Colored yellow are the Bedfordshire parishes where the Bunyans of this lineage lived, in light blue is the Elstow parish where John Bunyan of the "Pilgrim's Progress" was born, and in purple is the Carlton home of his only documated modern descendants. Pulloxhill, where the Bunyan family probably has its origins, is the uncolored parish just to the southwest of the yellow parishes.
Thomas Bunnyon (Bunnion) of Silsoe (c.1648?-1715?) is the first individual with a surname resembling that of Bunyan to be mentioned in the records for the village of Silsoe. Because this village had no church of its own, it was part of the parish of Flitton in Bedfordshire. This first mention of Thomas is an Oct. 6, 1668 entry for his marriage that reads "Thos Bunnion to Mary Sammon". Working back from this date, a birth year of about 1648 for Thomas is reasonable, as it would make him about 20 years old when he married. Because no baptism entry for him is found at Flitton, he was probably born in another village, and because there is also no baptism record for his wife Mary Sammon either, the same could be said for her as well.
Both Silsoe and Flitton sit close to the manor house of Wrest Park, seat of the Earls, and later the Dukes, of Kent. Starting in 1671, Anthony and Mary Grey of Kent began a major reconstruction of the manor house and gardens, an effort that their successors continued. Consequently, most of the population of Silsoe and Flitton were either servants of the estate, or workers involved in the rebuilding. Thus, Thomas and Mary Bunnion were probably either servants or laborers for the Earl of Kent. Most likely their son Thomas Bunnian, was a worker for the Earl as well. Interestingly, when the Earls of Kent in 1681 held a mortgage on Newbury Manor in Silsoe, one of the rental properties managed by the estate was a close (plot) of land in Flitton Field associated with a house that was occupied at an annual rent of £35 by one Thomas Bunyan.
Although he was eighteen or so years younger, Thomas Bunnyon of Silsoe was a contemporary of, and may have personally known John Bunyan (1628-1688) of Elstow, the celebrated author of The Pilgrim's Progress. The parish of Elstow where John Bunyan was born sits just a few miles north of Silsoe, both towns being on the main road between Bedford and Luton. Also Flitton and Silsoe both border the north side of the parish of Pulloxhill, which is said by Brown (1885) to be the ancestral home of the Elstow Bunyans (click at right to see a map). Although a connection has yet to be established, it seems very likely that the Elstow and Silsoe branches of the Bunyan family are somehow related, and no doubt share a common ancestor from Pulloxhill.
Click the button below to learn about who wrote the "Pilgrim's Progress"
The Flitton parish register records the Aug. 16, 1685 burial of Mary "w[ife of] Thos Bunnion" at the graveyard of St. John the Baptist Church. If this Mary and Mary Sammon are the same, then our Thomas would have died sometime after 1685. The register in fact does list a Thomas Bunnion who was buried on Sept. 5, 1714, and another one who was buried on June 15, 1715, with the occupation of the second Thomas given as a laborer. Probably one of these burials is for Mary's husband Thomas, and the other for their son of the same name, who follows. Because we have evidence that this son died in 1714 or earlier, the 1715 death date probably belongs to the father. The parish register and Bishops Transcripts for St. John the Baptist Church in Flitton record the likely children of Thomas and Mary who are listed below. They are the only Bunyans, with one exception, whose names from 1668 to 1685 are found in the Flitton records.
Thos Bunnion, son of Thos and Mary, baptized August 21, 1669 - who follows.
[Blank] of Thos Bunnion of S[ilsoe], baptized April 21, 1672.
George Bunnion, son of Thos and Mary, baptized February 7, 1673.
James Bunnion, son of Thos and Mary, baptized April 8, 1677.
