Astronomical Society, December 1881, and chapter vi. in G. F. Chambers's Handbook of Astronomy, 4th edit. 3 vols. 1889).
His last astronomical work was a study of the orientation of temples, to which Sir Norman Lockyer directed his attention. Presuming that ' the object sought by the ancients in orienting their temples was to obtain from the stars at their rising or setting, as the case might be, a sufficient warning of the approach of dawn for preparation for the critical moment of sacrifice,' he perceived the importance of calculating the places of certain stars at distant epochs, and the possibility of estimating the age of certain temples by assuming an orientation and calculating the period of variation or apparent movement in the stars due to the precession of the equinoxes. Penrose applied his theory to certain Greek temples (see Proceedings and Philosophic Transactions of Royal Society), and with Lockyer he worked out a calculation on this basis in relation to Stonehenge (see also Journal R.I.B.A. 25 Jan. 1902). He joined the Royal Astronomical Society in 1867, and in 1894 his astronomical researches were recognised by his election as F.R.S.
Penrose's creative work as an architect was incommensurate in quantity with his obvious ability. He built at Cambridge the entrance gate at Magdalene, and a wing at St. John's; at Rugby School he erected the infirmary; at Wren's church, St. Stephen's, Walbrook, he designed the carved choir stalls. The vicarages at Harefield near Uxbridge and at Maids Moreton were his, as also were church restorations at Chilvers Coton and Long Stanton.
When in 1882 the foundation of the British School at Athens was projected, Penrose generously designed the building without fee. It was completed in 1886, when Penrose accepted the directorate for one season, 1886-7. He held the office again in 1890-1. At St. Paul's, where his chief architectural work was done, he designed the choir school, the choir seats and desks, the marble pulpit and stairs, carved oak lobbies at the western entrances of the north transept, the mosaic pavements in the crypt, the Wellington tomb in the crypt, the font and pavement in the south chapel, and the marble memorial to Lord Napier of Magdala. He was also responsible for the removal of the Wellington monument to a new position, the rearrangement of the steps at the west entrance, and the exposure of the remains of the ancient cathedral in the churchyard.
Penrose, whose fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects dated from 1848, received the royal gold medal of the institute in 1883 and was president in 1894-6. He became F.S.A. in 1898, when he was elected antiquary to the Royal Academy. He was made in 1884 one of the first honorary fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and in 1898 he became a Litt.D. of his university as well as an hon. D.C.L. of Oxford. He was a knight of the order of the Saviour of Greece.
His own house, Colebyfield, Wimbledon (which had a small observatory), was designed by himself. There, where he resided for forty years, he died on 15 Feb. 1903. He was buried at Wimbledon. He married in 1856 Harriette, daughter of Francis Gibbes, surgeon, of Harewood, Yorkshire. His wife predeceased him by twelve days. He left a son. Dr. Francis G. Penrose, and four daughters, the eldest of whom, Emily, became successively principal of Bedford College, Holloway College, and Somerville College, Oxford.
Penrose's portrait at the Royal Institute of British Architects is one of the most characteristic works of J. S. Sargent, R.A. (a copy is at Magdalene College). A memorial tablet was placed in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral, chiefly by architectural friends.
[R.I.B.A. Journal, vol. x. 3rd series, 1903, p. 337, article by Mr. J. D. Grace, also pp. 213-4; Royal Society Obituary Notices, vol. i. pt. 3, 1904, p. 305; information from Dr. Francis G. Penrose.]
PERCY, HENRY ALGERNON GEORGE, Earl Percy (1871–1909), politician and traveller, born at 25 (now 28) Grosvenor Square, London, on 21 Jan. 1871, was eldest son of Henry George Percy, Earl Percy, who became seventh duke of Northumberland in succession to his father in 1899. As Lord Warkworth he won at Eton the prize for English verse, and at Christ Church, Oxford, first class honours in classical moderations in 1891 and literæ humaniores in 1893, his class in the latter school being reputed one of the best of the year. He also obtained at Oxford in 1892 the Newdigate prize for English verse on the subject of St. Francis of Assisi, and his recitation of his poem in the Sheldonian Theatre was long remembered as one of the most impressive of these performances. In 1895 he contested Berwick-on-Tweed as a conservative without success against Sir Edward Grey, but later in the year was chosen at a bye-election for South Kensington, which he
