 Descendants of the Celebrated John Bunyan 
(version December 16, 2023)
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 an unreferenced Ancestry.com family tree 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 (2020) 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 (2020), which is a much more reliable source than the vast majority 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 references to back up their claims. Some (e.g., an example on Ancestry.com) of these give 1687 as William Browne's birth date, with his christening shown in yet another as Jan. 30, 1687 in Wedmore, Somerset. The first genealogy goes on to give his wife's name as Mary Reynolds (Reinolds), gives 1695 as her birth date, and gives their wedding date as Jan. 18, 1717 in Wedmore, Somerset. However, yet another shows her as being born in 1691 at St. Cuthbert's in Bedford, and assigns 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 (2020) 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 (2020) 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 (2020), 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 about 1754, probably at Fishers Farm in Carlton, Bedfordshire. However, some genealogies give him a birthdate of June 10, 1754 in Of Easton Maudit, Northamptonshire, which fits with his having descendants in Northamptonshire, but it is inconsistant with the fact that his immediate family is more closely associated with St. Cuthberts, Bedfordshire and Carlton, Bedfordshire. Furthermore, he is shown in some genealogies to have married Mary Poole (1753-1828) on May 29, 1781 in Stevington, Bedfordshire. However, Arnold (2020), which is probably more reliable, shows his wife as Mary Kenworthy (b. 1753). In either case, his descendants in Northamptonshire are the only descendants of the celebrated John Bunyan whose 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 his cousins - Thomas Brown of St. Alban, John Brown (who may have died young), and/or William Brown of Bedford - had children also.
William Brown died in 1800, and he was buried on Nov. 23, 1800 in Carlton Parish, Bedfordshire, most likely at the cemetery for the parish church, as the cemetery for the Carlton Baptist Chapel probably did not come into use for another twenty years. Meetings at the chapel ceased in 2001, and the chapel is now a private dwelling. The baptist cemetery near the Fishers, where some of William Brown's descendants are probably buried, was turned over for safe keeping in 2002 to the Carlton and Chellington Parish Council. However, as we have allready noted, that this cemetery probably did not exist when William waws buried.
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, and 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 to Fishers Farm in Bedfordshire to spend his final years. 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 possibly one son and four daughters by his wife Mary.
William John Brown (1781-1848?) was born on Oct 30, 1781 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with at least three of his siblings. He is shown in some genelaogies to have married, had several children, and to have died in 1848 in Bedfordshire. However, the evidence for these last three events is not known. His children are said to have included George, Richard, John and Sarah, who were unmarried and settled in Bozeat, Northamptonshire. Other children may have included Thomas Brown of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, Stephen Brown of Guilsborough in the same county, and Henry Brown of Great Oaks Farm at Turvey, Bedfordshire. Frances Brown (b. 1783) was born on Nov. 3, 1783 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with at least three of her siblings. She is shown in some genealogies to have married William Johnson (b. c.1781), and to have had two children, However, the evidence for these last two events is not known. Sarah Brown (1786-1868) was on born on April 27, 1786 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church with at least three of her siblings. She married Stephen Benbrook (1781-1847) on Nov. 11, 1806 in Carlton (marriage date unconfirmed), and they settled in Pitsford, Northamptonshire where they had several children. They emigrated in 1832 to the United States, where they settled with their large family of eight surviving children in Somerset County, New Jersey. Sarah died on March 3, 1868 in Hillsborough, New Jersey, leaving behind numerous descendants. Mary Brown (b. 1789) was born on May 28, 1789 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, and baptized there on Jan. 31, 1798 in the parish church, with at least three of her siblings. She is shown in some genealogies to have married William Davison (b. c.1781), and to have settled in Turvey, Bedfordshire. An 1841 U.K. census return does exist for a Mary and William Davison of Turvey. However, Mary's age in the Turvey census is 52, whereas William's age is 84, so we do not know if Mary is his wife or daughter. Second, if we assume that Mary is his wife, then we need to know whether her maiden name is Brown, or something else.
Some lineages show a marriage date of either Sept. 12, 1813 or Aug. 17, 1814 at St. James Clerkenwell Church in London for a Mary Brown and William Davison. 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, not from Turvey or Carlton. Thus, there is no real evidence to tie this couple to Mary Brown of Carlton, other than the similarity of names. Elizabeth Brown (b. 1792) is shown in some genealogies to have been born on Nov. 1, 1792 in Carlton, Bedfordshire, to have married a man named Norman (b. c.1790), and to have died childless, but we do not know the evidence for any of these events.
REFERENCES:
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.
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 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 documented descendants of John Bunyan with the surname Brown, Reverand Brown was not one of them, and he never claimed such.
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 10/14/2017. Grave of John Bunyan on Findagrave.com. 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.
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