As President Biden takes up residence in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, we look at the Walthamstow and Wanstead resident Admiral Sir William Penn MP (1621-1670), in whose honour Pennsylvania was named.
Admiral Penn had great skill at manoeuvring not only his ships but also his political position. In the tumultuous and bloody times of the English Civil War and throughout the Commonwealth and the Restoration, he was pragmatic about the dangers of allegiance to either the Parliamentarians or the Royalists.
Penn was rewarded with confiscated lands in Ireland by Cromwell, for his contribution to the Parliamentarian cause in the Irish Sea. However, he was a deceitful double dealing turncoat as throughout the Civil War and Commonwealth, Penn remained in secret correspondence with the Royalists and twice he was arrested and thrown in the Tower of London on suspicion of this but both times he managed to talk his way out of danger.