 Descendants of the Celebrated John Bunyan 
(version November 21, 2025)
Please email corrections to Mike Clark
John Bunyan (1628-1688), the celebrated author of "The Pilgrims Progress", was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on November 30, 1828 in the parish church of St. Mary and St. Helena. He was the son of Thomas Bunyan, Jr. (1602/03-1676) and Margaret Bentley (c.1603-1644), and the grandson of Thomas Bunyan, Sr. (d. 1641), all of whom were from Elstow also. John had two wives. He married his first wife Mary (d. 1658) in 1648 or 1649 in Elstow, and after she died, he married his second wife Elizabeth (d. 1691) in 1659, probably in Bedford, Bedfordshire. Both wives are buried in the city of Bedford, but John Bunyan, who died on August 31, 1688 at the home of a friend in London, is buried in the Bunhill Fields Cemetery of London in a tomb that had originally belonged to a friend of his.
There are few contemporary portraits of John Bunyan. The pencil sketch on the right is one of perhaps three that were "drawn from life", and it is believed to have been drawn about 1679 by John White and subsequently published as a line engraving. Today, this sketch is part of the collection of the British Museum.
There are many online Bunyan family genealogies that claim descent from John Bunyan in the male line. However, none of them offer any documentation beyond that of reference to some other vague online lineage that has no documentation either. The Browne family of Bedfordshire does have a somewhat documented line of descent in the female line through John Bunyan's daughter Sarah, and most genealogists and historians seem to consider it legitimate. As for the others, their validity is suspect, despite all claims to the contrary. Anyone can write down a list of names culled from family stories, and then fill in the gaps with a hopeful guess or two. Providing documentatation is what elevates a lineage from mere hearsay, and it is the only way to establish who one's ancestors really are, instead of who you want them to be.  |
John Bunyan's tomb at Bunhill Fields, located on the opposite side of City Road Street from Wesley's Chapel.
- John Bunyan's children with Mary
- Mary Bunyan (1650-?) was born blind in 1650 in Elstow, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on July 20, 1650 in the parish church of St. Mary and St. Helena. She never married and died before her father, but the date of her death is not known.
- Elizabeth Bunyan (1654-?) was born on April 4, 1654 in Elstow, Bedfordshire, and baptized there, perhaps on the same day, in the church of St. Mary and St. Helena. She married a miller named Gilbert Ashley on April 16, 1677 in the parish of Goldington, Bedfordshire. It is not known if they had any children. Neither is the date of Elizabeth's death known.
- Thomas Bunyan (1656-1718?) was born in 1656 St. Cuthbert's parish in Bedford, Bedforshire. He continued to reside in St. Cuthbert's, near his father's church, and married twice - first to a woman named Frances who died on June 4, 1689, and second to a wife who may have been named Katherine. He had at least three children, two sons named Stephen (b. 1687 and 1696), and a daughter named Elizabeth (b. 1692). The first Stephen likely died before the second, and an unknown daughter of his, most likely the aformentioned Elizabeth, died in 1711 according to the parish register. A conjectural pedigree from Lincolnshire, to be discussed in the next paragraph, gives 1718 as the date of Thomas' death, but this date cannot be confirmed with independant evidence. Nonetheless, there is no evidence in any of the parish records of Bedfordshire for any grandchildren who might have survived Thomas, which led Brown (1885) to conclude that Thomas had no heirs survive him.
However, a pedigree does exist for a Robert Bunyan (1715-1794) of Lincoln, whose grandson of the same name was a wealthy watchmaker. The younger Robert died in 1855 and is buried in Lincoln Cemetery, where the inscription on his tombstone proclaims him to be a descendant of the celebrated John Bunyan of Elstow. The existence of his grandfather can be documented, so we know the grandfather to be a real person. The pedigree next shows the father of this man to be yet another Robert Bunyan, born in 1693, and married in 1713, presumably in Lincolnshire. His father in turn is shown to be a John Bunyan born in 1670, and his father is then said to be the Thomas Bunyan born in 1656 whom we know as the legitmate son of John Bunyan of Elstow.
