of the value of twenty silver pence, was struck. The weight and value of the silver penny steadily declined from 1300 onwards, as will be seen from the following table:—
| Reign. | Weight. | Value in silver 925 fine, at 5s. 6d. per oz. |
| Grains. | Penny. | |
| William I., 1066 | 2212 | 3·09 |
| Edward I., 1300 | 22 | 3·02 |
| Edward III., 1344 | 2014 | 2·78 |
| Edward III., 1346 | 20 | 2·75 |
| Edward III., 1351 | 18 | 2·47 |
| Henry IV., 1412 | 15 | 2·06 |
| Edward IV., 1464 | 12 | 1·65 |
| Henry VIII., 1527 | 1012 | 1·44 |
| Henry VIII., 1543 | 10 | 1·37 |
| Edward VI., 1552 | 8 | 1·10 |
| Elizabeth, 1601 | 734 | 1·06 |
The last coinage of silver pence for general circulation was
in the reign of Charles II. (1661–1662), since which time they
have only been coined for issue as royal alms on Maundy Thursdays.
Copper halfpence were first issued in Charles II.’s reign,[1]
but it was not until 1797, in the reign of George III., that copper
pence were struck. This copper penny weighed 1 oz.
avoirdupois. In the same year copper twopences were issued weighing
2 oz., but they were found too cumbersome and were discontinued.
In 1860 bronze was substituted for the copper coinage,
the alloy containing 95 parts of copper, 4 of tin, and 1 of zinc.
The weight was also reduced, 1 ℔ of bronze being coined into
48 pennies, as against 24 pennies into which 1 ℔ of copper
was coined.
PENN YAN, a village and the county-seat of Yates county,
New York, U.S.A., situated N. of Keuka Lake, on the outlet
extending to Lake Seneca, about 170 m. W. of Albany, and
about 95 m. E. by S. of Buffalo. Pop. (1905), 4504; (1910)
4597. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson River
and the Northern Central railways and by electric railway to
Branchport, and has steamboat connexions with Hammondsport
at the head of Keuka Lake. The lake, one of the most
beautiful of the so-called “finger lakes” of central New York,
abounds in lake and rainbow trout, black bass, pickerel and
pike, and there are many summer cottages along its shores. At
Keuka Park, on the west shore of the lake, is Keuka College
(1890), and at Eggleston’s Point is held a summer “natural
science camp” for boys. The village is the seat of the Penn
Yan Academy (1859). The lake furnishes water-power, and
among the manufactures are paper, lumber, carriages, shoes,
&c. Much ice is shipped from the village. Penn Yan is an
important shipping point in the apple and grape-growing region
of central New York, and winemaking is an important industry.
The first frame dwelling at Penn Yan was built in 1799; the
village became the county-seat in 1823, when Yates county was
created, and was incorporated in 1833. The first settlers
were chiefly followers of Jemima Wilkinson (1753–1819), a
religious enthusiast, born in Cumberland township, Providence
county, Rhode Island, who asserted that she had received a
divine commission. She preached in Rhode Island, Connecticut,
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. Obtaining a large
tract (which was called Jerusalem in 1789) in the present Yates
county, she founded in 1788 the village of Hopeton on the outlet
of Keuka Lake about a mile from Seneca Lake. Many followers
settled there, and she herself lived there after 1790. Some of
her followers left her before 1800, and then the community
gradually broke up. The name of the village is said to have
been derived from the first syllables of “Pennsylvania” and
“Yankee,” as most of the early settlers were Pennsylvanians
and New Englanders.
See Lewis C. Aldrich, History of Yates County, New York (Syracuse, 1892).
PENNYROYAL, in botany, a herb formerly much used in
medicine, the name being a corruption of the old herbalist’s
name “Pulioll-royall,” Pulegium regium. It is a member
of the mint genus, and has been known to botanists since the
time of Linnaeus as Mentha pulegium. It is a perennial herb
with a slender branched stem, square in section, up to a foot
in length and rooting at the lower nodes, small opposite stalked
oval leaves about half-inch long, and dense clusters of small
reddish-purple flowers in the leaf axils, forming almost globular
whorls. It grows in damp gravelly places, especially near pools,
on heaths and commons. It has a strong smell somewhat like
that of spearmint, due to a volatile oil which is readily obtained
by distillation with water, and is known in pharmacy as Oleum
pulegii. The specific name recalls its supposed property of
driving away fleas (pulices). Like the other mints it has
carminative and stimulant properties.
PENOBSCOT, a tribe of North American Indians of Algonquian stock. Their old range was the country around the river Penobscot in Maine. They sided with the French in the colonial wars, but made a treaty of peace with the English in 1749. They fought against the English in the War of Independence, and were subsequently settled on an island in the Penobscot river, near Oldtown.
PENOLOGY (Lat. poena, punishment), the modern name given to penitentiary science, that concerned with the processes devised and adopted for the repression and prevention of crime. (See Crime; Criminology; Prison; Juvenile Offenders; Recidivism, &c.)
PENRHYN, GEORGE SHOLTO GORDON DOUGLAS-PENNANT, 2nd Baron (1836–1907), was the son of Colonel Edward Gordon Douglas (1800–1886), brother of the 19th earl of Morton, who, through his wife, Juliana, elder daughter and coheir of George Hay Dawkins-Pennant, of Penrhyn Castle, Carnarvon, had large estates in Wales and elsewhere, and was created Baron Penrhyn in 1866. Dawkins had inherited the estates from Richard Penryn, who was created Baron Penryn in 1763, the title becoming extinct on his death in 1808.
George Douglas-Pennant was conservative M.P. for Carnarvonshire in 1866–1868 and 1874–1880, and succeeded his father in the title in 1886. A keen sportsman, a benevolent landlord, a kind and considerate employer, Lord Penrhyn came of a proud race, and was himself of an imperious disposition. He came prominently before the public in 1897 and subsequent years in connexion with the famous strike at his Welsh slate-quarries. During his father’s lifetime the management of the Penrhyn quarry had been left practically to an elective committee operatives, and it was on the verge of bankruptcy when in 1885 he took matters in hand; he abolished the committee, and with the help of Mr E. A. Young, whom he brought in from London as manager, he so reorganized the business that this slate-quarry yielded a profit of something like £150,000 a year. The new men and new methods were, however, not to the taste of the trade unionist leaders of the quarrymen, and in 1897, when the “new unionism” was rampant in labour questions throughout England, a strike was deliberately fomented. Lord Penrhyn refused to recognize the union or its officials, though he was willing to consider any grievances from individual quarrymen, and a protracted struggle ensued, in which his determination was invincible He became the object of the bitterest political hostility, and trade unionism exerted itself to the utmost, but vainly, to bring about some form of government intervention. Penrhyn strikers perambulated the country, singing and collecting contributions to their funds. But in spite of every pressure Lord Penrhyn insisted on being master of his own property, and by degrees the agitation collapsed. His death on the 10th of March 1907 evoked general and genuine regret. Lord Penrhyn was twice married, and had fifteen surviving children. He was succeeded in the title by his eldest son, Edward Sholto (b. 1864), who was Unionist M.P. for South Northamptonshire from 1895 to 1900.
- ↑ The figure of Britannia first appeared on this issue of copper coins. The original of Britannia is said to have been Frances Stewart, afterwards duchess of Richmond (Pepys, Diary, Feb. 25, 1667). It was in Charles II.’s reign, too, that the practice was established of placing the sovereign s bust in a direction contrary to that of his predecessor.
