Granville Penn


Granville Penn was a great-grandson of Admiral Sir William Penn, a British author, and scriptural geologist.

Biography

He was born 9 December 1761 in Spring Gardens, London, the second surviving son of Thomas Penn and his wife, Lady Juliana Fermor Penn, fourth daughter of Thomas, first Earl of Pomfret. He studied at Magdalen College, Oxford, but did not complete his degree. He then became an assistant clerk in the war department.
In the period from 1788 Penn played a part in the development of veterinary education. A supporter of the Odiham Society, he met Charles Benoît Vial de Sainbel who was in England for the second time to try to set up a veterinary school, such as existed at Lyon; and whose profile was raised when he was asked to dissect the famous racehorse Eclipse. Penn ran a successful campaign over a few years to implement his own version of Sainbel's original scheme. The Veterinary College, London opened its doors to pupils at the beginning of 1792.
In 1834 Penn succeeded his brother, John Penn, in the estates of Stoke Park, Buckinghamshire, and Pennsylvania Castle, Portland.
He died at Stoke Park on 28 September 1844. He had married Isabella, the eldest daughter of General Gordon Forbes and had 4 sons and 5 daughters.

Writings

Penn, fluent in French, Greek, Latin and Hebrew, was a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and wrote several books dealing with Biblical criticism and published a number of competent translations of ancient Greek works, including a critical revision of the English version of the New Testament. He also wrote some theological works particularly related to Biblical chronology and the early history of post-Flood mankind. In 1833 he wrote the Life of Admiral Sir William Penn, on his great-grandfather.

''A Comparative Estimate''

His major work as a scriptural geologist was A Comparative Estimate of the Mineral and Mosaical Geologies, published in 1822. Penn added a supplement in 1823 in response to Buckland's theory on Kirkdale Cave, and then revised and enlarged it to two volumes in 1825 in response to criticisms. Like most Scriptural geologists, Penn, whose name became indelibly associated with Scriptural geology, participated only transiently with it during his career. For example, between the production of his book when he was 62 and his death in 1844 he focused on philological scholarship.

Attitude toward geology

Penn wrote that "The science of Geology … has this remarkable character above all the preceding physical sciences; that, it not only conducts the intelligence, like them, to the discernment of the God of Nature, but advances it further, to a distinct recognition of that God of Nature in the God of Scripture."

Works

"The Book of the New Covenant". A review and new translation, 1836