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Penson History Early Origins Early History Spelling Variations Early Notables Ranking

United States Canada Australia West Indies

Contemporary Notables Related Stories Citations

Penson History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Origins Available:
England

Today's generation of the Penson family bears a name that was brought to England by the migration wave that was started by the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Penson family lived in Devon. Their name, however, is a reference to Mont-Pincon, in Calvados, in the arrondissement of Lisieieux, Normandy, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

Early Origins of the Penson family

The surname Penson was first found in Devon where they held a family seat anciently as Lords of the Manor. The name originally was the Norman Mont-pincon or pincun from the barony and castle in Normandy.

Ralf de Montpincon was the Norman noble dapifer who was granted lands in Devon for his assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D. Meanwhile in Normandy, the head of the family, Hugh de Monte Pincon held the service of three knights from Montpincon Castle in 1172.

Migration of the family from Normandy to England continued for centuries as seen by Richard Pynson (died 1530) who was a Norman by birth, but was naturalized on 26 July 1513. He became a printer in London. "From his method of working it is clear that he learnt the art in Normandy, probably in the office of Guillaume le Talleur." 1

Burton Pynsent House is a historic country-house in the parish of Curry Rivel, Somerset. It was built in 1765 for William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, after he inherited the estate from Sir William Pynsent (1642-1719.) "It was the property of Sir William Pynsent, Bart., and, with other estates, was left by him to the great Earl of Chatham, in testimony of respect for his character." 2 Pynsent Column stands on Troy Hill, a spur of high ground about 700 m north-east of the house.

Early History of the Penson family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Penson research. Another 99 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1094, 1642, 1679, 1689, 1719, 1765, 1790, 1818, 1850, 1859 and 1864 are included under the topic Early Penson History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Penson Spelling Variations

Before the last few hundred years the English language had no fixed system of spelling rules. For that reason, spelling variations occurred commonly in Anglo Norman surnames. Over the years, many variations of the name Penson were recorded, including Pinson, Pincon, Pinsent, Pensent, Pensons, Pinsons, Pinser, Pincer, Poinson, Poincon, Pynson, MontPinson, Montpinson, Mountpinzo, Mompesson, Pinsun, Montepinson, Montepesson, Montepinsun and many more.

Early Notables of the Penson family

More information is included under the topic Early Penson Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Penson Ranking

In the United States, the name Penson is the 11,477^th most popular surname with an estimated 2,487 people with that name. 3

Penson migration to the United States +

The unstable environment in England at this time caused numerous families to board ships and leave in search of opportunity and freedom from persecution abroad in places like Ireland, Australia, and particularly the New World. The voyage was extremely difficult, however, and only taken at great expense. The cramped conditions and unsanitary nature of the vessels caused many to arrive diseased and starving, not to mention destitute from the enormous cost. Still opportunity in the emerging nations of Canada and the United States was far greater than at home and many went on to make important contributions to the cultures of their adopted countries. An examination of many early immigration records reveals that people bearing the name Penson arrived in North America very early:

Penson Settlers in United States in the 19th Century

L Penson, who landed in New Orleans, La in 1813 4

Penson migration to Canada +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Penson Settlers in Canada in the 18th Century

James Penson, who settled in Trinity Bay, Newfoundland in 1761

Penson migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Penson Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century

Richard Penson, who arrived in Adelaide, Australia aboard the ship "Pakenham" in 1849 5
Thomas Penson, aged 25, a labourer, who arrived in South Australia in 1852 aboard the ship "Standard" 6

Penson migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 7

Penson Settlers in West Indies in the 17th Century

Tho Penson, aged 20, who arrived in Barbados in 1635 4
Mr. Thomas Penson, (b. 1615), aged 20, British settler travelling from London, England aboard the ship "Alexander" arriving in Barbados in 1635 8

Contemporary Notables of the name Penson (post 1700) +

Thomas Mainwaring Penson (1818-1864), English surveyor and architect
Dame Lillian Penson DBE (1896-1963), British professor of modern history at the University of London
Max Penson (1893-1959), noted Jewish Belarusian photojournalist and photographer of the Soviet Union
Charles Frederick Penson (b. 1942), former Canadian politician from Alberta
Thomas Penson (1790-1859), the British County Surveyor of Montgomeryshire
John Hubert Penson, C.B
Thomas Penson De Quincey (1785-1859), English essayist, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1821)

Citations +

Smith, George (ed), Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1885-1900. Print
Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
"What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
State Records of South Australia. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) The PAKENHAM 1849. Retrieved from http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/BSA/1849Pakenham.htm
South Australian Register Tuesday 3 February 1852. (Retrieved 2010, November 5) STANDARD 1852. Retrieved http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/standard1852.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600's retrieved 28th September 2021 from https://www.packrat-pro.com/ships/shiplist.htm