Author: Penwarne, John
Biography:
PENWARNE, John (1758-1838: Bibliotheca Cornubiensis)
He was baptised at St. Gluvias, Penryn, Cornwall, on 13 May 1758, one of at least seven children of John Penwarne, attorney and landowner, and his wife Anne Lawrance, who had married in 1748. His father was an early patron of John Opie (1761-1807) who was a friend of the family and painted various portraits of them. He and his elder brother, Edward, were articled to their father in 1779, and later practised together at Penryn. He married Ann Kevill (1766-1855) on 29 Dec. 1788 at Camborne, Cornwall. They had two children, a daughter and a son. He later worked in London in the Office of the Hanaper and the Treasury. He died at 14 Stafford Street, Marylebone, London, on 20 Jan. 1838 and was buried on 29 Jan. at Christ Church. His widow went to live with her married daughter, Anne Wellings, in Lincoln, where she died in 1855. Contemplation (1807) is notable for “Tregeagle, An Ancient Cornish Legend” and the unusual juxtapositions of other poems: “Sir Isaac Newton and the Old Woman,” “Michael Angelo and the Virtuosi,” “The Fountain and the Steam Engine.” There is a portrait by John Opie of him reclining on a mossy bank holding a book (private collection). (Bibliotheca Cornubiensis, 2: 460; West Country Poets, 362; edpopehistory.co.uk; Morning Post 25 Jan. 1838; GM Mar. 1838, 329; Western Antiquary, Aug. 1883, 75-6) AA