Pennington is a surname indicating a family origin in Pennington, Cumbria. Other branches include members from an area of Surrey, London, Yorkshire, Hampshire and North America. This surname was originally spelled Pennigetun, though the spelling eventually evolved to Pennington.

History

First appearing in the Domesday Book which is England's earliest public record containing a unique survey of the value and ownership of lands and resources in late 11th century England. Pennington is mentioned in the Domesday Book as one of the townships forming the Manor of Hougun which was held by Tostig Godwinson, Earl of North Cumbria. In the book, the surname's first recorded occurrence was spelled Pennigetun and the first place named Pennigetun is Pennington, Cumbria near Lancaster and it is said to have been named after the aristocratic Pennington Family. The manor is exactly the same size as the parish which formerly belonged to the

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

Abbey of Furness Furness Abbey, or St. Mary of Furness, is a former Catholic monastery located to the north of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. The abbey dates back to 1123 and was once the second-wealthiest and most powerful Cistercian monastery in the ...

, and includes 4,160 acres or six and one-half square miles. The parish was the smallest in Lancashire. The village was composed of 50 houses and 284 people in the mid-nineteenth century, and is about the same size today. The name likely was inspired from the

Pennines The Pennines (), also known as the Pennine Chain or Pennine Hills, are a range of uplands running between three regions of Northern England: North West England on the west, North East England and Yorkshire and the Humber on the east. Commo ...

chain of mountains that run through Northern England and Cumbria. When put together, the British word "pennig" (little hill) and the

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

word "ton" (town) makes Pennigetun/Pennington. Nonetheless, the record was compiled in 1086-1087, a mere twenty years after the Norman Conquest, at the order of William the Conqueror. Surnames did not exist before the Norman Conquest (1066 AD). Famously, there existed the Pennington House. The Pennington family traces its lineage back to Gamel de Penitone, a prominent figure before and during the Norman Conquest of 1066, according to "The English Baronetage" published in 1741. By 1250 the Pennington names were all in Norman form. In general, Old English (Saxon) and Cymric (Welsh or British) names were a minority in the population. It may well be that other inhabitants of the village of Pennington took the town name as a surname during the 1100’s and 1200’s, yet since it was a very tiny village, it is very likely all were closely related anyway. Gamel de Penitone can with very great confidence be called an ancestor of all the Penningtons today. Overall, this account suggests the family's importance in

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

even before the Norman Conquest. Early records of the Pennington family tree can be found in a book for Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster of Muncaster and ninth baronet. Additionally, they were connected by marriage to the Percy family and bore the Percy arms with slight variation. Nevertheless, historical evidence points to Muncaster as the ancestral home of the Pennington Family since at least 1208 when lands were granted to Alan de Penitone, though some records hint at an even earlier connection dating back to 1026. Fifty years later a castle was built by Gamel de Mulcastre. Muncaster Castle was home to the Pennington family for 800 years. The castle evolved from the Pele Tower, built to repel marauding Scots. The estate was originally 23,000 acres; today it is 1,800 acres. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building. In 1917, with the death of the fifth and last Lord Muncaster without heirs, Sir Josslyn Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster, the estate passed to Sir John Ramsden, a cousin on his mother's side. Thus ending the Pennington Baronetcy and creating the Pennington-Ramsden Baronetcy. As a condition of inheritance, Sir John's second son assumed the Pennington name. The Ramsdens sold the

Ramsden Estate (Huddersfield) Ramsden Estate may refer to: * Ramsden Estate (Huddersfield), the holdings of the former manor of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England * Ramsden Estate (Orpington) Ramsden is an area in south-east London, generally considered a suburb of Orpington ...

in 1920. The Ramsdens are distinguished in their own right and also played a significant role in Yorkshire's history and brought with them a legacy of estate management and horticultural expertise. Today, the castle is owned by Iona Frost Pennington, the great-granddaughter of Sir John Ramsden, continuing the legacy of the Pennington family at Muncaster Castle. Today, the National Genealogical Society and Earlham College holds the family's digital files.