There are at least two problems with this lineage. First, there is no evidence beyond this pedigree that Thomas Bunyan (b. 1656) had a son named John, nor that he had a grandson named Robert. As such, his line probably died out in 1718, or thereabouts, with his death. The second problem has been noted by Clive Arnold (personal communication, 2018). He states that, "John Bunyan’s son Thomas was born in 1656, so would mean that he would only have been aged 13 when this supposed ancestor of Robert Bunyan was sired! Given that, in those times, boys did not tend to hit puberty until around age 16, this claimed lineage seems highly improbable (to put it mildly!) What makes it even more improbable is the fact that, if the famous John Bunyan’s son Thomas had sired a child at age 13, it would have been highly noteworthy and widely reported at the time and, as the supposed Robert would almost certainly have been born out of wedlock, the story would have created a huge scandal, given who Thomas’ father was."
- John Bunyan (1657-1728) was born in 1657 in St. Cuthbert's parish in Bedford, Bedfordshire. He followed the trade of his father to become a brazier, which is someone who works with brass. When he died in 1728, the only heir mentioned in his will is his grandaughter Hannah Bunyan, who died unmarried in 1770 at the age 76 years. Although other grandaughters may have existed, Bunyan's biographer John Brown (1885) did not find evidence of any, and no new evidence has appeared since then. Despite the efforts of many researchers over the decades combing the parish archives of Bedfordshire, the names of any of his wives or children are not known. Nonetheless, the sole mention of his heir and grandaughter in his will makes a strong case that his line died out in 1770 with her death.
John Bunyans's children with Elizabeth Sarah Bunyan (1665-?), who follows. Joseph Bunyan (1672-?) was born in 1672 in St. Cuthbert's parish in Bedford, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Nov. 16, 1672 at St. Cuthbert's Church. He married Mary Charnock on Dec. 5, 1694 at St. Paul's Church in Bedford. They had two children, Chernock and Mary, both of of whom were baptized in October of 1896 at the same church where their parents were married. There is then an entry in the parish register that Mary died the following month. This is the last mention that we have of either Joseph, or his son Chernock. However, there is a tradition that Joseph moved to either Lincolnshire or Nottinghamshire, and there are indeed Bunyan families in both counties who claim descent from John Bunyan of Elstow. However, the one available pedigree, one from a Lincolnshire family, shows descent not from Joseph, but from his stepbrother Thomas, and there is no firm evidence that Thomas had grandchildren survive him. John Bunyan's biographer John Brown (1885) ascerts that the pedigree of the Lincolnshire Bunyans is on firm ground back to a Robert Bunyan who was born in 1715 and died in 1794 in Lincoln, but it is conjectural back beyond then. This pedigree has already been described under the heading above for Joseph's stepbrother Thomas.
 The map below and right shows parishes in Bedfordshire County where John Bunyan of Pilgrim's Progress fame lived. His home parish of Elstow is shown in sky blue, whereas Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Campton and Clophill - the parishes associated with the ancestors of Ann Bunyan - are in yellow. Note that the entire area represented by Gravenhurst, Silsoe, Campton and Clophill is at most only about 4 or 5 miles wide, and that it lies just a few short miles from Elstow. Although Ann Bunyan and her children fervantly believed in their descent from John Bunyan, the evidence suggests that such is not the case. The area shown in pink is the parish of Carlton, where John Bunyan's daughter Sarah Bunyan, who follows, lived with her husband, and where their descendants resided for more than a century.
Sarah Bunyan (1665-?), the daughter of John Bunyan and his wife Elizabeth, was born in 1665 in St. Cuthbert's parish in Bedford, Bedfordshire, and married William Browne on Dec. 19, 1686 at St. Cuthbert's Church. Although the immediate children of Sarah are not known, she had a grandson who was probably named William Browne after his grandfather. His descendants in Northamptonshire are the only known living descendants of John Bunyan of Pilgrim's Progress fame. Incidently, Bunyan's biographer John Brown (1885) is not in any way related to this family. Sarah Bunyan's husband William in some unreferenced online family trees is shown as being born about 1661 in Midgley, Somerset, but this must be considered speculative.
William Browne (b. 1687?), who follows.
William Browne (b. c.1687?), the son of William and Sarah Browne, was probably born in Bedford, Bedfordshire, most likely in or near St. Cuthbert's parish. Although Arnold (2025) shows his name as unknown, it appears as William on the baptism record for his daughter Frances, with a woman named Mary shown as his wife. He is probably the same William Browne who married Mary Masser on Sept. 12, 1715 at St. Cuthbert's Church in Bedford. Arnold (2025), which is a much more reliable source than the vast majority of John Bunyan family online genealogies that proliferate on the internet, is in agreement with most of these facts.
