# Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Wallington, Nehemiah

​WALLINGTON, NEHEMIAH (1598–1658), puritan, born on 12 May 1598, was the tenth child of John Wallington (d. 1641), a turner of St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, by his wife Elizabeth (d. 1603), daughter of Anthony Hall (d. 1597), a citizen and skinner of London.
A little before 1620 Nehemiah entered into business on his own account as a turner, and took a house in Little Eastcheap, between Pudding Lane and Fish-street Hill. In this abode he passed the remainder of an uneventful life. His puritan sympathies caused him occasional anxiety. In 1639 he and his brother John were summoned before the court of Star-chamber on the charge of possessing prohibited books. He acknowledged that he had possessed Prynne's 'Divine Tragedie,' Matthew White's 'Newes from Ipswich,' and Henry Burton's 'Apology of an Appeale,' but pleaded that he no longer owned them. For this misdemeanour he was kept under surveillance by the court for about two years, but suffered no further penalty.
Wallington has been preserved from oblivion by three singular compilations of contemporary events. In 1630 he commenced his 'Historical Notes and Meditations, 1583-1649,' a quarto manuscript volume, now in the British Museum (Addit. MS. 21935). It consists of classified extracts from contemporary journals and pamphlets, which he enlarged with hearsay knowledge and enriched with pious reflections. The work is chiefly occupied with political affairs. The latest event recorded is the execution of Charles I. In December 1630 he commenced a record of his private affairs, under the title 'Wallington's Journals,' in ' a quarto volume, preserved in the Guildhall Library. It was formerly in the possession of William Upcott [q. v.], who indexed its contents. In 1632 he commenced a third quarto, now in the British Museum (Sloane MS. 1157), in which be recorded numerous strange portents which had occurred in various ​parts of England, 'chiefly' taking 'notice of Gods iudgments upon Sabbath breakers and on Drunkards.' It contains many extracts from his 'Historical Notes.'
Wallington died in the summer or auturm of 1658. In 1619 or 1620 he was married to Grace, sister of Zachariah and Livewell Rampain. Zachariah, a man of good estate, was slain by the Irish in 1641. Livewell was minister at Burton, near Lincoln, and afterwards at Broxholme. By her Wallington had several children, of whom only a daughter, Sara, survived him. She was married to a puritan, named John Haughton, on 20 Nov. 1641.
Wallington's 'Historical Notes' were published in 1869 (London, 2 vols. 8vo) under the editorship of Miss R. Webb, with the title 'Historical Notices of Events occurring chiefly in the Reign of Charles I.'
E. I. C.
WALLINGTON, NEHEMIAH (1598–1658), puritan, born on 12 May 1598, was the tenth child of John Wallington (d. 1641), a turner of St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, by his wife Elizabeth (d. 1603), daughter of Anthony Hall (d. 1597), a citizen and skinner of London.
A little before 1620 Nehemiah entered into business on his own account as a turner, and took a house in Little Eastcheap, between Pudding Lane and Fish-street Hill. In this abode he passed the remainder of an uneventful life. His puritan sympathies caused him occasional anxiety. In 1639 he and his brother John were summoned before the court of Star-chamber on the charge of possessing prohibited books. He acknowledged that he had possessed Prynne's 'Divine Tragedie,' Matthew White's 'Newes from Ipswich,' and Henry Burton's 'Apology of an Appeale,' but pleaded that he no longer owned them. For this misdemeanour he was kept under surveillance by the court for about two years, but suffered no further penalty.
Wallington has been preserved from oblivion by three singular compilations of contemporary events. In 1630 he commenced his 'Historical Notes and Meditations, 1583-1649,' a quarto manuscript volume, now in the British Museum (Addit. MS. 21935). It consists of classified extracts from contemporary journals and pamphlets, which he enlarged with hearsay knowledge and enriched with pious reflections. The work is chiefly occupied with political affairs. The latest event recorded is the execution of Charles I. In December 1630 he commenced a record of his private affairs, under the title 'Wallington's Journals,' in ' a quarto volume, preserved in the Guildhall Library. It was formerly in the possession of William Upcott [q. v.], who indexed its contents. In 1632 he commenced a third quarto, now in the British Museum (Sloane MS. 1157), in which be recorded numerous strange portents which had occurred in various parts of England, 'chiefly' taking 'notice of Gods iudgments upon Sabbath breakers and on Drunkards.' It contains many extracts from his 'Historical Notes.'
Wallington died in the summer or auturm of 1658. In 1619 or 1620 he was married to Grace, sister of Zachariah and Livewell Rampain. Zachariah, a man of good estate, was slain by the Irish in 1641. Livewell was minister at Burton, near Lincoln, and afterwards at Broxholme. By her Wallington had several children, of whom only a daughter, Sara, survived him. She was married to a puritan, named John Haughton, on 20 Nov. 1641.
Wallington's 'Historical Notes' were published in 1869 (London, 2 vols. 8vo) under the editorship of Miss R. Webb, with the title 'Historical Notices of Events occurring chiefly in the Reign of Charles I.'
[Miss Webb's Introduction to Historical Notices.]
E. I. C.