William Penn the third was the eldest surviving son of William Penn Junior., proprietor and founder of the colony of Pennsylvania.
Background
Was born on 14 March 1681, the sixth child of Penn and his first wife, Gulielma Maria Springett, in County Cork, Ireland. At Bristol on 12 January 1699, he married Mary Jones (1677–1733), the daughter of Charles and Martha (Wathen) Jones. His father was present at the wedding.
Career
Penn, the third. The couple had three children. He raised a militia company, but, being presented before the corporation of the city of Philadelphia, the chief men in which were unfriendly to his father, for disorder at a tavern, he took offense and returned to England. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Parliament.
On his mother"s side he was related to the wife of Lord Fairfax, and engaged with him and others in a project to recover sunken treasure.
By various means he added to his father"s financial embarrassment, and he was obliged to sell the manor of Williamstadt, which had been laid out for him at the founding of the colony. In 1708, he signed the Pennsylvania Mortgage Agreement.
He died of tuberculosis in Liège on 23 June 1720.
Membership
He came to the colony with newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor John Evans, arriving February 2, 1704, and was made a member of the provincial council six days later.