Unfortunately, most of the online genealogies referred to are filled with misinformation that in most cases is unreferenced, or referenced to other genealogies that in turn present no evidence to back up their claims. Some of these give 1687 as William Browne's birth date, with his christening shown in others as Jan. 30, 1687 in Wedmore, Somerset. His wife's name is shown many of these unreferenced family trees as Mary Reynolds (Reinolds), with 1695 as her birth date, and their wedding date as Jan. 18, 1717 in Wedmore, Somerset. Yet others show her as being born in 1691 at St. Cuthbert's in Bedford, and assign her the same wedding place and date. Again, all of this is speculative, as none of it is verified. The evidence strongly indicates that the family actually lived in either St. Cuthbert's parish in Bedford, Bedfordshire, or in Carlton, Bedfordshire, which would contradict any life events placed in Somersetshire.
An unknown daughter whom Urwick's (1888) pedigree shows married to a man named Jones. The more recent pedigree of Arnold (2025) shows her named Mary, and gives her a husband named Thos Jones. However, we know of no baptism or marriage records to confirm any of this. Neither Urwick (1888) nor Arnold (2025) shows her to have had children. Frances Browne (c.1722-1803) was born about 1722, and christened on April 15, 1722 at St. Cuthbert's Church in Bedford, Bedfordshire. She married a widower named Charles Bithrey (c.1712-1784), "a properous yeoman of Carlton", on Nov. 4, 1747 at St. Botolphs Church in Aldersgate, London (wedding references). Her husband was the son of Gideon Bithrey of Carlton, a baptist whose will, which was proved in 1733, mentions Charles. Because Charles married his first wife Persiana Moxon in 1735 in Carlton, he is definitely not the Charles Bithrey who was baptized on July 26, 1725 in Carlton. However, he is probably the Charles Bithrey who was buried in 1784 in the same parish. Mike Pratt of the Carlton & Chellington Historical Society believes that Charles had to have been born sometime before 1719, based on the date of his first marriage, and he may have actually been born about 1712 or so.
Frances became known as Madame Bithrey, and she is said to have been a pious woman held in high esteem by those who knew her. She gained possession, most likely through an inheritance from a relative of her deceased husband, of a house and farm in Carlton that is known as "the Fishers". This house, which no longer stands, and a surviving 17th-century barn that may be associated with Madame Bithry's ancestor John Bunyan, are discussed in more detail in the section below on her brother. Madame Bithrey died without issue on Jan. 7, 1803 at Fisher's Farm, and her burial is recorded in the register for the Carlton parish church, which means that her actual interment almost certainly is in the parish churchyard. There is also a Baptist cemetery near the Fishers estate, but it did not come into use until the 1820s or so, many years after Madame Bithrey's death.
John Brown (1885) considered Madame Bithrey to be a legitimate great grandaughter of the celebrated John Bunyan, and he devotes pages 407-409 of his biography on Bunyan to her and her family. She apparently mentions her nephews Thomas Brown of St. Albans and William Brown of Bedford in her 1803 will, but she left the bulk of her estate, which included Fishers Farm, to the five children of her deceased nephew William Brown of Carlton (c.1754-1800).
William Browne (b. c.1725) of Carlton, who follows. John Browne (b. c.1730) was born about 1730 and christened on Oct. 4, 1730 at St. Cuthbert's in Bedford, Bedfordshire. He is shown in Urwick's (1888) pedigree with three sons - Thomas (of St. Alban), John and William (of Bedford). Thomas and William are mentioned in the will of their aunt Frances Bithrey. As John is not mentioned, he may have died young. It is not known if any of these sons had children.
William Brown (c.1725-?) is believed to be the son of Sarah Bunyan's son, who is possibly named William, and his wife, who is possibly named Mary. The name of the younger William Brown appears in Urwick's (1888) pedigree, and his birth date of 1725 comes from Arnold (2025), which corresponds to a Wm Brown baptized in 1725 at Bedford St. Cuthbert's. Urwick (1888) also shows him married to a woman named Elizabeth Watson. He is said to have died at Fishers Farm, and if so it would seem likely that he is buried in the parish churchyard where his sister, and possibly his son as well are buried. However, some of this might also be confusion with his son of the same name. All that is known about him for sure is that his name was William, and that he had the son, who follows.
