Penington History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

• Origins Available:
• England

The ancient roots of the Penington family name are in the Anglo-Saxon culture. The name Penington comes from when the family lived in the region of Pennington. Penington is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, church, or type of tree. Habitation names form the other broad category of surnames that were derived from place-names. They were derived from pre-existing names for towns, villages, parishes, or farmsteads. Other local names are derived from the names of houses, manors, estates, regions, and entire counties.

Early Origins of the Penington family

The surname Penington was first found in Lancashire at Pennington, a parish, in the union of Ulverston, hundred of Lonsdale north of the Sands. "This place, which in Domesday Book is styled 'Pennigetun,' belonged to a local family, one of whom, Gamel de Pennington, was a very considerable person at the time of the Conquest. From him descended Sir John Pennington, who commanded the left wing of the army in an expedition into Scotland under the Earl of Northumberland," ^[1] By the time of Henry II, some of the family had branched to Muncaster in Cumberland (now part of Cumbria) and it was here that King Henry VI was concealed by Sir John Pennington in his flight from his enemies. ^[2]

Important Dates for the Penington family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Penington research. Another 89 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1676, 1783, 1552, 1558, 1565, 1599, 1655, 1730, 1584, 1661, 1640, 1653, 1642, 1616, 1679, 1584, 1646, 1623 and 1682 are included under the topic Early Penington History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Penington Spelling Variations

One relatively recent invention that did much to standardize English spelling was the printing press. However, before its invention even the most literate people recorded their names according to sound rather than spelling. The spelling variations under which the name Penington has appeared include Pennington, Penington and others.

Early Notables of the Penington family (pre 1700)

Notables of the family at this time include William Penington, High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1552, 1558 and 1565; Joseph Pennington of Muncaster Castle, High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1599; and Sir William Pennington (1655-1730), 1st Baronet. Sir Isaac Penington (1584-1661), was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1640 to 1653, Lord Mayor of London in 1642 and a prominent member of Oliver Cromwell's...
Another 68 words (5 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Penington Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Penington migration to the United States

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Penington arrived in North America very early:

Penington Settlers in United States in the 17th Century

• John Penington, who settled at St. Christopher in 1633
• John Penington, aged 40, who landed in St Christopher in 1633 ^[3]
• William Penington, who arrived in Virginia in 1652
• Isabella Penington, who arrived in Maryland in 1659 ^[3]
• Henry Penington, who landed in Maryland in 1670 ^[3]
• ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Penington Settlers in United States in the 18th Century

• Abraham Penington, who landed in Mississippi in 1799 ^[3]

Contemporary Notables of the name Penington (post 1700)

• John Brown Penington (1825-1902), American lawyer and politician, Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Delaware (1887-1891)
• Brigadier-General Carlos A. Penington (1878-1942), American Commanding Officer 66th Field Artillery Brigade (1940-1941) ^[4]
• David Geoffrey Penington AC (b. 1930), Australian doctor, academic, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Melbourne (1988-1995)
• Jon Penington (1922-1997), British screenwriter and film producer

Citations

1. ^ Lewis, Samuel, A Topographical Dictionary of England. Institute of Historical Research, 1848, Print.
2. ^ Shirley, Evelyn Philip, The Noble and Gentle Men of England; The Arms and Descents. Westminster: John Bower Nichols and Sons, 1866, Print.
3. ^ 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)
4. ^ Generals of World War II. (Retrieved 2014, March 26) Carlos Penington. Retrieved from http://generals.dk/general/Penington/Carlos_A./USA.html