Thomas Bunnian (Bunnyon) (c.1669-1714?), the son of Thomas Bunnion of Silsoe and Mary Sammon, was probably born in Flitton with Silsoe, Bedfordshire, as a man of the same name was christened there on Aug. 21, 1669 in the parish church. He is probably the Thos Bunneon who married Alice Bonner on March 23, 1686 in the same village. If he was born the same year he was baptized, then he would have been only 17 years old when he married, which seems a bit young. However, he certainly could have been born some time earlier, and it is also possible that he is not to be identified with the man of the same name who was baptized at Flitton. Irregardless, the Flitton parish register also records a Dec. 29, 1714 burial in the St. John the Baptist graveyard for Alice Bunnyon, widow. This is probably the wife of our Thomas, and makes it likely that the Thomas Bunnyon buried there on Sept. 5, 1714 is her husband.
Some genealogies attempt to identify this Thomas with the Thomas Bunyan (1656-1718) of St. Cuthbert's parish who was the son of John Bunyan of Elstow. If so, Thomas Bunyan of St. Cuthbert's would have been about 30 years old at his wedding, provided he is indeed the one who married Alice Bonner. However, it seems more likely that Thomas Bunyan of St. Cuthbert's in 1686 was actually married to a woman named Frances, and there is no evidence that we have come across to indicate that he ever married a woman named Alice. This makes it highly unlikely that any of the Bunyans of Silsoe descend from John Bunyan of Elstow, despite the hopes of some online genealogies that such a relationship exists.
The parish register and Bishops Transcripts for St. John the Baptist Church in Flitton record the likely children of Thomas Bunyan of Silsoe and nad his wife Alice. These children are listed below. They are the only Bunyans whose names from 1686 to 1707 are found in the Flitton records.
Joseph Bunneon, son of Thos, baptized May 6, 1688.
William Bunnyon, son of Thos, baptized September 6, 1696 - who follows.
Matthew Binnyon, son of Thos, baptized July 17, 1698.
William Bunnian (Bunnyon) (c.1696-1730?), the son of Thomas Bunnian and Alice Bonner, was probably born in Flitton with Silsoe, Bedfordshire, as he was christened there on Sept. 6, 1696, according to the parish register, with a date of Sept. 20 in the Bishop's Transcripts for the church. He married Ann Day, the daughter of John and Ann Day, on Dec 24, 1722 in Upper Gravenhurst, which sits a short distance from Flitton. This represents the first appearance of the surname Bunnian (Bunnyon) in the Upper Gravenhurst parish records, which indicates that William came from an adjacent village. Although his village of origin is not recorded, the village of Silsoe is only a few miles walk from Upper Gravenhurst. Furthermore, a search of the registers of other nearby parishes has not turned up any other individuals with a name resembling Thomas Bunyan.
William's wife Ann was baptized Jan. 14, 1695 in Upper Gravenhurst, and she came from a family who probably had property in Upper Gravenhurst, as she and William apparenty made their home there after their marriage. William may have died in his 30s, as there is record of the Oct. 22, 1730 burial of a William Bunnian at St. Giles's Churchyard in Upper Gravenhurst. The fact that he and Ann had no children baptized after 1730, is consistent with his passing that year. There was an Ann Bunyan buried at St. Giles in 1793, but she is probably William and Ann's daughter-in-law, as the older Ann would have been close to 98-years old at the time. Possibly the older Ann remarried and died under a different surname. William and Ann had at least five children born and baptized between 1723 and 1730 at Upper Gravenhurst, including a son William, who follows.
William Bunyan (Bunnian) (c.1727-1780), the son of William Bunnian and Ann Day, was probably born in Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire, which is only about three miles east of Flitton and two miles east of Silsoe, as he was christened there on April 30, 1727 in the parish church. He married Anne Godfrey on Sept. 29, 1748. He was buried Aug. 16, 1780 at St. Giles's Churchyard in Upper Gravenhurst, and his wife is probably the Ann Bunyan who on Oct. 19, 1793 was buried there. The parish record indentifies William as a laborer. William and Ann had at least ten children born and baptized between 1748 and 1768. Interestingly their firstborn William, who follows, seems to have been baptized at Clophill, whereas their other nine children that we know about were all baptized at Upper Gravenhurst, which is about two miles southeast of Clophill.