It is written in the "Notes of License" for the Carlton Baptist Meeting Church that they obtained a license during the "Royal Declaration of Indulgence" (1672) of King Charles II to hold services in a barn at Fishers Farm in Bedfordshire. Local tradition holds that this farm belonged to John Bunyan's son-in-law William Browne, and that Bunyan himself preached there. However, there is no documentation for either of these traditions. We do know though that Bunyan from 1677 to 1688 was a free man, having just been released from prison, and that he lived close by to Fisher's Farm. So it is certainly possible, even likely, that he preached there. Also, even though the Fishers may not have been associated with Bunyan's son-in-law William Browne, it was certainly associated a century later with Browne's grandaughter Madame Bithrey (maiden name Frances Brown), and she of course is the sister of the William Brown (b. c.1725) who appears as Generation IV of this lineage.
The "Notes of License" also states that Fisher's Farm originally belonged to Gideon Fisher Junior. When he died in 1685 without issue, the farm was eventually acquired by one Elizabeth Bithrey, who was the widow of Thomas Bithrey (d. 1731). Elizabeth subsequently leased the property to Charles Bithrey, a cousin of her late husband. Charles and his wife, the aforementioned Madame Bithrey, took up residence there, and when Charles died in 1784, his wife continued to reside at the Fishers. When the owner Elizabeth Bithrey died in 1799 at 91 years of age, Madame Bithrey then aquired the property (Hider, 2019), by inheriting it through her deceased husband from Ellizabeth. Then when Madame Bithrey died at the Fishers in 1803 she left the farm to the children of her deceased nephew, who was also named William Brown. Madame Bithrey was not only a member, but also an ardent benefactor of the Carlton Baptist congregation, and the building of the first chapel at Fishers Farm in 1760 or so took place during her lifetime. Given that our brief history of Fishers Farm mentions three generations of men named William Brown, it is easy to see how they might be confused with one another.
William Brown (c.1754-1800) of Carlton, the son of the William Brown above, was born on June 10, 1754, probably at Fishers Farm in Carlton, Bedfordshire. His birthdate is from a Jan. 31, 1798 adult/family baptism record for him that is recorded in the Carlton parish register, in which he, a wife identified only as Mary, and their 5 children were all baptized together on the same day. Although this register entry gives birthdates for all of the family, it does not state where any of them were actually born. Consequently, some genealogies, without evidence, place William's birth in the parish of Easton Maudit, Northamptonshire, which fits with his having descendants in Northamptonshire. However, an Easton Maudit birth place is inconsistant with the fact that his immediate family is more closely associated with St. Cuthberts, Bedfordshire and Carlton, Bedfordshire. William was closely associated with Fishers Farm in Carlton, which had been inherited in 1784 by his aunt Madame Frances Bithrey, who left most of the Farm to William's children when she died.
Because William's wife Mary is identified in the Carlton parish register only by her forename, there is much speculation over her surname. Although we have yet to see an actual marriage record, some genealogies show that William married Mary Poole on May 29, 1781 in Stevington, Bedfordshire. However, Arnold (2025) is probably a more reliable reference, and he shows William's wife as Mary Kenworthy. Despite not knowing for certain her last name, we do know that she was baptized with the rest of her family on Jan. 31, 1798 in Carlton. We also know from that baptism record that Sept. 29, 1753 is her birth date. In any case, Mary and William's descendants in Northamptonshire are the only English-born descendants of the celebrated John Bunyan for whom their claims of descent can be verified with reliable documents, and not with just handwritten family claims of dubious origin. However, it is certainly possible that one or more of the cousins of William Brown of Fishers Farm (i.e., Thomas Brown of St. Alban, John Brown, who may have died young, and/or William Brown of Bedford) also had descendants.
William Brown died in 1800, and was buried on Nov. 23, 1800 in Carlton Parish, Bedfordshire, with the record identifying him as "Wm Brown, of Fishers [Farm]" (Emmison, 1946, p. B36). However, William died before he was actually able to inherit Fishers Farm from his aunt Madame Bithrey. He is most likely buried in the cemetery for the parish church (Anglican). This is because the only other cemetery in the area is the one for the Carlton Baptist Chapel, which probably did not come into use until twenty years or so after William died. Meetings at the Baptist chapel ceased in 2001, afterwhich the building was converted to a private dwelling. The cemetery associated with the chapel, which may contain the graves of some of William Brown's descendants, was turned over for safe keeping in 2002 to the Carlton and Chellington Parish Council.
