Penson

Life
Thomas Mainwaring Penson (1818–64) was an English surveyor and architect. He came from a family with a history of architectural work, both his father and grandfather, who were each named Thomas Penson, were also surveyors and architects. His grandfather Thomas Penson Snr. (c. 1760–1824) worked from an office in Wrexham, North Wales, and was responsible for the design of bridges, roads, gaols and other buildings in North Wales.

For thirty years Pernson Snr's son Thomas Penson Jnr. (c.1790–1859) was the County Surveyor for Denbighshire (c.1820/1-1859) and Mongomeryshire (1826-1859), where he is noted to have revolutionized the road systems and to have built and rebuilt several bridges, civic structures, churches, and country houses, some of the latter in the 'Elizabethan' style and others (such as parts of Llanerchydol Hall, and the "Butcher's Market" in Wrexham (1848)) in the Gothic Revival style. He later moved to Oswestry, Shropshire where he established an architectural practice. Early in his career Penson Jnr. was a pupil of architect and bridge designer Thomas Harrison.

Thomas Mainwaring Penson was born in Oswestry, and was educated at Oswestry School. He and his brother, Richard Kyrke Penson (1816-1886), then trained in their father's practice. Penson was appointed as County Surveyor of Cheshire and moved to Chester. He laid out Overleigh Cemetery in 1848–50, probably to a design by Lister.

He is credited with pioneering the Vernacular Revival style at Chester during the 1850s. His first building in this style (Number #40-44) was built in Eastgate Street in 1852. It has since been demolished and replaced by a later Vernacular Revival building by Philip and William Lockwood.

He died, during the construction of the Grosvenor hotel in Eastgate Street at the relatively young age of 46.

Sources & Links

 * T. M. Penson at Wikipedia;
 * List of Works at Wikipedia;