A close-up of the book cover. Photo: 'William Penn: A life'.
‘William Penn: A life’ by Andrew R Murphy
Review by Michael Wright
William Penn’s reputation is that of a Quaker saint. His words are often quoted by Friends, as is the anecdote of George Fox telling Penn to wear his sword as long as he could. He is renowned for his ‘Holy Experiment’ seeking to establish in Pennsylvania a political environment which featured liberty, tolerance and acceptance of difference. It was in Philadelphia that Americans crafted their Declaration of Independence. Three hundred years after his death his image remains vibrant in US culture. His enormous statue looks over Philadelphia. He and his second wife Hannah are two of only eight individuals given honorary US citizenship. This biography draws heavily on Penn’s correspondence, especially that involving the establishment of Pennsylvania.
Some Friends have fostered Penn’s iconic reputation, which, it seems, owes much to two paintings featuring Penn’s treaty with the Indians, rather than to what he was able to achieve. But Andrew R Murphy’s biography is from the perspective of a US academic historian, more interested in Penn’s domestic affairs, and then the development of a new colony, than in his Quaker thoughts.
Penn’s father was an admiral. After William’s education culminated in a brief period at Oxford, a ‘grand tour’ in Europe, and a dash of law at Lincoln’s Inn, he was tasked to manage his father’s properties in Ireland. It was in County Cork that William first encountered Quakers, and later committed himself as one, for which he served a prison sentence, much to his father’s distress.
This biography helps us to understand Penn’s courage in becoming a Quaker and explores his relationship with George Fox and other early Quakers. He had friends in high places, particularly at court – up to the reign of William III and Mary II when he was then under suspicion for his friendship with James II. It tells us that he spent a great deal of time in writing and speaking to promote the Quaker movement, and to lobby for toleration, but it doesn’t give us much of a feel for what he said on behalf of Friends. It focuses much more on his business dealings and reveals the difficulties he faced as the proprietor of a colony that he visited just twice. Correspondence across the Atlantic took weeks and sometimes got lost or stolen. Most of the people he appointed did not serve him well, and his own neglect got him into great financial difficulties. His third spell in prison was not for Quaker work but for debt, which embarrassed him deeply.
The early part of this biography was enlightening, but I found myself getting more and more concerned for him and his financial and family matters as his life progressed. He seemed, in the end, ground down by his responsibilities, with some of his difficulties of his own making. He emerges from this biography as gifted and earnest, but not one fully in control of his own affairs.
