1671] ENGAGEMENT 83 ment, so suitable was it in every respect. William Penn was twenty-six years of age, and Gulielma about twenty. But a cloud arose on their horizon almost immediately, and before the young couple could think of marriage, trouble had invaded the home. Isaac Pennington had been imprisoned on account of the doctrines he advocated. It was no longer safe for Maria and her daughter to remain at Chalfont, where a good deal of ill-will was displayed towards them, and Guli, who was deeply attached to her stepfather, refused to listen to her lover's request to be allowed to make a home for them both, for till his release, she could not think of her own happiness. So the mother and daughter roamed about from place to place, seeking some spot where they could be left in peace. Maria Pennington finally bought a place called Woodside, near Amersham, but while the house was rebuilding, they lived at Berrie House in the same village. There Isaac joined them when his term of imprisonment was over. There was now no further need for delay. At the next quarterly meeting of Friends at 1 Now a farmhouse, but well known as their residence. Woodside House was not far from Woodrow High House, the abode of Mr Cromwell.-Penns and Penningtons. 84 MARRIAGE [CHAP. X Jordans on December 7, 1671, William and Gulielma announced their intention of marrying." The usual preliminaries having been gone through on February 4, 1672, 1672, they took each other in marriage at Charleswood, in the parish of Rickmansworth. The place was an old farmhouse called King's Weir, where Friends' meetings were held. Without special dress or ceremony, the young couple stood up before the assembled congregation, and took each other as man and wife. They then went to live at Basing House, 1 In the Jordans Friends' Monthly Meeting Book, under date of December 7, 1671, there is this minute : “William Penn, of Walthamstow, Essex, and Gulielma Maria Springett, of Tiler's End Green, Bucks, propose their intention of taking each other in marriage.” One is at a loss to understand why Gulielma was of Tiler's End, when her mother was building a house at Amersham. Possibly the house was not finished, and they were staying with friends. Also the Penns had lived at Wantage, not Walthamstow, which was the adjoining parish.Sumner's Jordans and Chalfonts, a p. 158. 2 An old MSS., belonging to Mr Steevens of High Wycombe, Bucks, records this, and gives a copy of the certificate of marriage. 3 King's Farm is still well known and readily identified. It is in Herts, but half a mile from Bucks. The present house dates from the fifteenth century, and was said to have been a hunting box of King John's. The front is lumber frame, has a curious old window and wide door, which in Penn's time was probably the main entrance, but is now concealed by a modern structure, used as a dairy. The large room to which the window belongs is probably the one in which the marriage took place. The house is solidly built, and is said to have been fortified in the Civil War.- Pennsylvania Mag., vol. xx., p. 377. 1672] 85 Rickmansworth, in Herts, which they had settled on as the place of their new home, and for the first time in William Penn's stormy life, he began to enjoy absolute peace and happiness, with the bride who was the desire of his heart and the light of his eyes." But even during the first years of his married life, he did not live in blissful idleness, he travelled constantly in England, visiting and preaching In 1673 he undertook a journey into the western counties, taking his young wife with him. In those days even short distances were hard to traverse, and the country districts were very lawless. There was a large body of men, called moss-troopers, who plundered dwellings and drove away the cattle, every parish was quired to keep bloodhounds to defend the inhabitants against these freebooters. The country houses of the nobles and gentry were often fortified for the same reason, so that lonely travellers had to take many precautions for their safety and well-being. Probably the Penns went from house to house, among the Friends, at least to those able and willing to receive them, but at that time ✓ 1 Basing House, Rickmansworth, is still standing, but changed in appearance. It is so shut in by a high wall, with a row of trees behind, little can be seen of it. The extensive lawn and fine avenue of trees no longer exist.-Sumner's Memoirs of Jordans, |