John Bunyan - his Family and Life
John Bunyan's Birthplace
John Bunyan's Birthplace
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Although the Bunyans' cottage no longer exists, a large granite stone marks the site. There is an information board beside the stone.
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John Bunyan Trail - Maps and Route
The John Bunyan trail takes in all of the places in Bedfordshire that have a Bunyan connection.
It starts in Pavenham village (six miles north of Bedford)southwards to Elstow Village. Then from Elstow to Sundon Hills - down in the south western corner of Bedfordshire.
Below are downloadable Maps of these two sections, plus a document describing the route and a short book about the Trail.
It starts in Pavenham village (six miles north of Bedford)southwards to Elstow Village. Then from Elstow to Sundon Hills - down in the south western corner of Bedfordshire.
Below are downloadable Maps of these two sections, plus a document describing the route and a short book about the Trail.
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John Bunyan's Family and Life
The origins of the Elstow Bunyan family are somewhat uncertain but here is everything we know.
In 1199, a court of the King’s Bench determined that Willium Bunion of Wilstead held (of the Abbess of Elstow) a virgate (30 acres) of land at Wilstead.
The Rev'd Dr. John Brown, the 19th century minister of Bedford Bunyan Meeting church, researched and published a biography of John Bunyan. (Click to go to archive copy of the book.)
He states that, possibly in the 13th century, the Bunyan family at Pullokes Hille (Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire) divided - some moving to Chalgrave, others to Elstow. Note; Dr. Brown was a scrupulous historian but, unfortunately, he did not list the sources of his information. However, he was not normally given to stating things as fact unless he had seen it in a source document. As both villages are within 10 miles of Pulloxhill, these claims are certainly plausible.
At some point, some of the Chalgrave family appear to have moved to the nearby village of Flitton. The Flitton Bunyans' family tree - dated from the 17th century onwards - shows that they commonly named their male children 'Thomas' - as did the Elstow Bunyans.
For these reasons, we have included John Boynun of Pullokes Hille and a few others named in documents from those early times, near the top of our tree, as possible ancestors of the Elstow Bunyans.
See also; http://www.mikesclark.com/genealogy/bunyan.html
Since we first began researching the Elstow Bunyans' family tree, several families have claimed John Bunyan as their ancestor but, upon examination of their family trees, fundamental errors were discovered which showed those claims to be erroneous. eg. Many discovered that they are descended from a Thomas Bunyan but have then gone on to - wrongly - assud that he is John's son Thomas. In fact, we ahve discovered that this ancestor Thomas was a member of the Flitton/Pulloxhill Bunyan family.
We have also found a family of Bunyans in the Potton Gamlingay area of east Bedfordshire but have not found any link between them and the Flitton/Elstow Bunyans. Similarly, we found another family of Bunyans at Moulsoe (near Cranfield, West Bedfordshire) but, again, found no link between them and any of the other Bedfordshire Bunyan families.
Very recently, we discovered some more descendants of John Bunyan, whose line originates with John's daughter Sarah and her husband William Brown. These descendants were alive at the beginning of the 20th century and living in Fardish, so we put out an appeal for anyone who thought they were descended from the Farndish Browns to contact us. Three families got in touch and one family's tree - a family of Browns -looked promising. After checking the information they provided against the BMD registers, we were able to confirm that this family are indeed direct descendants of Sarah Bunyan and thus of her father John.
It had taken 30 plus years of searching, but we had finally found, not just one living descendant but a whole family.
The 2025 version of the Bunyan Family tree is now available as a free download, below - it's the first file.
Also below, are a number of downloadable Bunyan-related articles that you may find of interest.
In 1199, a court of the King’s Bench determined that Willium Bunion of Wilstead held (of the Abbess of Elstow) a virgate (30 acres) of land at Wilstead.
The Rev'd Dr. John Brown, the 19th century minister of Bedford Bunyan Meeting church, researched and published a biography of John Bunyan. (Click to go to archive copy of the book.)
He states that, possibly in the 13th century, the Bunyan family at Pullokes Hille (Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire) divided - some moving to Chalgrave, others to Elstow. Note; Dr. Brown was a scrupulous historian but, unfortunately, he did not list the sources of his information. However, he was not normally given to stating things as fact unless he had seen it in a source document. As both villages are within 10 miles of Pulloxhill, these claims are certainly plausible.
At some point, some of the Chalgrave family appear to have moved to the nearby village of Flitton. The Flitton Bunyans' family tree - dated from the 17th century onwards - shows that they commonly named their male children 'Thomas' - as did the Elstow Bunyans.
For these reasons, we have included John Boynun of Pullokes Hille and a few others named in documents from those early times, near the top of our tree, as possible ancestors of the Elstow Bunyans.
See also; http://www.mikesclark.com/genealogy/bunyan.html
Since we first began researching the Elstow Bunyans' family tree, several families have claimed John Bunyan as their ancestor but, upon examination of their family trees, fundamental errors were discovered which showed those claims to be erroneous. eg. Many discovered that they are descended from a Thomas Bunyan but have then gone on to - wrongly - assud that he is John's son Thomas. In fact, we ahve discovered that this ancestor Thomas was a member of the Flitton/Pulloxhill Bunyan family.
We have also found a family of Bunyans in the Potton Gamlingay area of east Bedfordshire but have not found any link between them and the Flitton/Elstow Bunyans. Similarly, we found another family of Bunyans at Moulsoe (near Cranfield, West Bedfordshire) but, again, found no link between them and any of the other Bedfordshire Bunyan families.