William Bunyan (1748-1825), the son of William Bunyan and Anne Godfrey, was born in 1748 and christened on March 26, 1749 in the Clophill parish church, Clophill being a village two miles northwest of Upper Gravenhurst. He married Alice Ingram on Nov. 24, 1774 in Shillington, Bedfordshire, a village one mile south of Upper Gravenhurst. He is probably the same William Bunyan who is listed in the Campton parish registers of the 1780s as a laborer, and who died March 5, 1825 at the age of 77 in Campton, where he was buried three days later at the All Saints Churchyard. His wife Alice, who was probably christened Jan. 14, 1750 at Shillington, died on April 5, 1830 in Campton at the age of 82, and she was buried 6 days later in the grave next to William. Alice and William had several children, who are listed below.
There is record of a William Bunyan, the son of John and Sarah Bunyan (married Nov. 22, 1735), who was christened on Aug. 26, 1750 in Meppershall, which is a village a short distance east of Upper Gravenhurst. Although the evidence points to William Bunyan of Clophill as being the father of the James Bunyan who follows, there is a remote possibility that the father of this James Bunyan is to be identified instead with William Bunyan of Meppershall.
Elizabeth Bunyan (c.1779-1854?) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as she was christened there on Dec. 12, 1779 in the parish church. She married a widower named James Flint (c.1784-1862) on Feb. 11, 1814 in Campton, and they moved at some point to Meppershall, near Campton, where some of their children were baptized. We then find them during the 1841 U.K. census in nearby Meppershall. Elizabeth is probably to be identified with the Elizabeth Flint who died in 1854 the Biggleswade Registration District, which includes Campton and Meppershall. Likewise, her husband is probably the James Flint who died in 1865 in the same registration district.
Elizabeth and James had a son named George Bunyan Flint (1819-1913), who emmigrated in 1872 to Quebec, Canada, and thence to Sherman County, Nebraska in the United States, with his wife Ann Clark and two of their children - Edwin (1850-1873) and Ann (1852-1921). Another son, Alfred (1847-1919), their eldest, arrived a month earlier with his own family, and they also settled in Sherman County. George is buried in an unmarked grave in Litchfield Cemetery in Sherman County, Nebraska, and he has many descendants, who live today in the United States.
William Bunyan (b. c.1782) was born probably in Campton, Bedfordshire, as he was christened there on Jan. 31, 1782 in the parish church. He married Mary Wright (b. c.1786) on Feb. 3, 1815 at All Saints Church in Campton, and they had at least one child, a daughter named Sarah (1825-1883), who was baptized on Feb. 13, 1825 in the Campton Parish Church. Sarah by the age of 15 was living with her Aunt Charlotte, which leads us to speculate that her parents William and Mary had probably passed on by then.
Mary Bunyan (c.1784-1851) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as she was christened there with her twin sister Sarah on Jan. 4, 1784 in the parish church. She married a widower named Benjamin Walker (c.1778-c.1836) on July 11, 1809 in the neighboring town of Biggleswade, and they had several children whose modern-day descendants share DNA with the descendants of Mary's older brother James. Despite the fact that the 1851 U.K. Census clearly shows her to have been born in Campton, some family histories incorrectly identify her with a different Mary Bunyan, who was baptized on Nov. 19, 1786 to parents Joseph and Sarah Bunyon in Caddington, which is a village on the west side of the town of Luton, some 20 miles to the SW of Biggleswade. By contrast, Campton and Biggleswade are only five miles apart. Irrespective of Mary's ancestry, she outlived her husband, and died on April 5, 1851 at the home of her son-in-law Robert Kidd (1810-1862) in Stotfield in the Biggleswade registration district.
Sarah Bunyan (b. c.1784) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as she christened there with her twin sister Mary on Jan. 4, 1784 in the parish church.
