Nielsen Hayden genealogy

John Hinton

Male Abt 1603 - Bef 1682  (~ 79 years)


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  • Name John Hinton  [1
    Birth Abt 1603  Wiltshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    Alternate birth Abt 1603  London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 4
    Death Bef 14 Nov 1682  St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [3, 5
    Siblings 4 siblings 
    Person ID I36924  Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
    Last Modified 13 Nov 2021 

    Father Thomas Hinton,   b. Between 1573 and 1574, of Chilton Park, Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1 Feb 1635 (Age ~ 62 years) 
    Mother Catherine Palmer   d. Bef 11 Oct 1609 
    Marriage 1595  [1
    Family ID F21688  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • History of Parliament entry on Thomas Hinton (d. 1635): says of him that "a fourth son, John, became physician to Henrietta Maria", thus saying that this John Hinton was indeed a son of Thomas Hinton and Catherine Palmer.

      Both the old Dictionary of National Biography and the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography say that the physician was born in London, not Wiltshire.

      Alumni Oxonienses says the physician was born in Wiltshire and that he was 18 on 9 Nov 1621, thus born about 1603.

      A John "S of John Hinton" was buried at St. Giles Cripplegate 24 May 1682, cause of death shown as "tooth." (If this was the physician, he was clearly not a son of Thomas Hinton and Katherine Palmer.)

      Hinton's own Memoires by Sir John Hinton, Physitian in Ordinary, to His Majesties Person 1679 says of his origins only that "I proceed from an Ancient family, which in no age hath bin tainted with any undutifull or disloyall behaviour to the crowne; but on the contrary, wee have bin in actual services to the hazard or ruine of our estates and lives, and I hope we shall alwaies continue in the same obedience. One of my brothers was killed att the Isle of Rhee, another was miserably wounded in the late rebellion, so that hee lost the use of almost all his limbs; and more particularly in one long march, the soles of both his feet rotted away; a third served your Royall father, and your Majestie in a civill capacitie to the end of his life."

      In 1915, in an article entitled "Colonel John Hinton" (North Carolina Booklet 14:225), Mary Hilliard Hinton said of John Hinton, son of Thomas Hinton and Catherine Palmer, that he was born 10 July 1603, died 10 Oct 1682, that he married a woman named Catrina Vander Ruckle, and that he "came to Virginia with his brother-in-law, Captain Mathews, in 1622, remaining two years; his brothers, Thomas and Sir William Hinton, came to the colony in 1634, but returned to England in 1637." It is notable that a John Hinton was enumerated in Jamestown on 16 Feb 1624 as living in the household of Clement Dilke, a burgess; also that other sources claim that John Hinton's wife was named Elizabeth (or Susan) Dilke, and that he married her in Leiden. Mary Hillard Hinton goes on to say "In 1666 there came to Maryland the first, fifth, and sixth sons of Sir John Hinton (son of Sir Thomas Hinton, of 'Earlscott' and 'Chilton Foliat')--Thomas, Clement, and Richard Hinton. From Thomas descend the Hintons of New York and Philadelphia; Clement died unmarried and Richard, it is claimed, was the progenitor of the Hintons of Virginia and North Carolina." This does not accord well with the idea that Thomas Hinton (b. 1693) who married Rachel Howard (b. 1700) was a son of William Hinton (1667-97), son of Thomas Hinton (1632-1708), son of the physician Sir John Hinton.

