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.
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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 (19th century biographer of John Bunyan) states that, possibly in the 13th century, the Bunyan family at Pullokes Hille (Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire) divided - some moving to Chalgrave, others to Elstow. Dr. Brown - a scrupulous historian - did not state the source of his information but he was not given to stating such things unless he had seen it in a source document. As both villages are within 10 miles of Pulloxhill, this claim is certainly plausable.
At some point, some of the Chalgrave family appear to have moved to the nearby village of Flitton . Then there arises an interesting co-incidence: 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 a possible ancestors of the Elstow Bunyans.
See also; http://www.mikesclark.com/genealogy/bunyan.html
Although John Bunyan had six children, we have never discovered any living descendants. Several families have claimed him as their ancestor but, upon careful examination of their family trees, fundamental errors were discovered which showed these claims to be erroneous eg. many find a Thomas Bunyan born in Flitton and wrongly assume that he is John's son Thomas.
Very recently, we discovered descendants of John's daughter Sarah, who were alive at the beginning of the 20th century, so the possibility that we may one day discover living descendants has increased significantly. So, if you are descended from any of the people in the bottom row of the latest version of the Bunyan Family Tree, do please contact the curator of Moot Hall via his website.
You can download a PDF of the Elstow Bunyan family's tree via the link immediately below. There are also a number of 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 (19th century biographer of John Bunyan) states that, possibly in the 13th century, the Bunyan family at Pullokes Hille (Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire) divided - some moving to Chalgrave, others to Elstow. Dr. Brown - a scrupulous historian - did not state the source of his information but he was not given to stating such things unless he had seen it in a source document. As both villages are within 10 miles of Pulloxhill, this claim is certainly plausable.
At some point, some of the Chalgrave family appear to have moved to the nearby village of Flitton . Then there arises an interesting co-incidence: 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 a possible ancestors of the Elstow Bunyans.
See also; http://www.mikesclark.com/genealogy/bunyan.html
Although John Bunyan had six children, we have never discovered any living descendants. Several families have claimed him as their ancestor but, upon careful examination of their family trees, fundamental errors were discovered which showed these claims to be erroneous eg. many find a Thomas Bunyan born in Flitton and wrongly assume that he is John's son Thomas.
Very recently, we discovered descendants of John's daughter Sarah, who were alive at the beginning of the 20th century, so the possibility that we may one day discover living descendants has increased significantly. So, if you are descended from any of the people in the bottom row of the latest version of the Bunyan Family Tree, do please contact the curator of Moot Hall via his website.
You can download a PDF of the Elstow Bunyan family's tree via the link immediately below. There are also a number of Bunyan-related articles that you may find of interest.
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Joyce Godber's "John Bunyan of Bedfordshire" booklet.
(as the maximum permitted file size on this site is 10mb., we have split this document into two pdfs: The first contains the text and the second, the illustrations. |
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John Bunyan and the English Civil War
John enlisted with Cromwell's Parliamentary army and was based at the garrison at Newport Pagnell.
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Imprisonment
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The best-selling book of all time.
John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress held the world-wide 'best selling book ' title for 350 years.
The Pilgrim's Progress has only been out-sold in very recent times - by JK Rowling's Harry Potter series - but whether this will continue to be the case remains to be seen!
The Pilgrim's Progress has only been out-sold in very recent times - by JK Rowling's Harry Potter series - but whether this will continue to be the case remains to be seen!
The Pilgrim's Progress - Animated film
The Pilgrim's Progress - Animated film
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
