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

Life

Simon Gunton was the son of William Gunton of

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, 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, 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 Pytchley is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, three miles south-west of Kettering and near the A14 road. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population was 489 people. The village has a Church of England Primar ...

, 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, 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 – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Pau ...

, 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 the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

. There are also copies with notes by Bishop Cumberland, William Cole, and others, in the Bodleian Library. The original manuscript of Patrick's ''Supplement'' was acquired by the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

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