Sport

Alan Pennington Alan Pennington (4 April 1916 – 2 June 1961) was a British sprinter. He competed in the men's 100 metres at the 1936 Summer Olympics. He served in World War II reaching the rank of Captain. He committed suicide in a hotel room in Lisbo ...

(1916–1961), British sprinter *

Alfred Pennington Alfred Pennington (1875 – after 1899) was an English professional footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, Americ ...

(born 1975), English footballer * Art Pennington (1923–2017), US baseball player *

Brad Pennington Brad Lee Pennington (born April 14, 1969) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Beginning his collegiate career at Vincennes University, Pennington then pitched for Bellarmine University; he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in ...

(born 1969), US baseball player * Chad Pennington (born 1976), US footballer * Cliff Pennington (baseball) (born 1984), Major League Baseball infielder *

Cliff Pennington (ice hockey) Clifford Raymond Pennington (April 18, 1940 – May 26, 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played 102 games in the National Hockey League for the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins between 1961 and 1962. Internat ...

(1940–2020), Canadian ice hockey forward * Cole Pennington, American college football player, son of Chad Pennington * George Pennington (cricketer) (active 1927), English sportsman *

Hal Pennington Hal Pennington was a former American athletics coach. He was the founder and first head coach of the AFL II Cincinnati Bengals. He also had a 33-year career in amateur baseball, winning four National Amateur Baseball Federation World Series tit ...

(active 1934–1988), US athletics coach *

Harry Pennington (wrestler) Harry Pennington (20 August 1902 in Leigh, Lancashire – 11 April 1995 in Leigh, Lancashire) was a British wrestler in the 1920s as he became the British champion of Catch Wrestling in 1926. He also taught Joe Reid who also went on to become a ...

(1902–1995), British wrestler * Harry Pennington (cricketer) (1880–1961), English cricketer * Harry Pennington (footballer) (1873-?), English footballer * Jack Pennington (born 1953), US racing car driver * Jesse Pennington (1883–1970), English footballer *

Jimmy Pennington James Pennington (born 26 April 1939 in Golborne, Lancashire), is an English former footballer who played as a right winger in the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England a ...

(born 1939), English footballer * Joan Pennington (born 1960), US swimmer * John Pennington (cricketer) (1881–1942), English cricketer *

Kewpie Pennington George Louis "Kewpie" Pennington (September 24, 1896 – May 3, 1953) was a Major League Baseball pitcher who played in one game for the St. Louis Browns on April 14, . External linksBaseball Reference.com 1896 births 1953 deaths St. Loui ...

(1896–1953), US baseball player * Matthew Pennington (born 1994), English footballer * Parker Pennington (born 1984), US figure skater * Raquel Pennington (born 1988), a US martial artist *

Rowland Pennington Rowland Pennington (1870 – 1929) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers and Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_capt ...

(1870–1929), English footballer * Terrance Pennington (born 1983), US footballer *

Tom Pennington Thomas Durward Pennington Jr. (November 26, 1939 – March 4, 2013) was an American football placekicker who played in the American Football League (AFL). He was born in Albany, Georgia. Pennington played college football for the Georgia Bu ...

(1939–2013), US footballer

Politics

* A. A. Pennington (1825–1885), US politician *

Alexander C.M. Pennington Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington, Sr. (July 2, 1810, Newark, New Jersey – January 25, 1867, New York City) was an American Whig Party / Opposition Party politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 18 ...

(1810–1867), US politician * Andrew Pennington (1960/61–2000), British politician * Dennis Pennington (1776–1854), US politician *

Fannie Pennington Fannie Emma Pennington (February 1, 1914 – February 13, 2013) was an American activist, organizer, and fundraising coordinator for U.S. Congressional Representative (Harlem) Adam Clayton Powell Jr.'s Isaac Democratic Club and the Abyssinian Bap ...

(1914–2013), US activist * Frederick Pennington (1819–1914), English merchant and politician *

James W.C. Pennington James William Charles Pennington ( – October 22, 1870) was an American abolitionist, orator, minister and writer active in Brooklyn, New York. He escaped at the age of 19 from slavery in western Maryland and reached New York. After working in ...