Thomas Bunyan (c.1788-1845) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as he was christened there on Nov. 30, 1788 in the parish church. He died in 1845 in Upper Gravenhurst, and was buried Jan. 14 at the age of 56 years in St. Giles Churchyard.
George Bunyan (c.1791-1819) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, but his baptism is not listed in the Campton parish register. He died in Campton on July 25, 1819 at the age of 28 and is buried in the Church of All Saints graveyard next to his parents.
Charlotte Bunyan (c.1792-1876) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as she was christened there on Dec. 23, 1792 in the parish church. She apparently took over the care for her niece Sarah Bunyan (1825-1833) at some point, perhaps due to the death of Sarah's parents, and she and Sarah were living in Meppershall from 1841 to 1861 in the household of Charlotte's sister Elizabeth Flint. Charlotte died a spinster in 1876 at the age of 83 in the Biggleswade registration district.
James Bunyan (c.1778-1851) is probably the son of the William Bunyan and Alice Ingram shown above, but as already noted there is some uncertainty. He was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, a village two miles northeast of Upper Gravenhurst, as he was christened in Campton on Feb. 22, 1778 in the parish church, which shows his parents to be William Bunyan and Alice. He likely was raised in Campton, but he married Jane Munns on Nov. 26, 1801 in Sandy, Bedfordshire. Jane, who had been born about 1766, was the daughter of Joseph Munns (1736-1800) and Elizabeth Sole (b. 1741) of Sandy, and the grandaughter of Thomas Munns (b. 1702) and Elizabeth Cage (b. 1704), who were from the same village.
James was apprenticed on Jan. 4, 1797 at the age of 19 to William Waller of Shefford as a carpenter, and the 1841 U.K. Census shows that James worked as a carpenter by trade. This makes it likely that he is the same James Bunyan who is said in 1803 to have built the New Inn at Campton Turn, which was located just outside of the north part of town where Campton Road joins the main highway at a point between Ampthill and Shefford. This inn, which was in a rural area, is not to be confused with a different inn bearing the same name that was built nearby in 1836 on Northbridge Street on the far side of the town of Shefford. Interestingly, James' son of the same name later ran the New Inn at Campton Turn, which would seem indicate that the family owned an interest in the buidling. The inn closed in 1983, about 180 years after the elder James built it. The building was finally torn down in 1987, when it was deemed to be unsafe (see the Bedford Bourough Council timeline for Campton). A private home now occupies the site.
The 1841 U.K. Census also shows that at the time Ann Bunyan, the 13-year old grandaughter of James and Jane, as well as Jane's sister Lucy Munns, were members of the Bunyan household. Although James at first glance appears to be wider traveled than others in his family, the towns he is associated with - Campton, Sandy, Shefford and Upper Gravenhurst - in fact all sit within just a 4½-mile radius centered on the town of Shefford. Jane died first in 1847 in Upper Gravenhurst (Biggleswade registration district) and was buried Feb. 23. James died next in 1851 in Campton (Biggleswade registration district) and was buried March 5. The tombstones for both stand in St. Marys Churchyard in Lower Gravenhurst, where their grandaughter Ann is buried. James and Jane had at least two children, who follow.
George Bunyan was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as he was christened there on Dec. 16, 1804 in the parish church.
The New Inn at Campton Turn (left), which is shown here about 1900, was built about 1803 by James Bunyan, Sr outside of the town of Shefford. His son James Jr. was proprietor here from at least 1839 until about 1869. A second, yet different, inn of the same name, which is shown here about 1910 (right), was located nearby, but on Northbridge Street on the opposite side of Shefford. The Bunyans, so far as we know, were not associated with this second establishment. Both buildings have now been torn down.