Mary is said to have died on Sept. 16, 1828 in Farndish, Bedfordshire (Arnold, 2025). Presumably, this date is based on an actual burial record, but it could also be a tombstone inscription? We don't know either way at this time. Thus, we can't say whether or not Mary is identified as "Mary, wife of William Brown", or simply as "Mary Brown", nor what her age at burial is written or inscribed as.
The descent of William Brown of Carlton from John Bunyan of Elstow is documented through the mention of him in the will of his aunt Madame Bithrey (Frances Browne), who was a great-grandaughter of John Bunyan. William's descendants subsequently moved to Northamptonshire, and possibly to Lincolnshire. As mentioned previously, their lineage is the only line of descent that can be documented with any certainty from the famous John Bunyan of Elstow.
Some online genealogies go so far as to make the dubious claim that the father of William Brown of Carlton, also named William Brown (and listed above), spent time in America in the Virginia Colony, and that the younger William Brown was not born at Fishers Farm in Carlton, Bedfordshire, but in Tazewell, Virginia. There they have the younger William fathering a line of American Bunyans, with numerous descendants living today in the United States and elsewhere. They then show this William Brown traveling back to Fishers Farm in Bedfordshire to spend his final years. This is absolute nonsense. The problem with such a pedigree is that Brown (1885, p. 409) actually met some of the grandchildren of William Brown (d. 1800) of Carlton, and corresponded with others, and he makes absolutely no mention whatsoever of a Tazewell, Virginia connection.
William Brown of Carlton is believed to have had one son and four daughters by his wife Mary.
William Brown (1781-1848), who follows Frances Brown (1783-1855?) was born on Nov. 3, 1783 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with her parents and four siblings. She married William Johnson, Sr. (b. c.1781), and had children, including two sons - William, Jr. (b. c.1813) and John Bunyan Johnson (c.1816-1847) - who appear as grown men living with her in Carlton during the 1841 U.K. Census. She then appears with just William Jr. in the 1851 Census, but he appears without her in the 1861 Census, which indicates that she may have died before then. She may be the Frances Johnson who died in in 1855 in Bedford, Bedfordshire. However, this death needs to be confirmed, as Francis Johnson is a common name, and several women with this name probably lived in Bedfordshire at the time. Sarah Brown (1786-1868) was born on April 27, 1786 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with with her parents and four siblings. She married Stephen Benbrook (1781-1847) on Nov. 11, 1806 in Carlton, and they settled in Pitsford, Northamptonshire, where they had several children. They ultimately immigrated to the United States, arriving on June 21, 1832 in New York Harbor, and then settling with their large family of eight out of nine surviving children in Somerset County, New Jersey. Their eldest son William Whitsey Benbrook (1807-1897) remained for four years in England with a new wife, until Oct. 21, 1836, when he, his wife, and their 3-year old son also arrived in the U.S., and subsequently settled near the rest of the Benbrook family in New Jersey. However, this wife died not long after their arrival, and he soon took a second wife, and they had several more children.
Stephen died on Sept. 2, 1847 in Bedminster in Somerset County, New Jersey. Although it is not known for sure where he is buried, his wife Sarah from May 28, 1846 to Sept 11, 1851 was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church in Bedminster. Thus, if Stephen attended church services, this was the church he went to, which makes it likely that when he died, he was probably buried in the Bedminster Reformed Church Cemetery. Sarah died on March 3, 1868 in nearby Hillsborough, in the same county. She had become a member on Sept. 18, 1851 of the Pluckemin Presbyterian Church near Bedminster, which means that she was probably buried in the Pluckemin Presbyterian Church New Cemetery, rather than next to her husband. Furthermore, several of her children and grandchildren are also buried in the Pluckemin Cemetery, including her sons William Whitsey Benbrook (1807-1897), and Henry Benbrook (1826-1903).
