The New International Encyclopædia/Pennant, Thomas

PEN′NANT, Thomas (1726-98). A British naturalist, born at Downing, near Holywell, in Flintshire, and educated at Queen's College, Oxford. In 1754 he visited Ireland, and about this time began those tours of the British Islands, the published accounts of which contributed greatly to his reputation. In 1761 he began his British Zoölogy, the first part of which was published five years later. This work and his History of Quadrupeds (1781) were long held in the highest esteem by scientists. Among his other writings are: Tour in Scotland (1771); Tours in Wales (1810); Arctic Zoölogy (1784-87); and Outlines of the Globe (1798-1800). Consult: The Literary Life of the Late Thomas Pennant, Esq., By Himself (London, 1793); Parkins, Memoir, in Rhys's edition of the Tours in Wales (1883); and Jardine, Memoir, in “The Naturalist's Library,” vol. xv.