Life

Simon Gunton was the son of William Gunton of Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

, 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, Cambridge

Magdalene College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.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 Magdalene...

, 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

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 2001 census, the parish's population was 496 people. The village has a Church of England Primary School, a church and a pub. The Pytchley Hunt is a...

, Northamptonshire, 14 October 1637, and on 12 November 1646 was collated, but without effect, to the first prebend of Peterborough

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 Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...

. 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

Esmé Stewart, 2nd Duke of Richmond

Esmé Stuart, 2nd Duke of Richmond, 5th Duke of Lennox was the son of James Stewart, 1st Duke of Richmond and Mary Villiers, daughter of George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham....

 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 Peterborough

Peterborough

Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...

. 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, Lincolnshire

Fiskerton is a small commuter village within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, located approximately east of the city of Lincoln and on the north side of the River Witham.-History:...

, 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

Joseph Henshaw

Joseph Henshaw was bishop of Peterborough in the East of England from 1663 until his death. Henshaw was educated at London Charterhouse and Magdalen Hall of Hertford College, Oxford, receiving a B.A. in 1624 and a D.D. in 1639...

, bishop of the diocese, Gunton took copies of the inscriptions on the monuments in Peterborough cathedral

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 Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Andrew, whose statues look down from the...

, 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

Simon Patrick

Simon Patrick was an English theologian and bishop.-Life:He was born at Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, on 8 September 1626, and attended Boston Grammar School. He entered Queens College, Cambridge, in 1644, and after taking orders in 1651 became successively chaplain to Sir Walter St. John and vicar...

 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

White Kennett was an English bishop and antiquarian.-Life:He was born at Dover. He was educated at Westminster School and at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, where, while an undergraduate, he published several translations of Latin works, including Erasmus' In Praise of Folly.Kennett was vicar of...

, afterwards bishop of Peterborough

Bishop of Peterborough

The Bishop of Peterborough is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Peterborough in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers the counties of Northamptonshire, Rutland and the Soke of Peterborough in Cambridgeshire...

, wrote large additions in a copy now preserved in the cathedral library. Thomas Baker

Thomas Baker (antiquarian)

Thomas Baker , English antiquarian, was the grandson of Colonel Baker of Crook, Durham, who won fame in the English Civil War by his defence of Newcastle upon Tyne against the Scots. Thomas was educated at the free school at Durham, and went on to St John's College, Cambridge, where he later...

's copy with Kennett's notes and a few of his own is in Cambridge University Library

Cambridge University Library

The Cambridge University Library is the centrally-administered library of Cambridge University in England. It comprises five separate libraries:* the University Library main building * the Medical Library...

. There are also copies with notes by Bishop Cumberland

Richard Cumberland (philosopher)

Richard Cumberland was an English philosopher, and bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In 1672, he published his major work, De legibus naturae , propounding utilitarianism and opposing the egoistic ethics of Thomas Hobbes.Cumberland was a member of the latitudinarian movement, along with his friend...

, William Cole

William Cole (antiquary)

William Cole , was a Cambridgeshire clergyman and antiquary.Cole was born in Little Abington, Cambridgeshire, the son of a well-to-do farmer...

, and others, in the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

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

British Museum

The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...

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