Editing Robert Burton (section)

===Offices at St Thomas's, Walesby, and Seagrave===
[[File:South porch date stone at St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford.jpg|thumb|Burton's arms above the [[gable]] of the south [[porch]], at [[St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford|St Thomas the Martyr's Church]], Oxford.]]
Burton initially struggled to find any patrons for promotion out of the university,{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} but after some time, he managed to obtain an ecclesiastical office in the [[benefice|living]] of [[St Thomas the Martyr's Church, Oxford]], located in the western suburb of Oxford. He was nominated to this by the [[wikt:dean and chapter|dean and chapter]] of Christ Church on 29 November 1616.{{sfn|VCH, City of Oxford, "Churches"|1974|loc=[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp369-412#p254 par. 254]}}{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} He was licensed to preach on 3 December 1618.{{sfn|CCEd, Robert Burton}}{{sfn|Nochimson|1974|p=92}} Burton held this vicarage at St Thomas's, until his death; he was responsible for the building or rebuilding of the church's south porch in 1621, where his arms were placed on the gable.{{sfn|VCH, City of Oxford, "Churches"|1974|loc=[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol4/pp369-412#p254 par. 254]}}

In 1624, Lady [[Frances Cecil, Countess of Exeter (died 1663)|Frances Cecil, dowager Countess of Exeter]] presented Burton to the [[Lincolnshire]] benefice of [[Walesby, Lincolnshire|Walesby]]. Burton was perhaps the tutor of Frances' son, Robert Smith.{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} Burton chose not to reside in Walesby, though he probably visited it at some point. He took little interest in the daily affairs of the parish—all the parish records were signed by his curate, Thomas Benson—but did win for it nine acres of land which had been taken by Frances's predecessor.{{sfn|O'Connell|1986|p=21}} Burton resigned from this post in 1631.{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} In the 1632 edition of the ''Anatomy'', appended below a mention of his Walesby appointment, Burton tersely added: "Lately resigned for some special reasons".{{sfn|O'Connell|1986|p=21}}{{sfn|Nochimson|1974|p=93}} After his resignation, Lady Frances temporarily turned over the duty to appoint Burton's successor to her friend, the [[Lionel Cranfield, 1st Earl of Middlesex|first Earl of Middlesex]], suggesting that Burton resigned over Middlesex's pressure to appoint his own favourite.{{sfn|Nochimson|1974|p=93}}

In 1632, shortly after this resignation from Walesby, Burton was presented to a much more valuable office by his patron, [[John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton|Lord Berkeley]]: the [[rector (ecclesiastical)|rectorship]] of [[Seagrave]].{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} Berkeley had been a patron of Burton since at least 1621, when Burton dedicated the ''Anatomy'' to Lord Berkeley. Their relationship may have begun even earlier, in 1619, when Berkeley matriculated from Christ Church, and perhaps entered the tutelage of Burton.{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}}{{sfn|O'Connell|1986|p=10}} In any case, on 3 September 1624, Lord Berkeley granted Burton the advowson (i.e. the right to decide the next occupant) of the wealthy living of Seagrave. This right necessitated that the holder of the advowson pick a candidate other than himself, but three days later Burton assigned three of his family members to this position, so he could procure his own future appointment. On 15 June 1632, promptly after the previous incumbent was buried, the relatives presented him to the office.{{sfn|Holtgen|1976|pp=130–131}}{{sfn|O'Connell|1986|pp=21–22}} Burton did not cultivate much of a reputation as a preacher while at Seagrave, choosing not to publish any of his sermons, but discharged the pastoral and charitable roles of the rectory dutifully and punctually.{{sfn|O'Connell|1986|p=24}} Burton probably visited Lindley often while at Seagrave, as the villages were only 20 miles apart.{{sfn|Bamborough|2009}} The office was the most valuable Burton ever held; in 1650, the rectory was valued at £100.{{efn|Adjusting for inflation, {{Inflation|UK|100|1650|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}.{{inflation-fn|UK|name-list-style=amp}}}}{{sfn|Holtgen|1976|p=133}}