Rev. William Gunthorpe

Rev. William Gunthorpe (1785-c. 1826), owner of Gunthorpe's estate in Antigua, the compensation for which was awarded to his widow Alicia nee Jackson (q.v.) and to James Gunthorpe (q.v.).

1. William Gunthorpe, son of William, of St John's Antigua, matriculated Christ Church College, Oxford, 21/10/1803. His father William Gunthorpe of Antigua and Bugle Hall (q.v.) was the William Gunthorpe, son of William, of London, who matriculated Trinity College, Oxford, 20/02/1773, aged 18. William, of London, the grandfather of Rev. William Gunthorpe, was William Gunthorpe of Paddington (q.v.). There is a previous record of a Gunthorpe from Antigua at Oxford: John Gunthorpe, son of William, of Isle of Antigua, matriculated Queens College, 08/11/1764 aged 17.

2. William Gunthorpe of St Michaels' Southampton married Alicia daughter of Josias Jackson at All Saints Southampton 28/01/1807.

3. The Clergy of the Church of England Database shows William Gunthorpe born Antigua 1785 variously of Aberdeen and of New College being ordained a deacon 05/10/1823 at Norwich Cathedral, and ordained a priest 13/05/1824 also at Norwich. If this is in fact the same man then some of the details appear inconsistent and the chronology requires further explanation.

4. Will of Rev. William Gunthorpe of Bath proved 13/04/1826. His executors were his widow Alicia and James Gunthorpe (his brother: James Gunthorpe son of William Gunthorpe Esq. and Margaret was baptised 18/09/1788 at St Marylebone, London). Letters of administration of the will of Rev. William Gunthorpe, formerly of Antigua but late of Bath who died on or about 22/03/1826 at Bath, left unadministered by James Gunthorpe the brother, granted 15/10/1868 to Margaret Anne Gunthorpe widow of Ashley Villa Bath, the relict of John Houlton Gunthorpe the son and residuary legatee [of Rev. William Gunthorpe], effects under £5000 (resworn from £20). Margaret Anne Gunthorpe in 1870 was also granted administration of the will of Margaret Gunthorpe, the mother of the Rev. William Gunthorpe, who had herself died on Antigua in 1817: effects again were £5000 resworn from £100.

5. Will of William Gunthorpe of Antigua proved 14/12/1807.

6. William Gunthorpe was the subject of adverse commentary in a letter of 1807 from Jane Austen in Southampton to Cassandra Austen: 'Miss Jackson is married to young Mr Gunthorpe and is to be very unhappy. He swears, drinks, is cross, jealous, selfish and Brutal: the match makes her family miserable and has occasioned his disinheritance.'

7. At least three of Rev. William Gunthorpe's sons, James Athill Gunthorpe (d. 1859), William Munton Gunthorpe (d. 1858) and John Houlton Gunthorpe (d. 1838), died in India, suggesting the family reorienting itself towards the East as slavery ended.

T71/877 Antigua no. 350. Claim by Alicia Gunthorpe Boulogne sur mer and James Gunthorpe New Bond St., as executors of Revd. W Gunthorpe deceased.

1. Ancestry.com, Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886 [database online].

2. Hampshire: - Marriage licences Bishop of Winchester 1689-1837, Hampshire, England Extracted Parish Records.

3. Clergy of the Church of England Database - http://www.theclergydatabase.org.uk/jsp/search/index.jsp [accessed 24/06/2013].

4. PROB 11/1711/185; Ancestry.com, London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 [database online]; National Probate Calendar 1868 and 1870.

5. PROB 11/1471/187.

6. Deirdre Le Fay, Jane Austen's Letters 4th ed. (Oxford, 2011) p. 126.

7. National Probate Calendar 1861, 1862 and 1864.