James Bunyan (c.1803-1875), the son of James Bunyan and Jane Munns, was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as he was christened there on Feb. 6, 1803 in the parish church. He married Mary Ann Dew on Nov. 24, 1826 in Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, which is a mere 11 miles as the crow flies from Campton, and is where Mary Ann in 1806 was born. Mary is almost certainly the Mary Ann Dew, who was baptized with three of her siblings and two of her cousins on March 10, 1813 in Gamlingay. If so, then Mary is the daughter of John Dew and Lucy East (married 1803 in Gamlingay), and the grandaughter of Thomas Dew and Ann Paine (married 1776 in Gamlingay). Mary's husband James is listed in the Campton parish records of the 1820s and 1830s as a blacksmith, and this was probably his livelyhood at the time of his marriage, but we learn that in 1839 he held a license to run the New Inn on the road to Ampthill, an occupation that almost certainly would have required the participation of his wife.
The New Inn tavern that the Bunyan's owned was at Campton Turn, which is on the SW side of the village of Campton, and Campton Village, in turn, is on the SW side of the town of Shafford. Interestingly there was not one New Inn in the area, but two, the other New Inn being located at Northbridge Street on the far (NE) side of nearby Shefford. Needless to say, there is some confusion as to which New Inn James Bunyan is associated with. However, he almost certainly ran the inn at Campton Turn, as this is the one on the road to Ampthill, the other New Inn being in the actual town of Shefford. Also, the New Inn at Campton Turn was built in 1803 by another James Bunyan, whom we would assume is the father of our 1839 tavern keeper. This then would seem to indicate that the inn had passed down from father to son. Finally, Pigot's 1839 directory lists James Bunyan as proprietor of the New Inn on Ampthill Road, and the post office directories for 1847, 1854 and 1864 show him as proprietor of the New Inn in Campton, which removes any doubt as to which of the two inns belonged to the Bunyan family.
The younger James Bunyan is shown in both the 1851 and 1861 U.K. Census as a victualler, which generally indicates someone who had a license to sell spirits, which is consistent with his being a tavern keeper. These census returns also show James and wife Mary Ann Bunyan living at Bury Farm, which is located on Campton Road on the southwest side of Meppershall. The 1864 Post Office Directory for Bedfordshire still shows James Bunyan to be the proprietor of the New Inn, but it would appear that by 1869 ownership of the tavern had passed to another.
Interestingly, Henry Hare of Upper Gravenhurst is identified in 1833 as both an innkeeper and a farmer, and the 1864 Bedfordshire Post Office Directory lists him as a beer retailer, as well as a farmer. This makes it likely that Henry Hare and James Bunyan did business with each other on occasions. Given that Henry's daughter married James' son, it seems all the more likely that the two were business associates.
James died on Aug. 15, 1875 in Campton, and Mary Ann died there on July 21, 1874, Campton being in the Biggleswade registration district, which is the location given in the government death records. James' death certificate lists him as a former publican, which means a licensed tavern keeper, and Mary Ann's identifies her as the wife of a publican. Both are buried in St. Mary's Churchyard in Lower Gravenhurst, where James' parents, and James and Mary Ann's daughter Ann are buried. James and Mary Ann appear had at least the two daughters who follow.
Hephzibah Bunyan (c.1833-1870) was probably born in Campton, Bedfordshire, as she was christened there on Sept. 5, 1833 in the parish church. She appears during the 1851 U.K. Census in the Cambridgeshire home of her grandparents John and Lucy Dew, and not long after that she was married on November 24, 1826 in the Biggleswade registration district of Bedfordshire to Thomas Mulett (c.1823-1876), a farmer from the Wycombe area of Buckinghamshire. Hephziba and Thomas then resided in various places in and around the market town of Wycombe, where Thomas probably sold the produce that he grew on his farm. Here the couple had at least five children - Laura Jane (c.1833-1870), Rosa Ann (1860-1890), Frederick John Bunyan (1862-1929), Georgiana Mary (1864-1940), and Hephziba (1866-1941). The elder Hephzibah died when she was only 37 years old "of natural causes" on June 2, 1870 at Little Kingshill, which is a village that sits in between the neighboring villages of Little Missenden and Great Missenden, in a rural area on the NE side of Wycombe. One wonders if Hephziba and her husband knew at the time of the wealthy Victorian landscape painter Sidney Richard Percy, who lived nearby from 1863 to 1873 at Hill House in Great Missenden. Hephzibah's husband Thomas survived her, and died on March 3, 1876 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, which is located a few miles to the north of Wycombe.
