Henry Penton

Henry Penton (c. 1705 – 1 September 1762) was a British Member of Parliament. He first entered Parliament on his wife's stepfather's interest for Tregony, a Cornish borough. He then represented his home city of Winchester for fourteen years before giving place to his son, dying the following year.

The eldest son of John Penton of Winchester, Penton was educated at New College, Oxford. He succeeded to his father's estates in 1724. In 1733, he married a Miss Simondi, the daughter of the Swedish consul at Lisbon by his wife Anne. She was the sister of Joseph Gulston, and later made a second marriage to John Goddard; both were merchants engaged in Portuguese trade and Members of Parliament.

The Pentons were an old Winchester family, and Henry was recorder of Winchester during his career, but he was first returned to Parliament on Goddard's interest for the Cornish borough of Tregony at the 1734 British general election. He was a dutiful supporter of the Walpole ministry and the succeeding Whig ministries, for which he was rewarded in 1743 with a grant of the reversion to the sinecure office of King's letter carrier. He succeeded to this office four years later. He spoke in support of a petition to suppress hawkers and pedlars in 1748, his only recorded speech in Parliament. In 1750, Lord Egmont thought, from Penton's confidences, that he might be discontented with the Ministry and prepared to join the opposition, but nothing came of it.