John Penn | |
|---|---|
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| Governor of the Province of Pennsylvania | |
| In office 1773–1776 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Penn |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Wharton Jr. (as President of Pennsylvania) |
| In office 1763–1771 | |
| Preceded by | James Hamilton |
| Succeeded by | Richard Penn |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 July 1729 London, England |
| Died | 9 February 1795 (aged 65) Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Spouses | Grace Cox
(m. 1747, dissolved)Anne Allen
(after 1766) |
| Relations | Thomas Penn (uncle) Richard Penn Jr. (brother) John Penn (nephew) |
| Children | John Penn |
| Parent(s) | Richard Penn Hannah Lardner Penn |
John Penn (14 July 1729 – 9 February 1795) was an English-born colonial administrator who served as the last governor of colonial Pennsylvania, serving in that office from 1763 to 1771 and from 1773 to 1776. Educated in Britain and Switzerland, he was also one of the Penn family proprietors of the Province of Pennsylvania from 1771 until 1776, holding a one-fourth share, when the creation of the independent Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the American Revolution removed the Penn family from power.
Held in exile in New Jersey after the British occupation of Philadelphia, Penn and his wife returned to Philadelphia in July 1778, following the British evacuation. After the American Revolutionary War, the unsold lands of the proprietorship were confiscated by the new state government, but it provided Penn and his cousin, John Penn, who held three-fourths of the proprietorship, with compensation. They both also appealed to British Parliament, which granted them additional compensation.