Simon Gunton (1609-1676) was an English clergyman and antiquary.

Life

Simon Gunton was the son of William Gunton of

Peterborough Peterborough ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in the City of Peterborough district in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, England. The city is north of London, on the River Nene. A ...

, Northamptonshire, by Ellen his wife, and was baptised in St. John's Church in that town, 30 December 1609. His father was registrar of the diocese, having been elected 13 March 1616. Simon was educated at

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

, as a member of which he graduated B.A. in 1630–1, proceeding M.A. in 1634. Then taking orders he became vicar of Pytchley, Northamptonshire, 14 October 1637, and on 12 November 1646 was collated, but without effect, to the first prebend of

. During the civil war he found a retreat in the household of James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, as we learn from the dedication to the little duke Esme of his 'God's House, with the nature and use thereof, as it ought to be understood and respected by Christians under the Gospel,' 8vo, London, 1657. After the Restoration in 1660 he took possession of his prebend, and on 24 September of the same year was presented to the vicarage of

. He soon afterwards obtained an act in augmentation of the living. The following year he published another little manual entitled ''Όρθολατρεία: or, a brief Discourse concerning Bodily Worship: proving it to be God's due'', 8vo, London, 1661. In December 1666 he resigned the vicarage of Peterborough to become rector of

Fiskerton, Lincolnshire Fiskerton is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census recorded the population of the civil parish as 1,209. It is about east of Lin ...

, where he died and was buried 17 May 1676. By his wife, Susannah Dickenson, of Peterborough, he had several children. During his boyhood, as he himself states in a letter to Joseph Henshaw, bishop of the diocese, Gunton took copies of the inscriptions on the monuments in

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, and formerly known as Peterborough Abbey or St Peter's Abbey, is a cathedral in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. The seat of the Church ...

, many of which were defaced by the parliamentary troops. He had also through his father's position unlimited access to the cathedral archives before they were in turn destroyed. Ten years after his death his collections, revised and augmented with an appendix of charters and privileges and a supplement by Simon Patrick were published as ''The History of the Church of Peterburgh: wherein the most remarkable Things concerning that Place, from the first Foundation thereof: With other Passages of History, not unworthy publick view are represented. . . . Illustrated with Sculptures'', fol., London, 1686.

White Kennett White Kennett (10 August 166019 December 1728) was an English bishop and antiquarian. He was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where, while an undergraduate, he published several translations of Latin works, including ...

, afterwards bishop of Peterborough, wrote large additions in a copy now preserved in the cathedral library. Thomas Baker's copy with Kennett's notes and a few of his own is in

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...

. There are also copies with notes by Bishop Cumberland, William Cole, and others, in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

. The original manuscript of Patrick's ''Supplement'' was acquired by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in 1859.Addit. MS. 22666. An ''Epitome'' of Gunton's ''History'' by C. Jacob, published at Peterborough in 1804, 8vo, went through several editions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunton, Simon 1609 births 1676 deaths Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge 17th-century English Anglican priests English antiquarians