American colonial governor, brother of the John Penn; born in England in 1735; studied for a time at Cambridge; went with his brother to Pennsylvania in 1763; entered the executive council in 1764; spent two years in England; returned to the colony as lieutenant-governor in 1771; became extremely popular with the colonists; was superseded in the governorship in 1773 on the return of his brother from England. The members of the Continental Congress, among them George Washington, were entertained at his house. In 1775 he presented a petition to the King, and was examined as to its authenticity in the House of Lords, in London, November 7, 1775. He was elected to the British Parliament in 1796, sitting for ten years. He visited Philadelphia two years later, and died in Richmond, England, on the 27th of May 1811.
