of the Pilgrim Land,’ 1886. 4. ‘That Nothing be Lost,’ 1892. She is largely represented in ‘The Homeward Journey,’ a selection of poems by Mrs. Pennefather and others, 1888.
[Braithwaite's Life and Letters of the Rev. W. Pennefather, 1878; Julian's Dict. of Hymnology, 1892, p. 888; Christian Portrait Gallery, p. 287; Record, 13 Jan. 1893.]
PENNETHORNE, Sir JAMES (1801–1871), architect, born at Worcester on 4 June 1801, was son of Thomas Pennethorne of that city. His younger brother John [q. v.] is separately noticed. In February 1820 he came to London, and entered the office of John Nash [q. v.], the architect, whose wife was first cousin to his father. In the summer of 1822 he was placed by Nash under the charge of Augustus Pugin [q. v.], with a view to the study of Gothic architecture, and was engaged on the drawings for various of Pugin's works.
In October 1824 he left England for the usual course of foreign travel, visiting France, Italy, and Sicily. At Rome he studied antiquities, and made a design for the restoration of the Forum, which he subsequently exhibited. His merits were recognised by his election as a member of the academy of St. Luke. On his return to London, at the end of 1826, he took a leading position in Nash's office, and, as his principal assistant, directed the West Strand, King William Street, and other important improvements. In 1832 he was directly employed by the commissioners of her majesty's woods to prepare plans for further improvements in the metropolis. One of his aims was to form a great street running from the extreme east to the extreme west of London, but this proved too ambitious in the eyes of the government. Others of his schemes submitted to select committees of the House of Commons in 1836 and 1838 were injuriously modified to meet the views of economical government officials (3 & 4 Vict. cap. 87, and 4 Vict. cap. 12). But four great streets were at once constructed from Pennethorne's mutilated plans, at a cost of 1,000,000l., viz. New Oxford Street (Oxford Street to Holborn), Endell Street (Bow Street to Charlotte Street), Cranbourn Street (Coventry Street to Long Acre), a remnant of Pennethorne's great east to west street, and Commercial Street (London Docks to Spitalfields Church). In 1846 an act was obtained for the extension of Commercial Street from Spitalfields Church to Shoreditch, but this extension was not completed till 1858 (cf. Westminster Review, 1841, pp. 404–35). In 1855 the newly formed Metropolitan Board of Works constructed from Pennethorne's earlier designs Garrick Street, Southwark Street, Old Street to Shoreditch, and other thoroughfares.
Before 1840 Pennethorne had engaged in some private practice, and had built the Bazaar, St. James's Street, for W. Crockford, esq.; Southland Hall, Leicestershire, for Butler Danvers, esq.; Dillington House, Ilminster, for John Lee Lee, esq.; St. Julian's, Sevenoaks, for the Right Hon. J. C. Herries; and churches in Albany Street, Gray's Inn Road, and elsewhere. His design for rebuilding the Royal Exchange was one of the five selected in the competition. After 1840 Pennethorne's time was wholly absorbed by his public duties; in that year he was appointed (with Thomas Chawner) joint surveyor of houses in London, in the land revenue department; in 1843 he became sole surveyor and architect of the office of woods, and was appointed a commissioner to inquire into the construction of workhouses in Ireland. In 1845 the treasury desired that he should not engage in further private practice.
Pennethorne was largely employed in laying out open spaces in London. In 1841, under a special act of parliament, the commissioners of her majesty's woods purchased out of the proceeds of the sale of York House the site of Victoria Park and its approaches in the east of London, and Pennethorne skilfully designed the park and laid it out at a cost of 115,000l. He dealt similarly with Battersea Park, the site of which was acquired under the powers of an act in 1846; but here again his designs were imperfectly carried out. The formation of the approaches to the park from Chelsea, the acquisition of properties for the Chelsea Embankment, the construction of Kennington Park were also executed by Pennethorne; while in 1852 he elaborated a scheme for a great northern park, to be designated Albert Park. Although this ambitious project was not realised, Finsbury Park now occupies a small portion of the district comprised in the original scheme. From 1851 to 1853 Pennethorne was occupied in clearing away the houses which crowded against the walls of Windsor Castle. At the same time he designed the Museum of Economic Geology between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly. The building is noticeable for the dignity and power of the elevations, the picturesque effects in the interior, and the remarkably commodious arrangements by which large accommodation is provided on a limited site.
He elaborated a fine design in 1847 for the Public Record Office in Fetter Lane. This edifice he had intended to occupy a central
