Isaac Pennington (abt. 1587 - 1661)

Born about 1587 in London, England

Ancestors

Husband of Abigail (Allen) Pennington — married 7 Feb 1614 in London, London, England

Husband of Mary (Young) Pennington — married 5 Dec 1629 in Henham, Essex, England

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1661 at about age 74 in Tower of London, London, England

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Biography

Isaac Pennington is Notable.

Isaac Pennington was a leader of Parliament in its opposition to King Charles I during the Civil War.

Family

Isaac Pennington was the eldest son of Robert Pennington, Fishmonger of London, and his wife Judith Shetterton. He was probably born about 1587, being age 40 when he proved his father's Will ^[1] on 20 April 1627. ^[2] He followed his father as a Liveryman of the Fishmongers' Company, perhaps in 1613, and was Prime Warden of the Company 1640-42, as his father had been 1612-14. ^[3] His fortune, however, was made in trade overseas. By 1622, along with his brother Daniel, he was adventuring his capital in the East India Company. ^[4][5]

In 1638, he was named a Sheriff of London, ^[6] and Alderman for the Bridge Without ward in 1639. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Isaac Pennington married twice: First, on 7 February 1614/5 at St John Hackney, to Abigail Allen, daughter of John Allen, Citizen and Fishmonger of London (St Botolph BIllingsgate). ^{[10] [11] [12]} This marriage had children: ^{[2] [13]}

Isaac - b. 1616; m. 1654 Mary Springett (Proude); d. 1689

Arthur - d. 1678

William - b. 1622?; d.1689

Daniel -

Abigail - b. 1617?; m. 1641 John Corbet?; d. after 1689

Bridget - b. before 1630; m. 1650 Richard More MP

He married secondly on 5 December 1629 to Mary Wilkinson, age 42, widow of Roger Wilkinson, daughter of Matthew Young, ^{[14][15] [16]} She was probably the mother of some of Isaac Pennington's younger children:

Judith - b. 1640; m. 18 January 1671/2 Molineux

Parliamentarian

Isaac Pennington was a strict puritan. In London, he lived in the parish of St Stephen Coleman Street, "a puritan stronghold." ^{[9] [17]} When in about 1635 he purchased property at Chalfont St Peter,'s Buckinghamshire, he was at odds with the vicar, whose practices conformed to those established by the archbishop William Laud, which Pennington criticised for the neglect of preaching and "increasing of Popery and spreading of Arminianism." ^[18] It was largely because of Laud's policies that Pennington came to oppose King Charles I following the Bishops Wars on Presbyterian Scotland instigated by the archbishop.

When in 1640 Isaac Pennington was elected to represent London in Parliament, he was a leader of a campaign to abolish bishops and to impeach Laud. In December, he presented a petition to the House, signed by 15,000 Londoners, against the Laudian practices in the church, after which parliament declared that the convocation of the clergy had no right to make laws or canons without its consent. ^{[9] [19]} He also raised large sums of money from the puritan community for the city's defense against the king. ^[9]

On 4 January 1641/2, the king marched into Parliament to arrest five Members he considered traitors, but they had already taken refuge in the parish of Coleman Street, perhaps hidden there by Isaac Pennington. In the same year, he was named Lord Mayor of London and a member of the city's militia committee. ^[17] In April he was appointed colonel of the White Regiment of the London Trained Bands, ^[20] a post he held until 1645, when the Self-Denying Ordinance required MPs to resign their military commands. In 1643, he was appointed Lieutenant of the Tower of London, which meant that he presided over the imprisonment of William Laud until the time of his execution on 10 January 1645. ^[21]

During the active prosecution of the ensuing Civil War, Pennington consistently opposed efforts of parties within Parliament to negotiate a peace with the king. ^[9] As such, he was considered reliable by the army to be named as one of the commissioners of a High Court of Justice to judge the king when he was charged with treason in January 1648/9. ^[22] He attended some but not all of the sessions of the court but did not sign the king's death warrant.

