PENN, WILLIAM

born Oct. 14, 1644, London, Eng. died July 30, 1718, Buckinghamshire English Quaker leader and advocate of religious freedom who oversaw the founding of the American Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a refuge for Quakers and other religious minorities of Europe. Additional reading Mary Maples Dunn and Richard S. Dunn (eds.), The Papers of William Penn, 5 vol. (198187), provides access to his documents. Penn's life is discussed in William Isaac Hull, William Penn: A Topical Biography (1937, reprinted 1971); Catherine Owens Peare, William Penn: A Biography (1956, reissued 1966); Joseph E. Illick, William Penn the Politician: His Relations with the English Government (1965); and Harry Emerson Wildes, William Penn (1974). Mary Maples Dunn, William Penn: Politics and Conscience (1967), examines the Quaker leader's ideas. Melvin B. Endy Jr., William Penn and Early Quakerism (1973), studies his religious thought. Richard S. Dunn and Mary Maples Dunn (eds.), The World of William Penn (1986), collects essays on Penn, contemporary Britain and America, and Quakerism.