John Penry (1563 – 29 May 1593) was executed forhigh treason during the reign of QueenElizabeth I. He isWales' most famousProtestantSeparatistmartyr.[1]
Penry was born inBrecknockshire, Wales; Cefn Brith, a farm nearLlangammarch, is traditionally recognised as his birthplace. His parents were Meredydd (Meredith) Penry and Eleanor (nee Godley). He matriculated atPeterhouse, Cambridge, in December 1580,[2] being then probably aRoman Catholic, but soon became aProtestant, with strongPuritan tendencies. Having graduated B.A., he moved toSt Alban Hall, Oxford, and gained his M.A. in July 1586. He did not seek ordination, but was licensed as university preacher.[3]
.jpg)
There is not much evidence for his preaching tours in Wales; they could only have been made during a few months of 1586 or the autumn of 1587. In 1562 anact of Parliament had made provision for translating the Bible intoWelsh, and theNew Testament was issued in 1567; but the number printed would barely supply a copy for eachparish church. Indignant at this failure, Penry published early in 1587The Æquity of an Humble Supplication "in the behalf of the country of Wales, that some order may be taken for the preaching of the Gospel among those people". ArchbishopJohn Whitgift, angry at the implied criticism, had him brought before the High Commission and imprisoned for about a month.
On his release Penry married a lady ofNorthampton and lived there for some years. With the assistance of SirRichard Knightley, he set up aprinting press, which for nearly a year fromMichaelmas 1588 was in active operation. It was successively located atEast Moulsey (Surrey),Fawsley (Northamptonshire),Coventry and other places in Warwickshire, and finally atManchester, where it was seized in August 1589. On it were printed Penry'sExhortation to the governours and people of Wales, and View of... such publike wants and disorders as are in the service of God... in Wales; as well as the celebratedMartin Marprelate tracts.[3][4]
In January 1590, his house at Northampton was searched and his papers seized, but he succeeded in escaping toScotland. There he published several tracts, as well as a translation of a learned theological work known asTheses Genevenses.[3]
Returning to England in September 1592, he joined the separatist, orBrownist, congregation inLondon, in which he declined to take office, though after the arrest of ministersFrancis Johnson andJohn Greenwood, he seems to have been the regular preacher. He was arrested in March 1593 following his recognition by the local vicar atRatcliff and imprisoned inPoultry Compter while efforts were made to find some pretext for a capital charge.
Failing this a charge ofsedition was based on the rough draft of a petition to Queen Elizabeth I that had been found among his private papers; the language was harsh and offensive, but had been neither presented nor published. He was convicted by theQueen's Bench on 21 May 1593, and hanged atSt Thomas-a-Watering on 29 May at the unusual hour of 4 p.m.,[3] without being granted permission to see his wife, Eleanor, or their four young daughters, Deliverance, Comfort, Safety and Sure-Hope before his death.[5] The signature of his old enemy Whitgift was the first of those affixed to the death warrant.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Penry, John".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 117.