Admiral Sir William Penn (23 April 1621 – 16 September 1670) was an English naval officer and politician who represented Weymouth and Melcombe Regis in the House of Commons of England from 1660 to 1670. His son William Penn, the founder of the Province of Pennsylvania, named the colony after him.
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Early life and education
Penn was born in St Thomas Parish in Bristol, England, to Captain Giles Penn, an English military officer and consul of Salé, Morocco, and his wife Joan Gilbert. He served his apprenticeship at sea with his father.
Career
Naval career
In the First English Civil War, which was fought between 1642 and 1646, Penn fought on the side of the Parliamentarians, and commanded a ship in the squadron maintained against Charles I of England in the Irish seas. The service was arduous and called for both energy and good seamanship. In 1648, he was arrested and sent to London, but was soon released, and sent back as rear admiral in Assurance. The exact cause of the arrest remains unknown, but it may be presumed that he came under suspicion of corresponding with the king's supporters. It is highly probable that he did so, for, until the Restoration of 1660, he was regularly in communication with the Royalists, while serving the parliament, or Cromwell, so long as their service was profitable, and making no scruple of applying for grants of the confiscated lands of the king's Irish friends.