Lilburne

JOHN LILBURNE (c1614 - 1657)

Colonel John Lilburne, known as 'Freeborn John' and 'Lilburne the Leveller', was the author of many pamphlets championing the common man. He is often said to have been born in Greenwich, but the likelihood is that it was Sunderland in 1615. At all events, the Lilburne family were of County Durham origin and had a town house at 83 High Street East which stood till 1819. The family were regarded as being chief magistrates of the district and Lords Paramount of the Borough and Port of Sunderland. In Innocency and Truth Justified, published in 1645, Lilburne says:

I was brought up well-nigh ten years together in the best schools in the north - namely at Auckland and Newcastle - in both which places I was not one of the dronesset (sic) boys there... at Newcastle I did not only know but was known of the principal men there.

Lilburne must have left the Grammar School around 1630 to start on a trading career in London. He was brought before the Star Chamber in 1638 for printing an unlicensed book, whipped and put in prison. In The Work of the Beast, he writes of the barbarous treatment he endured. He joined the parliamentary forces in 1642 and rose to the rank of lieutenant- colonel. In 1645, however, he refused to take the covenant, left the army and began to voice his mistrust of its leaders, earning a spell in the Tower in 1648, before being tried and acquitted. He was also exiled for two years, but on his return courageously continued to accuse Oliver Cromwell's government of being far too aristocratic.

A pair of boots supposed to have belonged to Lilburne is on display at Sunderland Museum.

Myers Literary Guide:	The North-East
JOHN LILBURNE (c1614 - 1657) Colonel John Lilburne, known as 'Freeborn John' and 'Lilburne the Leveller', was the author of many pamphlets championing the common man. He is often said to have been born in Greenwich, but the likelihood is that it was Sunderland in 1615. At all events, the Lilburne family were of County Durham origin and had a town house at 83 High Street East which stood till 1819. The family were regarded as being chief magistrates of the district and Lords Paramount of the Borough and Port of Sunderland. In Innocency and Truth Justified, published in 1645, Lilburne says: I was brought up well-nigh ten years together in the best schools in the north - namely at Auckland and Newcastle - in both which places I was not one of the dronesset (sic) boys there... at Newcastle I did not only know but was known of the principal men there. Lilburne must have left the Grammar School around 1630 to start on a trading career in London. He was brought before the Star Chamber in 1638 for printing an unlicensed book, whipped and put in prison. In The Work of the Beast, he writes of the barbarous treatment he endured. He joined the parliamentary forces in 1642 and rose to the rank of lieutenant- colonel. In 1645, however, he refused to take the covenant, left the army and began to voice his mistrust of its leaders, earning a spell in the Tower in 1648, before being tried and acquitted. He was also exiled for two years, but on his return courageously continued to accuse Oliver Cromwell's government of being far too aristocratic. A pair of boots supposed to have belonged to Lilburne is on display at Sunderland Museum.
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