Baldwin's of St. James's
Auction 54 9 Dec 2020
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Commemorative Medals, The Royal Institution, An Important Member's silver ticket or pass of American interest, named to William Penn's grandson, John Penn round silver ticket or pass, to John Penn (1760–1834), politician and writer, ROYAL INSTITUTION 1819, rev. naming in engraved italics in 2 lines, John Penn Esq. LL.D., 32mm (Withers 2680), very fine
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
John Penn, born in London, was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Penn and his wife Juliana, daughter of Thomas Fermor, first earl of Pomfret. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was his grandfather. On the death of his father in 1775, he became the chief proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania with hereditary governorship. Following the American Revolution the Pennsylvania legislature confiscated some 24,000,000 acres of property the ownership of which he shared with his cousin, another John Penn ("John Penn, the Governor"). Penn moved to America and lived in Philadelphia for five years after the Revolution (the house he built, Solitude, is preserved, in the grounds of the Philadelphia Zoo), from 1783 to 1788, though after the Pennsylvania government paid his portion of the compensation due for the proprietorship, some £97,500, he returned to live in England at Stoke Pogis Park in Buckinghamshire, which his father had purchased in 1760. In 1798, he was appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and was a member of Parliament for Helston (1802-1805). In 1805, he was appointed as governor of the Isle of Portland where he built Pennsylvania Castle as his home. He never married.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(300-500 GBP)
*ex A. H. Baldwin vault
John Penn, born in London, was the eldest surviving son of Thomas Penn and his wife Juliana, daughter of Thomas Fermor, first earl of Pomfret. William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, was his grandfather. On the death of his father in 1775, he became the chief proprietor of the Province of Pennsylvania with hereditary governorship. Following the American Revolution the Pennsylvania legislature confiscated some 24,000,000 acres of property the ownership of which he shared with his cousin, another John Penn ("John Penn, the Governor"). Penn moved to America and lived in Philadelphia for five years after the Revolution (the house he built, Solitude, is preserved, in the grounds of the Philadelphia Zoo), from 1783 to 1788, though after the Pennsylvania government paid his portion of the compensation due for the proprietorship, some £97,500, he returned to live in England at Stoke Pogis Park in Buckinghamshire, which his father had purchased in 1760. In 1798, he was appointed High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and was a member of Parliament for Helston (1802-1805). In 1805, he was appointed as governor of the Isle of Portland where he built Pennsylvania Castle as his home. He never married.
The Royal Institution of Great Britain (located at 21 Albermarle Street, London), was founded in March 1799 in a meeting instigated by Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count von Rumford, and held by the leading British scientists of the age at the Soho Square house of the President of the Royal Society, Sir Joseph Banks. It was to be an organization devoted to the "diffusing the knowledge, and facilitating the general introduction, of useful mechanical inventions and improvements; and for teaching, by courses of philosophical lectures and experiments, the application of science to the common purposes of life". Simply put, the aim of the Institution was to introduce new technologies and expand and facilitate scientific education and research for the benefit of the general public. George Finch, Earl of Winchilsea, was elected President in June and it was through his influence with King George III that the Institution received its Royal Charter in 1800. In 1810 the Royal Institution was converted from a private organisation owned by a small number of Proprietors to a public institution by an Act of Parliament.
(300-500 GBP)