Most likely all of the Pennells originate from England. The generations of Pennells most recently based in England (i.e. 1700s and 1800s) has many of its members documented in the 2015 book "Footnotes to History" by retired professor Nigel Harris. This book outlines some of the Pennells involved in the seafaring, ship ownership, and Newfoundland cod fisheries, and England’s colonial system (as appointed diplomats and bureaucrats in far flung parts of the English colonial empire like Brazil, and St. Helena). The Pennells located in the Exeter/Topsham area of Devon (and maybe the Channel Islands) seem to be the origin for migrations of family members to the northeast USA (for example, Pennellville, Brunswick, Maine), and to Newfoundland, Canada. The Pennell family in the Devon area seemed to be successful ship owners and seafarers. The earliest offshoot of Pennells outside of England was likely in the 1600s or early 1700s with the group who ended up mostly in Maine, U.S.A. (see Pennellville in Brunswick, Maine). There is a known history of a shipbuilding family named the Pennells in this region. Given how long ago this offshoot occurred, genealogy documenting the link between this group and the current Pennells in England is not very robust. The second major offshoot of Pennells outside of England seems to originate from Pennell family members who worked on the Newfoundland side of the family’s cod business but who ended up staying in Newfoundland even after the cod trade diminished in the 1800s. The business involved a triangle of (a) Pennell ships based in England which travelled to Newfoundland offloading cargos of salt and onloading cargos of salted cod; (b) Pennell fishing vessels based in Newfoundland, and (c) locations in Spain and other parts of Europe where the salted cod was sold. This cod business is briefly described in the Nigel Harris "Footnotes to History" book (it is not the focus of the book) - but the book does not specifically identify the Pennells who remained in Newfoundland or trace their genealogy. All variant spellings are welcome. If your Surname is missing and should be included, we'll be glad to add it. Please visit our website and add your family to the Patriarch Page. Although the project name includes several names other than Pennell, it would appear that (as of November 2021), the majority of the users who are members of this group have joined the group for their interest in the Pennell line. I am a new adminstrator as of January 2020 and accepted the project administrator role because there was no administrator at all - it would have been better to have a more experienced administrator but I guess a rookie administrator is better than no administrator. There has been very little activity since I joined. It would be nice to see some more male users with Pennell surnames submit YDNA samples (ideally, larger samples like the Y111) - they could help prove up the validity some of the Pennell family trees that have been built by various users based on paper records. Gord Pennell