      York Lowry Wilson's A Carolina-Virginia Genealogy (Aldershot, Hampshire: Gale & Polden, 1962) largely repeats Mary Hillard Hinton's version of John Hinton, physician, save that he says he "m. while in Holland, Elizabeth, whose surname was said to have been Dilke." His statements about Dr. John Hinton's supposed

      From Alumni Oxonienses (citation details below):

      Hinton, (Sir) John, of Wilts, arm. fil. nat., max. QUEEN'S COLL., subs. 9 Nov., 1621, aged 18; one of these names entered on the physic line Leyden 10 April, 1633, then 30 years of age, phy sician to the queen 1640, joined the king at York and arrived at Oxford with the royal suite, where he was created D.Med. 1 Nov., 1642, physician to Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards Charies II., by whom he was knighted and appointed physician in ordinary to the king and queen; admitted to Lincoln's Inn 4 March, 1663-4 (as Dr. Hinton), fellow college of physicians 1664, knighted around 1665, and died in London 1682. See Fasti, ii. 48; Munk's Roll, i. 329; & D.N.B.

      From the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

      He had at least three brothers, all of whom supported the crown during the civil war. On 10 April 1633, aged thirty, he entered Leiden University, where he probably proceeded MD. He presented himself as a practitioner of midwifery at the censor's board of the College of Physicians, London, on 6 February 1634; but as he had not been engaged in practice for the statutable period of four years, was not examined. On 7 November 1640 Hinton again appeared at the college, and presented letters from the earl of Dorchester, testifying that he had been appointed physician to the queen. After the outbreak of the civil war Hinton busied himself in promoting a petition to the Long Parliament styled 'The inns of court peticion for peace', for which he was repeatedly examined, as he alleges, by the House of Commons, and before long 'was forced to fly from my house and family, whereupon they immediatly plundered mee to the losse of above one thousand pound, and my wife and children were left in very bad condition …'. There is no mention of any such examination in the Journals of the House of Commons. Hinton joined the king at York, marched with the army to Beverley, Hull, and Nottingham, and was present at the battle of Edgehill (1642). After accompanying the king to Oxford, he was there created MD on 1 November 1642, and was appointed physician-in-ordinary to Prince Charles. By the king's command he attended the queen to Exeter, where she gave birth in 1644 to the Princess Henrietta; afterwards he saw the queen into Cornwall and safely embarked for France.

      In 1646 Hinton was living at Fulwood's Rents, London, having been in Exeter when it was taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax. Hinton was examined before the council of state on 27 August 1649. He appears to have lived for some time at The Hague in the suite of Charles II. On his return to London he was arrested and frequently examined. He claimed that he was on one occasion interrogated by Cromwell, who, he said, 'swore by the liveing God, hee would wrack every veine in my heart if I did not discover the designes against him'. Fortunately for Hinton, 'by the means and intercession of some zealous women, my patients', he was freed. According to his own account, a close watch was, however, kept on him until the Restoration.

      Hinton was certainly in London in July 1655, and, although under suspicion, was allowed to remain there on account of his patients. After the Restoration he was appointed physician-in-ordinary to the king and queen, a position he held until 1673, and in December 1664 was admitted an honorary fellow of the College of Physicians. 'At the latter end of the plague' (1665) he was knighted, in recognition of his having procured a private advance of money for the duke of Albemarle to pay the army. In 1672 he purchased fee farms from the crown. In 1679 he presented a memorial to the king in which he set out, in the form of an autobiography, the losses he had incurred during the civil war and afterwards, and praying that such might be made good either to him or his children. One hundred copies of these Memoires were printed from the original manuscript in 1814. Hinton lived in the parish of St Bride, London, but before his death moved to the parish of St Martin-in-the-Fields. He must have died in poverty during the autumn of 1682, for on 14 November of that year administration of his estate was granted to Humphrey Weld (1612–1685), a principal creditor.

