The most famous Quaker of all is William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania. Penn, whose naval-officer father was often away at sea, was raised by his mother in Chigwell, Essex, and received a good education. As a young man he was greatly influenced by John Owen and by the Quaker Thomas Lee. Expelled from Oxford for his Nonconformist views, he eventually joined the Society of Friends. He was imprisoned on several occasions and used both his pen and the pulpit to defend Quakerism and to advocate political and religious freedom. Between 1677 and 1678 he helped send more than 800 Quakers to New Jersey.
In 1681, in consideration of a debt to his father, he received from Charles II a grant of land now consisting of Pennsylvania and Delaware. He founded the colony of Pennsylvania as a ‘holy experiment’ for establishing liberty and equality in the exercise of religion. Penn was briefly imprisoned under William and Mary on a charge of being a Papist but later came into royal favour. His book, No Cross, No Crown, was written during his time in the Tower. He died in 1718 and was buried along with other members of his family in the grounds of Old Jordans.