Thomas Pennant

Naturalist and prolific author. Best known for 'A Tour in Wales'.

Born:

14 JUN 1726

Died:

1798

Place of Birth:

Whitford, Holywell

School:

Queen's College, Oxford

Trivia:

Pennant was a member of Queen's College, Oxford, but did not complete his training and so received no degree.

Biography:

Foremost 18th century Welsh intellectual. Naturalist and prolific author. Best known for 'A Tour in Wales'.

It was at Oxbridge that Pennant discovered travel, writing and his love for cataloguing flora, fauna and antiquities. Born Thomas Pennant at the family home, Downing, at Whitford, Holywell, Flintshire, on 14 June 1726, he has been described as the greatest Welsh travel writer of his time. And one of the top British topographical authors, alongside Gilbert White and Francis Grose.

But according to writings held online by the The National Library of Wales, Pennant knew little Welsh and had help from scholar friends who would translate.

In his famous autobiography The Literary Life (1793) he states that he sometimes marvelled at his own industry. His first book was the 1766 folio, British Zoology. This made a financial loss as it had been printed on paper that was too large. Thereafter all his major works appeared in smaller formats, either octavos or quartos.

The current view of his contribution to natural history is that its importance lies in the fact that he popularized and promoted its study. His tours and topographic works also display his insistence on detailed research. Among the accounts of tours he published are those of two separate visits to Scotland, a tour from Chester to London, and an account of London itself.

His A Tour in Wales (1778-1783) is regarded as being quite outstanding and easily the finest work in a considerable corpus of Welsh tour literature published from ca. 1770 onwards.

Pennant also became a collector more as a scholar than as a connoisseur. As a patron he tended to purchase pictures which were directly commissioned from the artist. He employed artist Moses Griffith who provided the majority of the illustrations from his various publications and whose drawings were preserved at Downing.

Alongside Moses, John Ingleby of Halkin was used extensively, mainly for his townscapes and little vignettes. Ingleby was paid on a contract basis whilst Moses received a full salary and accommodation.

Pennant purchased works by some of the best known contemporary topographers.

Meanwhile, Pennant was also a leading zoologist, whose writings are said to have revealed more of the places he visited.

The attention to detail can be seen in his research notes and is also reflected in the number of extra-illustrated manuscripts held at the The National Library of Wales.

your comments

Rowan Williams Pershore
Many of Thomas Pennant's papers, letters, notes etc are at Warwickshire Records Office including some very useful notes on churches since remodelled or lost.
Wed Oct 24 15:46:41 2007

Sam Hearn - Chiswick W4
One of Pennant's great skills was to collaborate successfully with others. Pennant's collaboration with my name sake, Samuel Hearne, on his major work Arctic Zoology is surely worth noting. It was the first time that many species of arctic animal had been recorded in a scientific way.
Tue Aug 14 13:30:48 2007

Jim Maxwell, Buckley
Cymdeithas Thomas Pennant will have a stall at the National Eisteddfod near Mold, Flintshire, 4th to 11th August 2007. Please tell us on the stall if you have seen this web page.
Fri Jul 20 12:43:53 2007

Nick Armstrong from Hawarden, Flintshire
I've just moved to Whitford and would like to know more about Thomas Pennant and some general history of the parish....
Tue Apr 24 19:14:02 2007

GarryVon Borstel
I have the pleasure of living in the Downing and currently trying to find some photographs or any history associated with the working buildings at the Downing as these are all that remain e.g. glass houses, the clock tower, the potting sheds, the coach house, the stables, the upper and lower lodges, gardener's cottage.
Tue Mar 6 08:32:57 2007

Jim Maxwell, Buckley
Thomas Pennant is buried in Whitford Parish Church chancel. The exact location was lost during 19thC ateations.Grwp Pennant, now known as Cymdeithas Thomas Pennant Society, has erected a monument to him by the entrance to the school and also repaired the tomb of Moses Griffith, Pennant's artist. Jim Maxwell Treasurer
Fri Feb 23 11:46:54 2007

Sue Blanthorne,Mostyn,Flintshire
Born and bred in Pennant country ! The original ancestral home of the Pennants was Bychton Hall (no longer extant) in Bychton Woods, Rhewl, Mostyn. An ancestor John Pennant, lived there and according to local legend,' died of a serpent which grew inside him'. Downing Hall was seriously damaged by fire in early 20th century, then a later arson attack (attributed to children playing in the derelict cellars) finished this magnificent pile off. Further information can be found in the SAVE publication'Lost Houses of Wales' by Thomas Lloyd. Downing is now almost all privately owned, but a large number of specimen trees,including monkey-puzzle and sequoia, still feature in the landscape.
Wed Sep 20 13:36:16 2006

Jan B. Kaiser, I. V. V., the Netherlands
You may add that the Pennant's Parakeet (Crimson Rosella) from Australia has been named after him by Latham (as Psittacus pennanti). He died at Downing on December 16, 1798, so I presume he is buried there. He also wrote 'Genera of Birds', published in 1773, and 'Outlines of the Globe', published in 4 volumes in 1781, including the first list of birds and animals of New Holland (now Western Australia) ever published. (Source: The literature of Australian birds: a history and a bibliography of Australian ornithology, by Hubert Massey Whittell).
Fri May 12 10:00:57 2006

Gareth,Hope
Where is he buried?
Thu Dec 1 18:22:58 2005

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