Johnson / Bryans Families

Tracing the ancestry of Pamela Murdoch Bryans and Maurice Alan Johnson

First Name Last Name
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Rev. Robert Thornton[1, 2]

Clergyman (Rector of Birkin)
Male Abt 1580 - 1665  (~ 85 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    Event Map    |    All

  • Name Robert Thornton 
    Relationshipwith Marion Murdoch Johnson
    Gender Male 
    Birth Abt 1580 
    Education [J] 1598  Pembroke College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Degree [J] 1603  Pembroke College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3] 
    Occupation From 1612 to 1665 
    Clergyman (Rector of Birkin) 
    Research Status Brick Wall 
    Death 1665  Birkin, Yorkshire North Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2] 
    Burial 1665  St Mary, Birkin, Yorkshire North Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4] 
    Last Modified 11 Apr 2021 

    Wife Alice Hymsworth
              b. Abt 1585 
    Marriage License 26 Jan 1613  Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire West Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1] 
    Marriage 27 Jan 1613  Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire West Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [5] 
    Age at Marriage Robert was ~ 33 years old - Alice was ~ 28 years old. 
    Children 
     1. Rev. Robert Thornton, of Birkin
              b. 9 Feb 1623, Coxwold, Yorkshire North Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location
              d. [J] 29 Jan 1698, Birkin, Yorkshire North Riding, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 74 years)
    Last Modified 11 Apr 2021 

  • Notes 
    • Early Life & Career
      Robert matriculated at Pembroke in 1597/8, suggesting he must have been born around 1580. There were a number of Robert Thorntons born around this time in Yorkshire, with no clue as to whether any are the right person, so for the time being Robert is a Brick Wall, though this site shows a further continuation of the Thornton line that might merit a review.

      The Cambridge Alumni record for Robert lists the following events for him:

      • BA 1602/3
      • MA 1606
      • Licenced to preach (York) 1607
      • Rector of Birkin 1612, ejected by Parliament then reinducted in 1664
      • Rector of Garforth 1615-1644

      Charles I succeeded as king in 1625, and from 1633 started reforming the church. So Robert must have served simultaneously as both Rector of Birkin and Rector of Garforth between 1615 and at least 1633.
      The actual Civil War began in 1642.

      From Pedigrees of Yorkshire:
      [Robert Thornton] rector of Birkin, co. York, was eminently distinguished, during the civil conflicts of the reign of Charles I, for his loyalty and attachment to the Church of England. His great and manifold privations in these distressing times are fully related in Walker's "Sufferings of the Clergy". He was ejected from his rectory during the Protectorate, but reinstated at the Restoration. He died in 1665, and was buried in the church of Birkin, where there is a monument to his memory.


      A little more "flavour" around his persecution by the puritans comes from GENuki:
      Of Robert Thornton we learn from Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, that he was expelled from his living of Birkin by the puritans, and barbarously used, being several times plundered, and at length tied to a horse's tail, and dragged in that manner to Cawood Castle. One David Barnes possessed himself of the living in 1655, but Robert Thornton, who survived the usurpation, returned to his ancient charge; though not, as it should seem by the above catalogue, till it had been held for a time by Robert Sorsby.


      The same website shows that Robert was instituted as Rector on the 29th of March 1612 and secondly on the 20th of March 1664, very shortly before his death. His son, also Robert, succeeded to the Rectory at that time.

      Family Life
      Robert married Alice Hymsworth (Hamsworth/Hemsworth) at Arksey in Yorkshire on the 27th of January 1613. They had:
      1. Robert, born 1623, and who succeeded his father as Rector of Birkin. He married Clare ___


      Death
      Robert died in 1665 and was buried in the churchyard at St Mary in Birkin.

      Footnotes
      [1] A tiny bit more info here
      [2] 4th Edition, page 1505 (Thornton of Birkin and Clapham)

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsEducation - Matriculation - [J] 1598 - Pembroke College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDegree - [J] 1603 - Pembroke College, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage License - 26 Jan 1613 - Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire West Riding, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsMarriage - 27 Jan 1613 - Arksey, Doncaster, Yorkshire West Riding, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 1665 - Birkin, Yorkshire North Riding, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsBurial - 1665 - St Mary, Birkin, Yorkshire North Riding, England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Sources 
    1. [S0450] Joseph Foster, Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire, (London, 1844-1905), Thornton; Volume 2.

    2. [S0331] Joseph Hunter, Familiae Minorum Gentium, (London, 1895), Thornton; Volume 1, pp139-140.

    3. [S0095] Ancestry, Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900, (ancestry.co.uk), Robert Thornton (b. c1580).

    4. [S0046] findagrave, Rev. Robert Thornton; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/192529688/robert-thornton.

    5. [S0330] FindMyPast, Yorkshire Marriages, (findmypast.co.uk), 27 Jan 1613, Robertus Thornton / Alicia Hymsworth; ref P14-1-A2 (Doncaster Archives).