Background
Penderel was born in Tong, Shropshire, of yeoman stock, the third son of William Penderel. Richard Penderel was the life tenant of the farm by 1651, by which time it is assumed that his father had already died.
Penderel was born in Tong, Shropshire, of yeoman stock, the third son of William Penderel. Richard Penderel was the life tenant of the farm by 1651, by which time it is assumed that his father had already died.
He assisted with the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in September 1651. His family were Catholic, and were the tenants of the farm of Hobbal Grange in Tong. Their landlord was another Catholic, Basil Fitzherbert of Boscobel House, about 3 miles (48 km) away.
Early in the morning of 4 September 1651, Penderel was summoned to meet the king, Charles II, at White Ladies Priory, in Shropshire, shortly after Charles had fled from the field of the Battle of Worcester.
Richard Penderel was charged with protecting the king. He disguised Charles as a woodman, "William Jones", giving him a rough haircut and some of Penderel"s own clothes, and hid Charles in a coppice while it rained during the rest of the day.
He took Charles to his farmhouse that evening, before starting on the journey to Wales. Charles travelled on to Boscobel House, where Penderel"s eldest brother William was caretaker.
William Penderel provided Charles with a ladder to hide in the Royal Oak (sometimes known as "Penderel"s Oak") and distracted the soldiers who were searching for him.
On 12 September, the five Penderel brothers formed the bodyguard of the king on his overnight journey from Boscobel House to Moseley Hall near Wolverhampton, with the king riding on Humphrey"s old mill horse. Penderel was suspected of Royalist sympathies during the Commonwealth, but kept a low profile and was left unmolested. He was rewarded on the Restoration, welcomed at Charles II"s court in June 1660.
He was given a reward of £200 and an annuity of £100 for him and his heirs in April 1662.
Penderel contracted a fever and died of a while visiting London, and was buried at Street Giles-in-the-Fields. They all received pensions, and royal exemption from prosecutions for recusancy after the Popish Plot.
A Juris Doctor Wetherspoon public on High Holborn, London is named Penderel"s Oak in his honour - the licensed premises constitute the ground floor and basement of New Penderel House.