Burton family
The local Burton family can be traced back to the start of the 1700s after Thomas Burton married Anna Buck at All Saints Church, Tibbenham in 1703.
Much of the detail on this page covering the 1700s and onwards has been very kindly provided by a present-day Burton descendant who contacted us with their treasure trove of information including the above pedigree chart. This chart was researched in the early 1900s and ties together the story of the wider Burton family across South Norfolk during the 1700s and 1800s.
This pedigree chart (below) has been split into two halves – with a central overlap – to enable each side to be enlarged to make the detail more legible:
The second Burton generation in the chart comprises three sons, born between 1706 and 1715. They were known in the family as Thomas, Edward ‘of Wreningham’ and Henry ‘of Wreningham’. The first two were baptised at Forncett St Peter church – suggesting where the family might have been living at the time.
Whilst nothing more is recorded about the eldest son, the chart describes Edward ‘of Wreningham’ marrying Ann Hensby and Henry ‘of Wreningham’ marrying Mary [unknown].
There were many more children in the next generation and the chart shows them having connections with the South Norfolk villages of: Langley, Carleton Rode, Barford, Wreningham, Tacolneston, and Forncett. In the following generation, Burton family members can also be found in Bunwell and Loddon. The latter includes a William Burton (cousin of Wreningham’s William Burton – see below) who was the son of James Burton ‘of Barford’. He became a miller and operated Loddon’s windmill and water mill.
As described above, there was a Burton family association with Forncett St Peter. A newspaper advertisement dated 1787 lists a Burton-owned farm for sale in Forncett; it was in the occupation of Henry Burton. This Forncett story can be found on a Forncett History Group page: here. The newspaper advertisement references a Thomas Burton of Wreniningham and a John Burton of Carlton Rode. All of them feature in the above pedigree chart.
The farmhouse is believed to date from the late 1500s / early 1600s. A thatched threshing barn dating from the same period is still situated directly to the rear.
William Burton, who was a farmer in Wreningham was a son of the above-refenced Edward ‘of Wreningham’ (1708 – 1793).
William Burton, born in 1748, had married Elizabeth Clowes in 1780.
It is unclear when the Burtons first occupied The Poplars/Poplar Farm but William was not the owner. He was a tenant of landlord Charles Harrison of Palgrave, near Diss. In 1805, William Burton signed a new tenancy agreement – believed to be with Charles Harrison, the son of the earlier (deceased) Charles Harrison.
William Burton and his wife, Elizabeth had three children: Elizabeth, William Ottey and Maria. Their daughter, Elizabeth, died aged 35 in 1821. Neither William Ottey nor Maria ever married – ultimately terminating this branch of the Burton family.
In due course, William Ottey Burton had joined his father, William, in farming.
Whilst the early Wreningham Burton family pre-date photography, here is a portrait of William Ottey Burton’s second cousin: Thomas Burton (1785 – 1841) painted by G Day – date unknown.
Thomas’s parents were Henry and Mary Burton, who were married at Forncett St Peter Church in 1783 and are buried in Wreningham churchyard.
Although Thomas Burton married in London, in 1811, the young Thomas was probably well known to Wreningham’s William Burton (snr).
For some later descendants of the Burton family shown in the pedigree chart (above) see here.
In about 1827, William Ottey and his sister, Maria, became guardians of both John William Bullimore and Anna Bullimore (then one and three years old, respectively). This followed the death of the children’s mother, Sara Bullimore, and the inability of their father William Mark Bullimore to look after them, on his own. The connection between the Burton and Bullimore families is not clear but it is supposed they knew each other through the church. The wider Bullimore family were known to have strong connections with the Baptist Church.
The tithe records of c1838 show that as well as tenanting Poplar Farm (then known as Burton’s Farm) William Burton and his son owned three further farms in Wreningham: Georges Farm, Peartree Farm and Hill House Farm. Later records show the Burtons operated all four farms as if they were a single unit, with a combined team of about 20 labourers.
On William Burton’s death, in 1840, William Ottey took over the tenancy of Burton’s / Poplar Farm together with the ownership of the other farms. The Church Census of 1851 describes William Ottey Burton as the ‘Proprietor’ of a house used by ‘Protestant Dissenters‘ – which we know to be the farmhouse at Hill House Farm. In due course, following the death of Maria Burton, this became the home of John Bullimore where Bullimore also preached at services.
In 1856, William Ottey’s deteriorating health resulted in him stepping back from running the four farms and he appointed the 29-year-old John Bullimore to be farm steward. The following year, William Ottey Burton died: the death certifcate stated ‘liver disease’. He died in the presence of his good friend, Wreningham man, George Childs.
At the time of William Ottey Burton’s death, Wreningham’s rector Rev Arthur Upcher and his wife were in Cheshire, visiting his wife’s family. Upcher was unwell and had put off his return to Wreningham for a day or two.
It appears that John Bullimore had written to Upcher advising of William Ottey’s death. The above is Upcher’s reply to Bullimore, advising that Maria should do whatever she wished in making the arrangements. This is the only letter we possess written in Upcher’s hand.
Maria Burton succeeded her brother and retained John Bullimore as steward, to run the farms, whilst George Childs conducted all her farm business. John Bullimore’s 1861 Diary includes snapshots of Maria Burton’s life during that year. By this time, Maria had also invited Elizabeth Hare to live as her companion at the farmhouse.
In 1870, Maria Bullimore died, aged 78. Her executors were John Bullimore, George Childs and Norwich solicitor Jacob Henry Tillett. Maria’s estate was approximately £15,000, a considerable sum. Maria had no surviving family of her own, and her Will divided her extensive assets between many people. Significant beneficiaries were John Bullimore – bequeathed money plus two farms, his sister Anna – money to invest and wife-to-be Martha Thurston – a large sum of money. George Childs was bequeathed property. Others received smaller financial gifts or desirable objects.
Wreningham’s last Burton family now lie in a neat row in Wreningham churchyard, complete with matching memorial stones. Older Burton memorial stones face them on the opposite side of the footpath, which runs between the church gate and the porch.
It has recently been pointed out that these 1800s memorial stones have been individually rotated since the time of the photograph. Each memorial inscription is now facing east, not west, as then!
