Burneston, Yorkshire

Joanna Barker

Burneston is a small village in North Yorkshire a few miles from Leeming Bar. Its very large church was built in the 14th-16th centuries, and is the only Anglican church in Britain dedicated to St Lambert.

Rev Matthew Robinson (1628-1696) was the brother of Leonard Robinson, Elizabeth Montagu’s paternal great-grandfather. He was the vicar of St Lambert’s for thirty-one years from 1651-1682, when he resigned the living in favour of his nephew George Grey (1682-1711), son of his sister Frances. He married Jane Pickering but died without issue, leaving properties in his will to his nephew Thomas Robinson, Elizabeth Montagu’s grandfather. He is commemorated by a memorial brass in the church.

He established almshouses in Burneston which still exist, with a tablet above the door recording that ‘Mat. Robinson MA vic. De Burneston’ built them in 1680. Elizabeth Montagu mentioned visiting these almshouses on her visits to Yorkshire in 1767 and 1775 to give money to the residents in memory of the founder (Blunt, I, 158-59). She also stated that it was the income from the properties he left to her father that financed her family’s education and her father’s lifestyle as a gentleman (EMCO 2000; EMCO 2128). Matthew was known as the best breeder of horses in the north of England (he was even consulted about a horse by King Charles II), and left in his will the substantial sum of £20,000, sufficient to generate income of £700 per year.

The Burneston Almshouses are currently unoccupied and in a poor state of repair, and there is a plan to convert them into a private dwelling. Money left by its founder continues to be administered by the trustees of the Matthew Robinson Trust for the benefit of local schools and those who are ‘in need, hardship or distress’.

Edward and Elizabeth Montagu’s young son John, known as ‘Punch’, died at nearby Allerthorpe Hall and was buried in St Lambert’s churchyard. After his mother’s death in 1800, his remains were transferred to her vault in Winchester Cathedral.

Edward Montagu owned lands in Burneston, Allerthorpe and the nearby manor of Swainby, and in 1745 placed them in a trust to secure for Elizabeth a widow’s jointure of £400 per year.

Please note that all dates and location information are provisional, initially taken from the library and archive catalogues. As our section editors continue to work through the material we will update our database and the changes will be reflected across the edition.

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