Even before the trial, Pennington found that power was passing from Parliament into the hands of the army. He was named to the Council of State, ^[17] but it was only a few years before what remained of Parliament was dismissed by General Oliver Cromwell, who made himself Lord Protector. In the meantime, Pennington's debts, many of them incurred on behalf of Parliament, were pressing him until he had to relinquish his position as alderman. ^{[9] [17]}

When King Charles II, at the restoration of the monarchy, issued his declaration of pardon and indemnity, Pennington turned himself in on the grounds that he had never signed the death warrant of the former king. Nonetheless, he was put on trial in October 1660 for "encompassing the death of the king." ^[23] His defense was a weak one: "It was ignorance, not malice, that led me; if I had known what I had done, I would not have done it." The preordained verdict was "guilty".

Later that year was passed an Act of Attainder in which Isaac Pennington was named among those whose possessions were forfeited as guilty of treason. ^[24] He was held in the Tower of London until his death on 17 December 1661. It was reported to Parliament on 19 December 1661: "Sir John Robinson, Lieutenant of the Tower, acquainted this House, that Isaac Pennington, one of the Regicides who were Prisoners in the Tower, is dead." ^[25] "On 19 December 1661 a Warrant was issued to Sir John Robinson, Lieutenant of the Tower, to deliver the corpse of Isaac Penington, who died in prison there (Dec 17) to his relations." ^[26]

His place of burial is not known. On 15 November 1665, the diarist Samuel Pepys, was in conversation with his daughter Judith: "Mrs. Penington, whose father, I hear, was one of the Court of justice, and died prisoner, of the stone, in the Tower." ^[27]

Research Notes

Knighthood

"Some sources have styled Isaac Pennington as a knight, however, the proposed knighting never took place. Shaw ^[28] lists "Knights incorrectly stated to have been made in 1649 by the Speaker of the House of Commons by recommendation of the House:Thomas Andrews the Lord Mayor, Isaac Pennington and Thomas Atkins, Aldermen of London." ^[29] A survey of contemporary references to Pennington show that he was only rarely referenced as "Sir", and several of those references were dated before his supposed knighting. Accordingly, Isaac Pennington is not styled as "Sir Isaac".

Children

Birth or baptism records can not be found for most of Isaac's children. In some cases these can be estimated from their marriage or burial records, but this is not always the case. It is particularly troublesome when account is taken of Isaac's two marriages, the second in 1629. Most sources have assumed that the mother of all the children must have been first wife Abigail Allen. But the marriage licence for Judith in 1675/6 clearly indicates that she was born after that date and thus must be the child of Isaac's second marriage to Mary Young Wilkinson. It is conceivable that Daniel also may be a child of Mary, as he was the youngest son, but it has not been possible to determine his birth date with sufficient certainty, and thus his mother is questionable.

As the eldest daughter, Abigail Pennington can be assumed to have a birth dated in the 1620s. However, the identity of her husband is unclear, other than being named "Corbet". It is possible that he was the John Corbett who was a colleague of Pennington in Parliament and took part in the marriage settlement of Bridgett Pennington with Richard More, ^[30] but conclusive identification has not yet been discovered, as there are many possible Corbetts. It is also conceivable that the Abigail Corbett buried on 10 April 1695 at St Margaret's Westminster could be Abigail Pennington.

