Researching John Peyton

He entered Parliament in 1572 as MP for King's Lynn and was re-elected to the same seat in 1584 and 1593. He was knighted in 1586 and served under Robert Dudley. He was Lieutenant-Governor of Bergen op Zoom from 1586 to 1587 and was a colonel "in the forces for the defence of the queen's person against the threatened attack of the Spanish Armada" in 1588. He was Sheriff of Norfolk for 1588. He served as a deputy lieutenant of Cambridgeshire under Roger North in 1596 and MP for Middlesex in 1597. He was appointed lieutenant of the Tower of London from 1597 to 1603, during which time he gave kind attention to Sir Walter Raleigh when he was imprisoned. He sat in Parliament for the last time in 1601 as member for Weymouth. He later served as Governor of Jersey from 1603 to 1630; a post that was formerly held by Raleigh.

On 8 June 1578, Peyton married Dorothy Bell (died 1603), the widow of Sir Robert Bell (died 1577), co-heiress of Edward Beaupré of Beaupré Hall, Outwell, Norfolk, and his second wife, Catherine Beddingfield. Peyton gained a position in the county of Norfolk from his wife's property and the responsibilities of raising Bell's eight children, together with his only son, Sir John Peyton (1579–1635).

He was born in Christchurch, Dorset and came to Newfoundland in 1770. He lived in Fogo, where he was employed in cod fishing, until around 1775. He later spent his summers at Exploits and then his winters at Lower Sandy Point on the Bay of Exploits. He fished for salmon and was involved in the fur trade; he also owned his own schooner. In 1788, Peyton married Ann Galton. His wife and children remained at Dorset in England until 1812. Both his wife and daughter died that year and Peyton subsequently brought his son John to Newfoundland to join him as a partner in business. In 1819, he took part in an expedition led by his son John Peyton Jr., which ended with the capture of a Beothuk woman named Demasduwit and the killing of her husband Nonosbawsut, who was attempting to negotiate her release. The last known living Beothuk, Shawnadithit, spent five years as a servant in the Peyton household. Peyton Jr was tried for the killing of Nonosbawsut and was found not guilty by the jury, with the judge concluding that "... (there was) no malice on the part of Peyton's party to get possession of any of (the Indians) by such violence as would occasion bloodshed."

Peyton Sr. was accused of violence against the Beothuks in retaliation for the theft of supplies from his fishing stations; John Bland, the magistrate at Bonavista, recommended that he be expelled from the Bay of Exploits.

Peyton died in the Bay of Exploits in 1829.

His grandson, Thomas Peyton, later served in the Newfoundland assembly.