Thomas Cawton the elder (1605–1659) was an English clergyman of presbyterian and royalist views. After the discovery of the plot of

Christopher Love Christopher Love (1618, Cardiff, Wales – 22 August 1651, London) was a Welsh Presbyterian preacher and activist during the English Civil War. In 1651, he was executed by the English government for plotting with the exiled Stuart court. The ...

, he went into exile in the Netherlands.

Life

He was born at Rainham, Norfolk in 1605. He was sent to

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the oldest colleges of the university, founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. The college spans the River Cam, colloquially referred to as the "light s ...

, by

Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet Sir Roger Townshend, 1st Baronet (c.1596 – 1 January 1637), was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons in two parliaments between 1621 and 1629. Family Townshend was the son of Sir John Townshend (died 1603) of ...

. After seven years at Cambridge, he studied theology at the house of

Herbert Palmer Herbert Palmer may refer to: *Herbert Palmer (Puritan) (1601–1647), Puritan writer * Herbert James Palmer (1851–1939), Canadian politician, Premier of Prince Edward Island *Herbert Richmond Palmer (1877–1958), British colonial governor *Herb ...

, vicar of

Ashwell, Hertfordshire Ashwell is a village and civil parish in Hertfordshire situated north-east of Baldock. History To the southwest of the village is Arbury Banks, the remains of an Iron Age hill fort which have been largely removed by agricultural activity. I ...

. He was then for four years chaplain to Sir William Airmine, 1st Baronet of Orton, Northamptonshire, and in 1637 was presented by Sir Roger Townshend to the vicarage of Wivenhoe, Essex, where he persuaded his parishioners not to sell fish on Sunday. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Jenkin, a preacher of

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, and sister of William Jenkin, ejected in 1662. Seven years later he became minister of

St Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange St. Bartholomew-by-the-Exchange was a church and parish in the City of London located on Bartholomew Lane, off Threadneedle Street. Recorded since the 13th century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666, then rebuilt by ...

, London. He joined in the declaration of the London ministers against the death of Charles, and preached a sermon before the mayor and aldermen at Mercers' Chapel on 25 Feb. 1649, when he prayed for the royal family and Charles II. He was brought before the council of state, and, refusing to recant, was committed to the

Gatehouse Prison Gatehouse Prison was a prison in Westminster, built in 1370 as the gatehouse of Westminster Abbey. It was first used as a prison by the Abbot, a powerful churchman who held considerable power over the precincts and sanctuary. It was one of the pri ...

. He was released with other prisoners on 14 August 1649 as a thanksgiving for Michael Jones's victory at the Battle of Rathmines. He was concerned with his brother-in-law, William Jenkin, and others, in the plot to support Charles in Scotland, for which Christopher Love was executed on 22 August 1651, and escaped to Holland, where he was chosen pastor of the English church in Rotterdam. Here he became acquainted with scholars, and took pains to encourage Edmund Castell's ''Lexicon Heptaglotton'' and Brian Walton's polyglot bible. In 1658 Charles II addressed a letter to him, requesting Cawton to defend him among the Dutch ministers. Cawton died at Rotterdam on 7 August 1659. His son, Thomas Cawton the younger, was known as an orientalist.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cawton, Thomas 17th-century English Anglican priests English Presbyterian ministers of the Interregnum (England) 1605 births Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge 1659 deaths