Sources

1. ↑ "Will of Robert Pennington, Fishmonger of London" PROB 11/151/518
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "Pedigree of Pennington", Foster, Joseph. Penningtoniana. (Pedigree of Sir Josslyn Pennington), p. 66. 1878. Pedigree
3. ↑ Fishmongers Company Online Almanac Prime Wardens
4. ↑ "East Indies: Miscellaneous, 1622." Calendar of State Papers Colonial, East Indies, China and Japan, Volume 4, 1622-1624. Ed. W Noel Sainsbury. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1878. 88-93. British History Online. Web. 4 June 2023. 1622
5. ↑ "Surnames beginning 'P'." The Cromwell Association Online Directory of Parliamentarian Army Officers . Ed. Stephen K Roberts. British History Online, 2017. British History Online. Web. 3 June 2023. Penington
6. ↑ Wikipedia: List of Sheriffs of London [1]
7. ↑ Beaven, Alfred P. "Aldermen of the City of London: Bridge Ward Without." The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912. London: Corporation of the City of London, 1908. 63-69. British History Online. Web. 2 June 2023. January 29th 1639
8. ↑ Wikipedia: Isaac Pennington (Lord Mayor) [2]
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5} Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 44/ Penington, Isaac (1587?-1661) by Charlotte Fell Smith DNB
10. ↑ "Will of John Allen, Fishmonger of London", dated 3 December 1612, proved 22 February 1613 PROB 11/212/213
11. ↑ Parish Register Hackney/ St John At Hackney/ 1556-1652 Ancestry UK
12. ↑ Boyd's Inhabitants of London FindMyPast
13. ↑ Boyd's Inhabitants of London FindMyPast
14. ↑ Essex : West Bergholt : St Mary the Virgin : Parish Register : "Parish Register" database, FreeREG : marriage Isaak Pennington to Marie Wilkinson 23 Dec 1629
15. ↑ Diocese Of London Marriage Licence Extracts 1598-1639 FindMyPast
16. ↑ Macdonald, Alice Edith Middleton The fortunes of a family (Bosville of New Hall, Gunthwaite and Thorpe) through nine centuries, p. 78. Edinburgh, Printed by T. and A. Constable ltd., 1928. Wilkinson
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3} BCW Project: Isaac Penington BCW
18. ↑ "Charles I - volume 326: June 10-19, 1636." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles I, 1635-6. Ed. John Bruce. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1866. 550-571. British History Online. Web. 3 June 2023. June 13
19. ↑ Noble, Mark. The Lives of the English Regicides, vol 2, "The Life of Isaac Pennington, Esq." p. 121 ff. London: John Stockdale, 1798.
20. ↑ White Regiment of Foot of the London Trained Bands Trained Bands
21. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 4: 6 January 1645." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 4, 1644-1646. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 11-12. British History Online. Web. 3 June 2023. Commons
22. ↑ "January 1649: An Act of the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament, for Erecting of a High Court of Justice, for the Trying and Judging of Charles Stuart, King of England." Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660. Eds. C H Firth, and R S Rait. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1911. 1253-1255. British History Online. Web. 3 June 2023. High Court of Justice
23. ↑ Cobbett's Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors from the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Volume 5, pp. 999 & 1198 ff. Bagshaw: 1810. [3]
24. ↑ "Charles II, 1660: An Act for the Attainder of severall persons guilty of the horrid Murther of his late Sacred Majestie King Charles the first." Statutes of the Realm: Volume 5, 1628-80. Ed. John Raithby. s.l: Great Britain Record Commission, 1819. 288-290. British History Online. Web. 3 June 2023. Attainder
25. ↑ "House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 19 December 1661." Journal of the House of Commons: Volume 8, 1660-1667. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1802. 338-340. British History Online. Web. 2 June 2023. Dec 19
26. ↑ "Charles II - volume 45: December 1-21, 1661." Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1661-2. Ed. Mary Anne Everett Green. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1861. 165-187. British History Online. Web. 1 June 2023. Dec 19
27. ↑ The Diary of Samuel Pepys Wednesday 15 November 1665 Diary
28. ↑ Knights of England. Knights of England Page 221
29. ↑ Alfred P Beaven, 'Notes on the aldermen, 1502-1700', in The Aldermen of the City of London Temp. Henry III - 1912 (London, 1908), pp. 168-195. British History Online .Note #4
30. ↑ MANORIAL AND ESTATE RECORDS. Shropshire Archives Online. XMO1037/10/23: Marriage settlement (24 Dec. 1650) [4]

• See Also: "Memoir of Alderman Penington" The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. XCV, July-December 1825, pp. 119-120, August 10. p. 119