Connections
On November 16, 1699, at the Friends' Meeting House in Burlington, New Jersey, Edward Penington married Sarah, the daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Ollive) Jennings (or Jenings). On November 22, 1700 their only child, Isaac, was born. After Edward's Penington passing, Sarah married Thomas Stevenson.