Sarah Brown and Stephen Benbrook today have many DESCENDANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, who can legitimately trace their descent from John Bunyan, the celebrated author of the Pilgrim's Progress. Many of these descendants still reside in Somerset County, New Jersey, where Sarah and William lived, and where they are almost certainly buried. Lineages descending from several of their children are well documented, including those of their aforementioned sons William Whitsey Benbrook and Henry Benbrook (Benbrook, 2025). In fact, Henry's tombstone inscription in Pluckemin Cemetery identifies him as a "Sixth Descendant of John Bunyan: Author of Pilgrims Progress". (A more detailed view of that inscription can be seen by clicking on the tombstone image on the right.)
Mary Brown (1789-1845) was born on May 28, 1789 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church, with her parents and four siblings. Sometime prior to 1816 she married William Davison, Sr (c.1757-1844) of Turvey, who was more than 30 years her senior, and they settled in Turvey, Bedfordshire. There are marriage records dated Sept. 12, 1813 and Aug. 17, 1814 at St. James Clerkenwell Church in London for a Mary Brown and William Davison, and many lineages attach these records to William and Mary Davison of Turvey. The 1813 date appears to be the last of three banns, which are basically legal announcements of intent to marry, for an 1814 marriage that took place at the church. However, neither the banns nor the marriage record give the ages of the bride and groom, and all show that both of them came from the Clerkenwell parish, and not from Turvey or Carlton. Thus, there is no real evidence to tie this couple to Mary Brown of Carlton and William Davison of Turvey, other than the similarity of names.
Irregardless of when and where this couple married, the 1841 U.K. census shows that they had at least 5 children, all born in Turvey - William, Jr (1816-1848), Ann (1818-1833), John (1822-1845), Sarah (1824-1832), Elizabeth (1826-1856) and Jane (1829-?). William, Sr died in Turvey at the age of 87 years, and was buried there on Nov. 1, 1844 in the parish cemetery. Mary survived him by only a year, despite by being so much younger, and she was buried on Nov. 23, 1845 in the same cemetery. She was survived by her children William Jr, Elizabeth and Jane, all three of whom had children. However, Jane immigrated to Toronto, Canada sometime after 1864, and it is not known what became of her there (Brown, 1885, p. 409), nor what became of her one known surviving son. Elizabeth married John Bonney (1817-1875), and some of their descendants live today in Birmingham, England. Elizabeth Brown (1792-?) was born on Nov. 1, 1792 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with her parents and four siblings. She married John Norman (b. c.1790) on Nov. 23, 1824 in Carlton, and Brown (1885, p. 409) states that she died childless.
William Brown (1781-1848), the son of William Brown and Mary Kenworthy, was born on Oct. 30, 1781 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church, with with his parents and four siblings. He married Sarah Benbrook (1785-1871) on June 28, 1810 in Pittsford, Northamptonshire, where Sarah had been born and baptized. They subsequently had ten children, the older ones being born in Carlton, and the younger ones in nearby Farndish. William died in 1848 in Bedfordshire, and his wife is probably the Sarah Brown, who died in 1871 at the age of 85 in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. However, Sarah's death needs to be verified. His and Sarah's children are listed below. .
William Brown (b. 1811), Charles Brown (b. 1812) and Mary Bown (b. 1815), who were all born in Carlton. George Brown (b. 1817), Richard Brown (b. 1818), Sarah Brown (b. 1820), and John Brown (b. 1825), who were born in Carlton, except for John, who was born in nearby Farndish. The 1881 census U.K. shows all four of these siblings living together unmarried in Bozeat, Northamptonshire. Thomas Brown (b. 1823) of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, who was born in Carlton, and Stephen Brown (b. 1829) of Guilsborough, Northamptonshire, who was born in nearby Farndish Henry Brown (1831-1890) of Great Oaks Farm at Turvey, Bedfordshire, who follows
Henry Brown (1831-1890), the son of William Brown and Mary Kenworthy, was born in 1831 in Farndish, Bedfordshire; and baptized there on March 16, 1832 in the local parish church. He married his second wife Mary Howkins (1839-1928?) on Dec. 28, 1876 in Bozeat, Northamptonshire, Mary being the widow of Thomas Fancott (1831-1875). Henry and Mary subsequently moved to Great Oaks Farm in Turvey, Bedfordshire, where the 1881 U.K. census shows them living with 5 children ranging in age from 20-years old to newborn. Three of these children were from Henry's previous marriage to Elizabeth Clark (1832-1875). Henry died in 1890, probably in Silsoe, Bedfordshire, where he is buried (St. James the Great Churchyard), and where his widow was living during the 1891 U.K. Census. Although Henry had three daughters with his first wife Elizabeth, and four daughters with his second wife Mary, he only had one son - William Henry Brown, who follows.