(1809–1870), African-American religious leader and activist *

John Kenneth Pennington John Kenneth Pennington (1927–25 August 2011) was a priest in the Church of England, Nottingham City councillor and Sheriff of Nottingham. Family He was born in Wigan in 1927. He studied law at the University of Manchester where he met his fut ...

(1927–2011), Priest and politician *

John L. Pennington John L. Pennington (1829July 9, 1900) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. He was an Alabama state senator, and the fifth Governors of Dakota Territory, Governor of Dakota Territory. Biography Pennington was born at the town of New ...

(1829–1900), fifth governor of Dakota Territory * John Pennington (politician) (1870–1945), Australian politician *

John Pennington, 1st Baron Muncaster John Pennington, 1st Baron Muncaster (c. 1740 – 8 October 1813), known as John Pennington until 1783, was a British peer and Tory politician. Background Muncaster was the eldest son of Sir Joseph Pennington, 4th Baronet, of Muncaster Cas ...

(1740–1813), British peer * William George Pennington (fl. 1858–1868), Australian politician *

William Pennington William Pennington (May 4, 1796 – February 16, 1862) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the 13th governor of New Jersey from 1837 to 1843. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives, during which he served a ...

(1796–1862), US politician * William Sanford Pennington (1757–1826), US politician

Science, engineering, medicine, etc

* Barry Pennington (1923–1968), William Barry Pennington, British mathematician * Donald Pennington, British psychologist and Vice-chancellor *

E. J. Pennington Edward Joel Pennington (1858 in Moores Hill, Indiana – 1911 in Springfield, Massachusetts) was an inventor and promoter of many mechanical devices, including airships, motorcycles, and automobiles. In addition to motor vehicles, he applied ...

(1858–1911), US inventor and entrepreneur * Havoc Pennington (born c1976), Robert Sanford Havoc Pennington, US computer engineer *

Hugh Pennington Thomas Hugh Pennington, CBE, FRCPath, FRCP (Edin), FMedSci, FRSE (born 19 April 1938) is emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Outside academia, he is best known as the chair of the Pennington Group enquir ...

(born 1938), Thomas Hugh Pennington, British bacteriologist and academic *

Isaac Pennington :''See Isaac Penington (disambiguation) for other people with a similar name.'' Sir Isaac Pennington (1745–1817) was an English physician, of whom there are two portraits in the National Portrait Gallery. Isaac Pennington was educated at Sed ...

(1745–1817), English physician *

Josias Pennington Baldwin & Pennington was the architectural partnership with Ephraim Francis Baldwin (1837-1916) and Josias Pennington (1854-1929) based in Baltimore, Maryland. The firm designed an incredibly large number of prominent structures throughout the Midd ...

, Architect of Baldwin & Pennington *

Mark Pennington Mark Pennington is a British political scientist and economist. He serves as a Professor of Political Economy and Public Policy at King's College London. Early life Pennington received a PhD from the London School of Economics. His thesis, dated ...

, British political scientist * Mary Engle Pennington (1872–1952), American bacteriological chemist and refrigeration engineer * Winifred Pennington (1915–2007), British biologist

Arts and entertainment

* Ann Pennington (actress) (1893–1971) * Ann Pennington (model) (born 1950) *

Barbara Pennington Barbara Pennington (born 1950s) is an American Hi-NRG and soul music artist of the 1970s and 1980s. Career Pennington was born in Chicago and began her musical career when she was discovered by Danny Leake and introduced to Hi-NRG and soul rec ...

(born 1954), US singer *

Basil Pennington M. Basil Pennington Trappists, O.C.S.O. (1931–2005) was an American Roman Catholic Trappists, Trappist monk and priest. He was a leading spiritual writer, speaker, teacher, and director. Pennington was an List of people associated with the Pontif ...

(1931–2005), US Catholic priest, religious leader and author *

Bruce Pennington Bruce Pennington (born 10 May 1944, in Somerset, England)''Eschatus'', Paper Tiger Books, 1976, Simon & Schuster, is a British painter, best known for his science fiction and fantasy novel cover art. Pennington's works have largely featured ...

