22. EARLY BURTONS

Sampson  Tree

EARLY BURTONS (22)

 

 Most family trees for the Burtons of Halberton go no further back than Gilbert Burton, who was born in 1324. One online tree goes further, naming three more generations before him.[1]

Halberton is a village between Tiverton and Cullompton. Two buildings date from the 14^th century: St Andrew’s Church and the Priory.

 St Andrew’s, Halberton [2]

 

HENRY BURTON and ELSA JESSIE BURTON. This tree has Gilbert Burton as the son of Henry Burton and his wife Elsa Jessie, surname unknown.

Henry is said to be the son of John de Burton. He was born in 1300. Nothing further is known of him.

Henry would have been in his twenties when Queen Isabella, wife of the unpopular Edward II, returned from a diplomatic mission to France with her lover Roger Mortimer and an army. They deposed Edward, who died in prison, probably murdered. The following year Mortimer was hanged for treason.

Edward was succeeded by his young son Edward I. Isabella ruled the country as regent during his minority.

Henry may have lived to see the devastating Black Death in 1348, when one third of the population died.

                                                                                                The Priory, Halberton [3]

 

JOHN DE BURTON. The father of Henry Burton is said to be  John, son of Adab de Burton, born in 1270. We do not have the name of his wife.

Much of his adult life was lived in the reign of Edward I. It was a time when England was reaching a height of material prosperity. Things would not be as good for some time afterwards.

Edward I required his knights to take over much of the local government of the shires. They dispensed justice and raised money and troops for the king. They also acted as an intelligence service, reporting back to the king about what was going on in their area. Devon was some way from the court in London. John would have had local information not readily available to the king and his courtiers.

 

ADAB DE BURTON. We have no further information about John’s father.

If John was born in 1270, then Adab would have lived much of his life in the second half of the thirteenth century.

1264 saw the Barons’ War, during which King Henry III was captured. The Magna Carta, reissued in 1216, had not completely silenced the barons’ resentment of the king. The war ended with the death of Simon de Montfort at the Battle of Evesham in 1265.

1290, under Edward I, saw the expulsion of Jews from England, and their replacement by Italian financiers.

 

[1] https://www.geni.com/people/Henry-Burton/6000000006444159817
[2] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Halberton_Church%2C_Devon%2C_England-5April2010.jpg/320px-Halberton_Church%2C_Devon%2C_England-5April2010.jpg
[3] https://media.onthemarket.com/properties/3691213/400507081/image-16-x380.jpg