Who was Peter Kinton?

One of the oldest Memorials in All Saints' Church is on the south wall of the chancel. It is dedicated to the memory of 'Peter Kinton, a merchant of Bristol', who had died on 24th February 1733 at the age of 82.

(At least, that is according to a 1990s transcription of an 1822 document. An antiquarian called Sir Thomas Phillips dedicated himself to travelling around Wiltshire, recording all the church monuments in the county at that time. The process is prone to errors, first by whoever carved the original monument, then by Sir Thomas Phillips, then by the group who transcribed his document in the 1990s, then by me in my transcription from the 1990s book in the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre. Unfortunately, the memorial is no longer in the church; it was possibly removed during the restoration of the church in 1849-1851.)

One tends to think of Sutton Benger in the early 1700s as being some sort of backwater, with little contact with the 'outside world' or 'the big city'. Clearly, that was not true, as a number of records testify to the fact that there was regular trade and contact with Bristol. So who was Peter Kinton, of Bristol? What sort of merchant was he, and why was he in Sutton Benger at the age of 82? And why was he important enough to warrant a Monumental Inscription?

Peter Kenton Burial Register

The surname is certainly not one that is recorded anywhere else in the local Parish Registers, other than in the Burial Register for 27 Feb 1733, when he is shown as 'Peter Keynton, widdower'. A brief search on-line shows another possible variant of his name as 'Kineton' but I have found nothing else about him. Oh well, another of life's little mysteries …

For more details on the church, the memorials, and the renovations of 1849-1851, see Kay Taylor: Sutton Benger from Saxon Times to the Dawn of the 21st Century; (ELSP, 2000).

If you want to help in any way, either by researching the history or by testing the walking / cycling routes on foot or by cycle, please get in touch at: hello@bengertrails.co.uk