John Penn

Who was John Penn?

John Penn was the chief proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania as of 1775, and also a politician and writer. He and his cousin, John Penn held unsold property, of 24,000,000 acres, which the Pennsylvania legislature confiscated after the American Revolution.

Penn lived in Philadelphia for five years after the Revolution, from 1783-1788, building a country house just outside the city. He returned to Great Britain in 1789 after receiving his three-fourths portion of £130,000, the compensation for the proprietorship by the Pennsylvania government. He and his cousin John Penn, who remained a resident in the United States, also received compensation from Parliament for their losses in the former colony.

In 1798 Penn was appointed as High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, and served as a Member of Parliament. He was appointed in 1805 as governor of the Isle of Portland. Also a writer, he published in a variety of genres.