(born 1944), British painter and illustrator *

C. M. Pennington-Richards Cyril Montague Pennington-Richards (17 December 1911 – 2 January 2005) was a British film director and cinematographer.J.P. Pennington (born 1949), US musician * James Pennington (born 1965), US musician, also known as Suburban Knight * Janice Pennington (born 1942), US model * Joe Pennington (1928–2020), US guitarist, also known as "Joe Penny" *

Jon Penington Jon Penington (1922–1997) was a British screenwriter and film producer. Selected filmography * ''At the Stroke of Nine'' (1957) * ''The Man Who Liked Funerals'' (1959) * ''The Crowning Touch'' (1959) * ''In the Wake of a Stranger'' (1959) * ''E ...

(1922–1997), British screenwriter *

Marla Pennington Marla Lynn Pennington (born March 5, 1954) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Joan Anderson Lawson on ''Small Wonder'', her last acting role to date. Her other television credits include ''Soap'', ''Diff'rent Strokes'', ...

(born 1954), US actress * Michael Pennington (born 1943), Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington, British actor and director * Michael Joseph Pennington (born 1970), English actor, also known as Johnny Vegas] *

Pennington's Seventeenth Summer ''Pennington's Seventeenth Summer'' (also called ''Pennington's Last Term'') is the first novel in a quartet for young adults by K. M. Peyton Kathleen Wendy Herald Peyton (born 2 August 1929), who writes primarily as K. M. Peyton, is a Briti ...

, or ''Pennington's Last Term'', a novel by K. M. Peyton * Ray Pennington, (1933–2020), US singer * Ty Pennington (born 1964), US TV host * Zac Pennington ( 2002–2013), US musician of the Parenthetical Girls * Jim Pennington (born 1972), US artist * William Henry Pennington (1833–1923), English soldier and actor

Miscellaneous

* Alexander Cummings McWhorter Pennington Jr. (1838–1917), US soldier * Dom

(1931–2005), Cistercian monk * Bill Pennington (1956), US journalist *

Brooks Pennington Jr. Brooks M. Pennington Junior (October 21, 1925 – May 23, 1996) was a businessman, author, politician and philanthropist from Georgia. Early years He attended North Georgia College in 1943-1944, before serving as a USAF captain in the Korean ...

(1925–1996), US businessman * Dennis Pennington (1776–1854), farmer and a stonemason * Irene Wells Pennington (1898–2003), US entrepreneur * Sir John Penington (1584–1646), English sailor * Sir Joseph Pennington, 2nd Baronet (1677–1744) *

Josslyn Francis Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster Josslyn Francis Pennington, 5th Baron Muncaster, (25 December 1834 – 30 March 1917) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician. Biography Muncaster was the third son of Lowther Augustus John Pennington, 3rd Baron Muncaster, and ...

(1834–1917) *

Julie Pennington-Russell Julie Pennington-Russell is a prominent Baptist minister in the United States of America. She currently serves as senior pastor at the First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D. C. Her ministry has provoked controversy due to disagreements ...

(born 1960), US Baptist minister *

Larcena Pennington Page Larcena Pennington Page (January 10, 1837 – March 31, 1913), born Larcena Ann Pennington, was an American pioneer known for surviving a kidnapping by Apache as a young married woman of 23 years old in present-day Arizona. Left for dead and unab ...

(1837–1913), US pioneer *

Lowther Pennington, 2nd Baron Muncaster General Lowther Pennington, 2nd Baron Muncaster (1745 – 29 July 1818) was a British Army general who saw active service during the American Revolution and the French Revolutionary Wars. Pennington seems to have been frequently at odds with his fe ...

(1745–1818) * Richard Pennington (1947–2017), US police officer * Robert B. Pennington, US Marine *

Sarah, Lady Pennington Sarah, Lady Pennington, née Moore (c.1720, Bath, Somerset – August 1783, Fulmer),William Pennington (businessman) (1923–2011), US gambler * Sir William Pennington, 1st Baronet (1655–1730)

References

{{surname English-language surnames English toponymic surnames Lists of people by surname