The name Penston has been traced to the Norman invasion of England in 1066. The Normans  identified themselves by reference to the estates from which they came in northern France.  Following the invasion, they continued this practice by taking the names of places they  occupied.

Penston refers to a coal mining village located in the Parish of Gladsmuir in Scotland.  Included in the Stories section of this website is an item entitled 'Penston, East Lothian,  Scotland'. This story includes some maps and descriptions of the area.

An interesting anecdote is that near the end of the 13th century the village of Penston was  located in the barony of Penston and belonged to William de Balliol, who was the nephew of John  Balliol of Barnard Castle. John Balliol was the father of King John Balliol, who acceded to the  Scottish throne on November 17, 1292.

A number of members of the original Penston 'family' subsequently moved from Scotland to  England, mostly locating in the area surrounding London. A significant number of 'Irish   Penstons' later relocated to Ireland, some future generations emigrated elsewhere and many have  stayed in England.

The eldest Penston documented in this family tree is Alexander (1740 - 1813). He and his wife  Mary Oddy lived in the outskirts of London, England in the district of Surrey.

This family tree traces ten generations of Penstons from Alexander and Mary, including numerous  branches and twigs bearing other surnames.

Research has not been completed on all the generations of Penstons, so a number of 'blanks' are  present in this family tree.

The family tree includes many  surnames other than 'Penston'. As of December 9, 2017 the most  common surnames in the family tree were: Penston (292), McDonald (203), Kastner (190), Armson  (132), Lindsay (128), Warren (93), Smith (83), Ive (73), Ferguson (60), McCrea (67) and  Pellerin (67).