William Henry Brown (1878-1945), the son of Henry Brown and Mary Howkins, was born on July 26, 1878 in Turvey, Bedfordshire; and baptized there on Sept 8, 1878 in the local parish church. He married Mary Blanche Laughton (1884-1949) on Jan. 15 1905 in Bedford, Bedfordshire; and they subsequently had two sons - Henry Roland Brown (1907-1975) and Thomas Kenneth Brown (1913-1989), both of whom were born in Bedford, and have descendants of their own. William died in 1945 in Bedford.
| Recent research by Clive Arnold (2025) shows that grandchildren and great grandchildren of William Henry Brown's two sons Henry and Thomas were still living in 2025, many of them in various towns and villages in the general area of Farndish, which straddles the border between Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. These DESCENDANTS IN ENGLAND can legitimately trace their descent from John Bunyan, the celebrated author of the Pilgrim's Progress. |
REFERENCES:
Arnold, Clive (2025), The Bunyan Family Tree, Pilgrim House Elstow, 1 p. --- This online 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" (from the 2020 version of Clive's website). 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. Last Accessed on 18 Nov 2025.
Arnold, Clive (2018), The Bunyan Family Tree, Pilgrim House Elstow, 1 p. --- A previous (and simpler) version of the above pedigree chart Benbrook, Jerry (2025), The New Jersey Benbrooks an online family tree on the Ancestry.com website. Last Accessed on 18 Nov 2025. Blaydes, Frederick Augustus (1893), Deeds relating to the Bunyan Family of Elstow, Bedfordshire Notes and Queries, F. Hockliffe, 88 High Street, Bedordshire, v.3, p. 225-232. Brown, John (1885), John Bunyan: His Life, Times and Work: Riverside Press, Cambridge, p. 397-426. Rev. John Brown (1830-1922) was pastor of Bunyan's Chapel in Bedford for some 30 years. He had a Doctorate in Divinity from the University of Yale, and he was a noted scholar and theologian, who wrote many books on church history. Given that he lived most of his life in Bedford, and had acccess to many of the primary sources on John Bunyan's life, Brown's biography of Bunyan, and his observations on the claims of would-be descendants of Bunyan, must be considered the definitive work on the subject. Although there are descendants of John Bunyan with the surname Brown, Reverand Brown was not one of them, and he never claimed such. The documented descendants of John Bunyan that Brown (1885, p. 409) did identify are members of a branch of the Benbrook family in the United States that is made up of descendants of Sarah Brown (1786-1868) and Stephen Benbrook (1781-1847).
Emmison, F.G.(editor), Bedfordshire Parish Records, Published by the Bedford County Record Office, Shire Hall, several volumes with publication beginning in 1931.
Fishers Farm Barn on the Historic England website, List entry Number: 1392202. Last accessed on 18 Nov 2025. Grave of John Bunyan on the Findagrave.com website, Memorial Number 1930. Last accessed on 18 Nov 2025. Hider, Pamela (2019), Carlton & Chellington Historical Society, personal communication.
Pamela in an email of 6/17/2019 writes, "The identity of Elizabeth Bithray is uncertain, but she is the only lady of that name in our records who was a widow in 1735, so she could very possibly be Elizabeth Knight who married Thomas Bithrey (1st cousin of Charles) in 1727, and gave birth to 3 sons, before she was widowed in 1731. Both her father & father-in-law were landed gentry and she herself is mentioned often in our records (as Elizabeth Bithray, widow) appertaining to land ownership throughout her long life (she died in 1799 aged 91). It would appear that at some stage she had a controlling interest in Fishers and leased it to Charles, as he is regularly referred to in records as "Charles Bithrey of Carlton Fishers, gentleman". Of course, as he died in 1784, long before Elizabeth, he never did attain ownership, but his second wife, Frances, did."
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 (1885), which is referenced above. Wholesome Words (website), Christian Biography Resources - John Bunyan, a nice list of biographies on Bunyan that are available on the Wholesome Words website. Last accessed on 18 Nov 2025.
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