Ann Bunyan (1827-1903), the daughter of James Bunyan and Mary Ann Dew, was born in 1827 in Campton, Bedfordshire, a village located less than two miles northeast of Upper Gravenhurst. We have not found her baptism record, but she was probably christened in Campton, like her sister and her father. Because her parents were tavern keepers of the New Inn at Campton Turn on the road to Ampthill, it is very likely that Ann was actually born at this tavern. Irregardless, she no doubt spent much time at the New Inn as a child. She married Henry Hare (1824-1892) on Feb 15, 1849 in Upper Gravenhurst, Bedfordshire, the marriage likely having been arranged. Her husband Henry was a farmer, and a prominent member of the community, who served at times in a role that was more or less equivalent to that of the mayor of Upper Gravenhurst. He also owned, and probably at times ran, the Bell Tavern, in addition to his farm, which was more or less just across the street from the tavern. Here, he and Ann raised a large family of several children. When Henry died in 1892 there appears to have been some outstanding debts, as Henry's farm lots and the tavern house, which by then functioned as just a residence, were sold off. Ann removed to nearby Campton, where she had been born. Here she resided for a time. perhaps up until her death, at the Campton Villas, which were located quite close to the New Inn tavern her parents once owned. She died on April 23, 1903 in Campton (Biggleswade registration district), eleven years after Henry died. They are buried near their son James, and both Ann and Henry's parents in St. Marys Churchyard in Lower Gravenhurst.
Ann thought that she was descended from John Bunyan, the author of the christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress, and that belief was firmly ingrained in her children and grandchildren. However, most professionally published genealogies - and Urwick (1888), Brown (1928) and Arnold (2020) in particular - show that no male descendants of John Bunyan still carried the Bunyan family name by the time Ann was born. Also, the lineage presented here demonstrates that Ann is most likely descended from Thomas Bunnion of Silsoe (b. c.1643), who was a contemporary of the celebrated John Bunyan (1628-1688), and not a member of his immediate family. However, there is an interesting twist to this story. Ann's mother Mary Ann Dew is the older sister of one Philip Dew (1816-1863) of Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire, and there is a tradition among Philip's descendants in Australia that he was also a descendant of John Bunyan (Dew, 1985, p. 11). If true, then Ann Bunyan may indeed descend from John Bunyan in the female line. However, a search of the Gamlingay parish registers has yet to demonstrate any connection between the ancestors of May Ann Dew, with any possible descendants of John Bunyan.
Please see the Hare Genealogy for Ann and Henry's children.
Several online family histories mistakenly identify Ann Bunyan, the wife of Henry Hare, with an Ann Bunyan who was born in Caddington, Bedfordshire to parents James Bunyan and Ann Fensome, whereas the wife of Henry Hare is actually the Ann Bunyan who was born in Campton, Bedfordshire to parents James Bunyan and Mary Ann Dew. These genealogies fail to recognize that several women by the name of Ann Bunyan were living in Bedfordshire in the mid-1800s. Several facts clearly point to the correct identity of Ann.
First - UK Census returns from 1851 to 1901 all indicate Ann's birthplace is Campton, not Caddington.
Second - George Henry Hare (b. c.1850), the eldest son of Ann Bunyan and Henry Hare, appears in the 1871 UK Census in the household of his grandparents James and Mary Ann Bunyan of Campton. No tie ever appears between the Hare household and that of James and Ann Bunyan of Caddington.
Third - Campton is located less than two miles from Upper Gravenhurst, the home of Henry Hare, whereas Caddington is at least eight miles away on the far side of Luton, which was a fairly large town in those days. No doubt Henry Hare traveled to Luton more than a few times and knew people there, but it is much less likely that he or his father had the contacts in a village on the far side of Luton with which to arrange a marriage.
