Nielsen Hayden genealogy

Brampton Gurdon

Male 1566 - Bef 1650  (< 84 years)


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    Sources    |    All

  • Name Brampton Gurdon  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5
    Birth 1566  of Assington, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [6, 7, 8
    Gender Male 
    Death Bef 2 Apr 1650  [7
    Burial 2 Apr 1650  Assington, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [7
    Person ID I14220  Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others | Ancestor of JTS
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2023 

    Father John Gurdon,   b. Abt 1544, of Assington, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 21 Sep 1623 (Age ~ 79 years) 
    Mother Amy Brampton 
    Family ID F10970  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Muriel Sedley,   b. Bef 20 Apr 1583, Morley, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 22 Aug 1661, Letton, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age > 78 years) 
    Marriage 8 Jul 1606  St. Peter's, Morley, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [9, 10
    Children 
    +1. Muriel Gurdon,   b. Abt 1613   d. 21 Apr 1688, Hulme, Lancashire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 75 years)
    Family ID F8987  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 9 Nov 2017 

  • Notes 
    • Burgess to Parliament for Sudbury, Suffolk, 1620. Sheriff of Suffolk, 1628-29.

      From the History of Parliament:

      Gurdon's grandfather bought the Suffolk manor of Assington, four miles from Sudbury, in 1556, and his father represented the borough in 1571. Gurdon himself was committed to the Fleet by lord chancellor Ellesmere (Thomas Egerton) in 1606 for an unknown offence. He was elected for Sudbury in January 1621, although the return was backdated to the previous November. Gurdon may have been responsible for the election of his colleague, Edward Osborne, whose sister-in-law married (at an unknown date) Gurdon's younger son Robert. Gurdon appears only once in the surviving records of the third Jacobean Parliament, when he was appointed to the committee for the bill for catechizing children (16 May 1621).

      In January 1626 Gurdon successfully proposed (Sir) Robert Naunton as one of the knights of the shire for Suffolk, recruiting his friend and neighbour the future governor of Massachusetts John Winthrop to canvass prominent members of the Suffolk gentry, such as Sir Robert Crane. Like Winthrop, Gurdon was a puritan, and when the anti-Calvinist Matthew Wren took control of Norwich diocese in 1636, it was reported that 'Mr. Gurdon is questioned for not bowing and kneeling at burial prayers'. On 11 Apr. 1637 Gurdon wrote gloomily to Winthrop in New England: 'I would I could write you anything like to give comfort to any honest English mind for church or commonwealth'.

      Gurdon's eldest son John represented Ipswich in both the Short and Long Parliaments. Gurdon himself served on the county committee during the Civil War, although it is difficult to distinguish him from his younger son Brampton, who, like him, was an active supporter of Parliament. Gurdon drew up his will on 17 Oct. 1647, leaving an imposing collection of silver and furnishings to his second wife, together with 500 marks, his best coach, five horses, and a musket. Her son Brampton, who had been returned for Sudbury as a recruiter, inherited property in Norfolk, and the local clergy and servants received monetary bequests. The poor of Assington were to receive £20 and those of Sudbury £5. Gurdon was buried at Assington on 2 Apr. 1650. His eldest son moved up to represent the county in the first Protectorate Parliament, and sat for Sudbury in the Convention.

  • Sources 
    1. [S101] The Great Migration Begins: Immigrants to New England, 1620-1633, Volumes 1-3 and The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volumes 1-7, by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 1996-2011.

    2. [S2306] The Winthrop Fleet: Massachusetts Bay Company Immigrants to New England 1629-1630 by Robert Charles Anderson. Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, 2012.

    3. [S3829] William Everett, "Saltonstall-Gurdon-Sedley-Knyvet" and "Saltonstall-Knyvet: A Correction." In English Origins of New England Families, second series, Volume 3, ed. Gary Boyd Roberts. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 1985.

    4. [S756] Early New England Families Study Project: Accounts of New England Families from 1641 to 1700 by Alicia Crane Williams. Online database, New England Historic Genealogical Society.

    5. [S6777] The Descendants of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall of Haverhill, Massachusetts by Scott C. Steward. Boston: Newbury Street Press, 2013.

    6. [S1585] Ancestry and Descendants of Sir Richard Saltonstall by Leverett Saltonstall. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Riverside Press, 1897., place only.

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

    8. [S142] Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Salt Lake City, 2013., place only.

    9. [S142] Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families by Douglas Richardson. Salt Lake City, 2013.

    10. [S47] The History of Parliament. Some citations point to entries from the printed volumes not yet added to the online site., date only.