PENSHERST, (Kent) or PENCHESTER, by the Medway, 3 m. S.W. of Tunbridge, the ancient manor and seat of Sir Stephen de
Pensherst, who was warden of the Cinque-Ports in the R. of Hen. III. fell by the marriage of his daughter to Ld.
Colombers; from whose family it came by the Poultneys, Devereuxes, &c. to the crown; but in later times became the seat of
the Sidneys; for in the R. of Edw. VI. on the attainder of Sir Ralph Vane, the honor of Pensherst, with its park, was
granted to Sir Will. Sidney, the ancestor of the great Sir Phil. Sidney, and of the late E. of Leicester, who had a fine
seat here; and to whose family it first gave title of Baron in the R. of K. Ja. I. But the male line of the family being
extinct, this manor and seat is now enjoyed by Will. Perry, Esq; who married a daughter of the last E's brother, colonel
Tho. Sidney.