Simon Gunton was the son of William Gunton of
Peterborough, Northamptonshire, by Ellen his wife, and was baptised in St. John's Church in that town, 30 December 1609. His father was registrar of the diocese, having been elected 13 March 1616. Simon was educated at
Magdalene College, Cambridge, as a member of which he graduated B.A. in 1630–1, proceeding M.A. in 1634. Then taking orders he became vicar of
Pytchley, Northamptonshire, 14 October 1637, and on 12 November 1646 was collated, but without effect, to the first prebend of
Peterborough. During the civil war he found a retreat in the household of
James Stuart, Duke of Richmond and Lennox, as we learn from the dedication to the
little duke Esme of his 'God's House, with the nature and use thereof, as it ought to be understood and respected by Christians under the Gospel,' 8vo, London, 1657. After
the Restoration in 1660 he took possession of his prebend, and on 24 September of the same year was presented to the vicarage of
Peterborough. He soon afterwards obtained an act in augmentation of the living. The following year he published another little manual entitled ''Όρθολατρεία: or, a brief Discourse concerning Bodily Worship: proving it to be God's due'', 8vo, London, 1661. In December 1666 he resigned the vicarage of Peterborough to become rector of
Fiskerton, Lincolnshire, where he died and was buried 17 May 1676. By his wife, Susannah Dickenson, of Peterborough, he had several children. During his boyhood, as he himself states in a letter to
Joseph Henshaw, bishop of the diocese, Gunton took copies of the inscriptions on the monuments in
Peterborough Cathedral, many of which were defaced by the parliamentary troops. He had also through his father's position unlimited access to the cathedral archives before they were in turn destroyed. Ten years after his death his collections, revised and augmented with an appendix of charters and privileges and a supplement by
Simon Patrick were published as
The History of the Church of Peterburgh: wherein the most remarkable Things concerning that Place, from the first Foundation thereof: With other Passages of History, not unworthy publick view are represented. . . . Illustrated with Sculptures, fol., London, 1686.
White Kennett, afterwards
bishop of Peterborough, wrote large additions in a copy now preserved in the cathedral library.
Thomas Baker's copy with Kennett's notes and a few of his own is in
Cambridge University Library. There are also copies with notes by
Bishop Cumberland,
William Cole, and others, in the
Bodleian Library. The original manuscript of Patrick's
Supplement was acquired by the
British Museum in 1859. An
Epitome of Gunton's
History by C. Jacob, published at Peterborough in 1804, 8vo, went through several editions. ==References==