Fourth - Ann Bunyan of Caddington actually married Soloman Perry, not Henry Hare.
Fifth - Ann Hare is the informant on the 1875 death certificate of James Bunyan of Campton.
Rev. John Brown, D.D., the eminent 19th-century biographer of the famous John Bunyan, writes that Pulloxhill in Bedfordshire was the original home of the Bunyan family, and he names a few Bunyans who owned land here in the Middle Ages. He goes on to state that one branch of these Pulloxhill Bunyans moved in the 13th century some eight miles south to Chalgrave and Dunstable, whereas another branch moved nine miles north to Elstow, the 1628 birthplace of John Bunyan (Brown, 1885, p. 22-23). Other members of the family were living in Bunyan's time in Flitton, less than two miles north of Pulloxhill. Today there is a field in Pulloxhill known as Bunions Hill, and some believe that this refers to when this field was owned in the 13th century by Bunyan's ancestors. Yet others believe that this name is more recent and refers to when John Bunyan was arrested near here in November 1660 while on his way to deliver a sermon at Lower Samshill (near Westoning). A couple of miles southwest of Pulloxhill is the now dead stump of Bunyan's Oak, a famous local landmark where Bunyan once preached.
REFERENCES:
Bedford Borough Council Community Archives (online source - formerly the Befordshire Virtual Library):
Arnold, Clive (2020), The Bunyan Family Tree, Pilgrim House Elstow, 1 p. This pedigree is the one supported by the Moot Hall (Meeting Hall) Museum in Elstow, the birth place and home of John Bunyan. Part of the mission of the museum is preservation of the buildings, artifacts and letters associated with John Bunyan.
Clive Arnold is the curator for the Moot Hall (Meeting Hall) Museum in Elstow, and he has researched and published the most comprehensive (to date) version of the Bunyan family tree. He also helps "people, who think they may be related to the Elstow Bunyans, to check their genealogy. Unfortunately, there is much incorrect data about this family on genealogy websites, which misleads many into thinking they are Bunyan's descendants. Sadly, we have yet to find a verifiable living descendant of the Elstow Bunyans."
Clive also has two websites related to the Bunyan family of Elstow. One on John Bunyan's Bedford, and another on Elstow Village, which is where the famous John Bunyan was born. The latter site also has a section on John Bunyan's Family and Life with a current version of the Bunyan Family Tree.
Bedfordshire Family History Society, Transcripts of Bedfordshire Parish Registers, including baptism, marriage, and burial records (and in some cases memorial inscriptions) of Campton and Shefford, Flitton (with Silsoe), Lower Gravenhurst, and Upper Gravenhurst. Published by Bedfordshire Family History Society, and available on CD from The Parish Chest.
Brown, John, 1885, John Bunyan: His Life, Times and Work (1928 Edition): Riverside Press, Cambridge, p. 397-426.
Dew, Clarice O., 1985, Philip and Sarah Elizabeth Dew: A History and Record of Their Lives and Descendants 1816-1985: Privately Published, Wauchope, Australia, 63 p. Available from the Salt Lake City Family History Library. Call Number 929.294 D51.
Emmison, F.G.(editor), Bedfordshire Parish Records, Published by the Bedford County Record Office, Shire Hall, several volumes with publication beginning in 1931.
Urwick, William, 1888, Pedigree of the Family of John Bunyan in Bible Truths and Church Errors, Including a Lecture on John Bunyan Not a Baptist: T.Fisher Unwin, London, p. 104. A pedigree based on the research of Brown (1888), which is referenced above.
Vital Records Certificates (Birth, Marriage, Death) from 1837 to the present for Great Britain available from the General Register Office.
by Mike Clark & Family
This history is an evolving document.
Despite our best intentions it probably contains mistakes.
Please let us know if you spot any by sending an email to Mike Clark
Genealogy of the Bunyan Family 