      From The Roll of the Royal College of Physicians of London: Comprising Biographical Sketches of All the Eminent Physicians, Whose Names Are Recorded in the Annals from the Foundation of the College in 1518 to its Removal in 1825, from Warwick Lane to Pall Mall East by William Munk and the Royal College of Physicians (London, 1878):

      Sir John Hinton, M.D.--On the 6th February, 1634, Dr. Hinton, being then a doctor of medicine, of what university is not stated in the Annals (but probably of Leyden, where on the 10th April, 1633, he was entered on the physic line being then thirty years of age), and a practitioner in midwifery, presented himself at the Censors' board, but was not examined, as he had not then been engaged in practice for the statutable period of four years. "Comparuit coram Censoribus Ds. Dr. John Hinton, qui se obtulit examinationi. Verum cum per statuta Collegii compertum sit neminem posse examen subire qui non prius exercuerit praxin per annos quatuor, quod rogatus profiteri nolebat, idec tunc examinatus non est. Verum cu?m se tam lubenter examinandum praebuisset, et quod exerceat artem obstetricatus reipublicæ perquam necessariam, D Praesidens et Censores lubenter ei gratiam libere? practicandi concedunt usque dum per statuta Collegii examinationem subire poterit. Et insuper hanc ei indulgent gratiam ut cu?m fuerit examinatus pro Candidatu, senioris Candidati locum ipso facto obtinebit non aliter qua?m si prius fuisset examinatus." On the 7th November, 1640, he appeared at the College, and presented letters from the earl of Dorchester, testifying that he had been appointed physician to the Queen. Sir John Hinton and his family were eminently loyal, and took an active part in the exciting events of their time. One of his brothers was killed at the isle of Rhee, another was miserably wounded and permanently disabled in the rebellion, and a third served the royal cause in a civil capacity to the end of his life. Our physician began his political career by promoting a petition for peace to the Long Parliament. For this he was repeatedly examined before the House of Commons, and ere long found it necessary to fly from his family and home. He joined the king at York, marched with the army to Beverley, Hull, and Nottingham, and was present and engaged at the battle of Edge hill. Accompanying the army to Oxford, he was there created doctor of medicine 1st November, 1642, and about the same time was honoured by the king with the appointment of physician in ordinary to his eldest son - the future Charles II. By the king's command he attended the queen, then "great with child and weake, having fitts of the mother and a violent consumptive cough," to Exeter, where she gave birth to the princess Henrietta. He attended the queen in her confinement, and shortly afterwards saw his royal patient into Cornwall and safely embarked for France. Dr. Hinton was for some time at the Hague, in the suite of Charles II. On his return to London he was placed in confinement and frequently examined, but (to use his own words) "by the means and intercession of some zealous women, my patients," was at length liberated, but still closely watched, until the restoration. He was knighted by Charles II, and was appointed physician in ordinary to the king and queen. He was admitted an Honorary Fellow of the College in December, 1664. The chief events of Sir John Hinton's life are detailed in a "Memorial" presented by him to the king (Charles II) in 1679. He concludes it as follows:--"Thus, Sir, did I spend the principall part of my dayes and youth in the service of yr Matie and yr Royall Father, att my own expence, by wch means and being engaged for severall of yr friends in the warrs and afterwards, I did contract a debt of severall thousand pounds wch I have bin forced to pay out of my owne labour. All wch with utmost humility I lay before yr Matie confidently believing that yr Matie doth looke upon me as a faithfull subject and carefull servant, and if it shall gratiously please yr Matie to give some refreshment to mee in my last dayes, by yr favour to myself or children, I shall with much satisfaction lay downe my head in peace and cheerefully leave them to endeavour yr Maties service as I have done before them." I fail to recover the date of his death.

  • Sources 
    1. [S47] The History of Parliament. Some citations point to entries from the printed volumes not yet added to the online site.

    2. [S6120] Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford 1500-1714: Their Parentage, Birthplace, and Year of Birth, with a Record of Their Degrees ed. Joseph Foster. Volume II. London: Parker & Co., 1891.

    3. [S154] The Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1915.

    4. [S76] The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press, 2004-ongoing.

    5. [S6120] Alumni Oxonienses: The Members of the University of Oxford 1500-1714: Their Parentage, Birthplace, and Year of Birth, with a Record of Their Degrees ed. Joseph Foster. Volume II. London: Parker & Co., 1891., year and city only.