Edward Bury (minister)

Edward Bury (1616–1700), was an English ejected minister.

Early life

Bury was born in Worcestershire in 1616. According to Walker, he was originally a tailor, and was put into a home in Great Bolas, Shropshire, in place of a deprived rector. Calamy says that Bury was a man of learning, educated at Coventry Grammar School and at Oxford, and that before obtaining the rectory of Great Bolas be had been chaplain in a gentleman's family and assistant to an aged minister. He received presbyterian ordination. The date at which he began his ministry at Great Bolas was before 1654. ^[1]

Ministry

In the parish records he signs himself 'minister and register' till 1661, when, as a consequence of the act of confirming possession of benefices, he signs 'rector.' His entries show that he was somewhat given to astrology. Ejected in 1662, Bury, who remained at Great Bolas in a house he had built, was subjected to great privations. On 2 June 1680, Philip Henry gives him 4 ₤ from a sum left at his disposal by William Probyn of Wem. Henry's 22 July 1681 diary entry has an account of the distraint of Bury's goods (he is here called Berry) for taking part at a private fast on 14 June. After this he was a good deal hunted about from place to place. In later life his circumstances were improved by bequests. He would also become blind some years before his death. He died on 5 May 1700, from a mortification in one foot.^[1]

Family

By his wife Mary, he had at least five children:

• Edward, b. 1654;
• Margarit (sic), b. 12 Feb. 1655;
• John, b. 14 March 1657;
• Mary, b. 13 Aug. 1660;
• Samuel.^[1]

Works

• 'The Soul's Looking-glass, or a Spiritual Touchstone,' &c., 1660.
• 'A Short Catechism, containing the Fundamental Points of Religion,' 1660.
• 'Relative Duties.'
• 'Death Improv'd, and Immoderate Sorrow for Deceased Friends and Relatives Reprov'd,' 1675; 2nd edit. 1693.
• 'The Husbandman's Companion, containing an 100 occasional meditations, &c., suited to men of that employment,' 1677.
• 'England's Bane, or the Deadly Danger of Drunkenness.'
• 'A Sovereign Antidote against the Fear of Death,' 1681, 8vo (in Dr. Williams's library).
• 'An Help to Holy Walking, or a Guide to Glory,' 1705.^[1]

References

1. Gordon 1886.

Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Gordon, Alexander (1886). "Bury, Edward (1616–1700)". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography 8. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 23–24. ; Endnotes:

• Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy, 1714, pt. ii. pp. 310, 368
• Calamy's Account, 1713, p. 557 seq.
• Continuation, 1727, p. 723 seq.
• Lee's Diaries and Letters of P. Henry, 1882, pp. 289, 301
• Extracts from the Registers of Bolas Magna by Rev. R. S. Turner