Very recently, we discovered some more descendants of John Bunyan, whose line originates with John's daughter Sarah and her husband William Brown. These descendants were alive at the beginning of the 20th century and living in Fardish, so we put out an appeal for anyone who thought they were descended from the Farndish Browns to contact us. Three families got in touch and one family's tree - a family of Browns -looked promising. After checking the information they provided against the BMD registers, we were able to confirm that this family are indeed direct descendants of Sarah Bunyan and thus of her father John.
It had taken 30 plus years of searching, but we had finally found, not just one living descendant but a whole family.
The 2025 version of the Bunyan Family tree is now available as a free download, below - it's the first file.
Also below, are a number of downloadable Bunyan-related articles that you may find of interest.
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Joyce Godber's "John Bunyan of Bedfordshire" booklet.
We have had to split this large document into two pdfs: The first contains the text; the second, the illustrations. |
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The Bunyan family and Elstow Manor Court
In 1554, John Bunyan’s great-great grandfather, Thomas, was serving on the homage - the jury of Elstow Manor Court - when his wife was brought before the court for ‘breaking the assize of beer or bread’. ie. Selling beer at other than the locally-set price or selling underweight loaves. She was fined one penny.
Also fined that day, for the same offence, was widow Wallmer and the wives of: Thomas Sharpe and William Kempston.
The jurers were; Thos Bunion, Thos Crowley, Frances Crowley, William Donne, Thos Dove, William Dove, Bernard Fann, John Gate, William Kenston, John May, Thos Robinson, Robert Thorpe, Thomas Wake and William Walmer Snr.
Thomas Bunion's wife was fined at Elstow Manor Court on several other occasions for the same offence.
Also fined that day, for the same offence, was widow Wallmer and the wives of: Thomas Sharpe and William Kempston.
The jurers were; Thos Bunion, Thos Crowley, Frances Crowley, William Donne, Thos Dove, William Dove, Bernard Fann, John Gate, William Kenston, John May, Thos Robinson, Robert Thorpe, Thomas Wake and William Walmer Snr.
Thomas Bunion's wife was fined at Elstow Manor Court on several other occasions for the same offence.
John Bunyan and the English Civil War
In 1644, aged just 16, John was conscripted - along with other Elstow men - by Sir Samuel Luke of Cople. They were marched to Cromwell's Parliamentary Army garrison at Newport Pagnell.
He served in the army until 1647 and married his first wife two years later.
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Imprisonment
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The best-selling book of all time.
It was during his 2nd period of imprisonment - 6 months in Bedford Town jail - that John began writing his most important work; The Pilgrim's Progress.
The Pilgrim's Progress has been the best-selling book for over 350 years and has never been out of print.
It has been translated into over 300 languages and has sold more copies than any other single-authored book in the world . The only book that has sold more copies is a multi-authored book; the Christian Bible.
The Pilgrim's Progress has been the best-selling book for over 350 years and has never been out of print.
It has been translated into over 300 languages and has sold more copies than any other single-authored book in the world . The only book that has sold more copies is a multi-authored book; the Christian Bible.
Bunyan's Grave
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In 1688, whilst on horseback from Reading, Berkshire to the house of his friend, grocer John Strudwick of Snow Hill in the City of London, Bunyan was caught in a storm and fell ill with a fever.
He died in Strudwick's house on the morning of 31 August 1688 and was buried in a tomb, belonging to Strudwick, in Bunhill Fields Burial ground, 38 City Road, London EC1Y 2BG The main entrance to the grounds is on the western side of City Road. Bunyan's tomb is in the south side of the grounds, at the end of a wide walkway. (There is a leaflet and site plan,that you can download, below.)
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Education - Bunyan Round Table group
In an effort to promote knowledge of Bunyan and his works, in 2018 a group called "Bunyan Round Table" was set up.
The group in secured funding to supply every school in Bedford with a teaching pack about Bunyan and The Pilgrims Progress.
To encourage wider education about Bunyan and the Pilgrim's Progress, teachers from any school or church may obtain free copies of the Bunyan/ Pilgrims Progress Curriculum and Frieze. Go to;
https://bunyansbedford.weebly.com/teaching-materials.html
The group also tried to 'brand' Bedford as the 'home of John Bunyan', in the same way that Stratford is known as the home of Shakespeare. They managed to get all the main roads into Bedford signed to announce that it is the home of Bunyan and The Pilgrims Progress. The first entry gate into Elstow was opened in October 2019 and more gates will be built soon. See; https://elstow.weebly.com/events--news/bunyansbedford
The group hosted the premiere of the new animated film of The Pilgrim's Progress at Cineworld Bedford in October 2019 and also set up a website; John Bunyan's Bedford
The group in secured funding to supply every school in Bedford with a teaching pack about Bunyan and The Pilgrims Progress.
To encourage wider education about Bunyan and the Pilgrim's Progress, teachers from any school or church may obtain free copies of the Bunyan/ Pilgrims Progress Curriculum and Frieze. Go to;
https://bunyansbedford.weebly.com/teaching-materials.html
The group also tried to 'brand' Bedford as the 'home of John Bunyan', in the same way that Stratford is known as the home of Shakespeare. They managed to get all the main roads into Bedford signed to announce that it is the home of Bunyan and The Pilgrims Progress. The first entry gate into Elstow was opened in October 2019 and more gates will be built soon. See; https://elstow.weebly.com/events--news/bunyansbedford
The group hosted the premiere of the new animated film of The Pilgrim's Progress at Cineworld Bedford in October 2019 and also set up a website; John Bunyan's Bedford
The Pilgrim's Progress - the 2019 animated film
This film is no longer available to watch for free on youtube in the UK.
But you can still view some sample episodes HERE
Or you can purchase the complete film, on DVD or Blu-ray, direct from
the production company AO Vision or from Amazon
But you can still view some sample episodes HERE
Or you can purchase the complete film, on DVD or Blu-ray, direct from
the production company AO Vision or from Amazon
