William Penn (29 August 1849 – 15 August 1921) was an English amateur

cricketer Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

who played for

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

in the 1870s.William Penn
CricketArchive. Retrieved 2018-11-11. Penn was born in

Lee Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese ...

in Lewisham in south-east London, the son of John Penn, a manufacturer of marine engines at the

John Penn and Sons John Penn and Sons was an English engineering company based in London, and mainly known for its marine steam engines. History Establishment In 1799, engineer and millwright John Penn (born in Taunton, Somerset, 1770; died 6 June 1843) started a ...

works in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

and

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. He was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

where he was in the cricket XI.Dauglish MG, Stephenson PK (1911) ''The Harrow School Register 1800–1911'', p.379.
Available online
Retrieved 2018-11-11.)

Cricket

A right-handed batsman and bowler Penn played 18 times for Kent between 1870 and 1878 as well as appearing for MCC in 1874 and Gentlemen of the South between 1871 and 1874. His younger brothers

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and

Dick Penn Alfred Penn (6 January 1855 – 18 October 1889), known as Dick Penn, was an English amateur cricketer who played for Kent County Cricket Club from 1875 to 1884.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised e ...

also played for Kent and his son

Eric Penn Eric Frank Penn (17 April 1878 – 18 October 1915) was an English soldier and a cricketer who played first-class cricket for Cambridge University and the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) between 1898 and 1903. He was born at Westminster, London and ...

played for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and MCC.Carlaw D (2020) ''Kent County Cricketers A to Z. Part One: 1806–1914'' (revised edition), pp. 442–444.
Available online
at the

Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians The Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS) was founded in England in 1973 for the purpose of researching and collating information about the history and statistics of cricket. Originally called the Association of Cricket Stati ...

. Retrieved 2020-12-21.)

Business career

William Penn became a member of the

Institution of Mechanical Engineers The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is an independent professional association and learned society headquartered in London, United Kingdom, that represents mechanical engineers and the engineering profession. With over 120,000 member ...

in 1873, proposed by his father and

Joseph Whitworth Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for scr ...

. He became a partner in the family business around the same time, began to manage the firm in 1875, and in 1889, when the firm was incorporated as John Penn and Sons Ltd, he and his elder brother

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

were the two principal shareholders. When the company amalgamated with the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cannin ...

ten years later, William Penn became a director of the new company, but resigned from the board by April 1901 on health grounds.Hartree, p.97 Penn died at

Belgravia Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...

in London in August 1921 aged 71.William Penn

CricInfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a d ...

. Retrieved 2018-11-11.

References

* Hartree, Richard (2008) ''John Penn and Sons of Greenwich'', Richard Hartree.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Penn, William 1849 births 1921 deaths People educated at Harrow School English cricketers Kent cricketers Marylebone Cricket Club cricketers Gentlemen of the South cricketers