John Burgoyne was born in Sutton, Bedfordshire, location of the Burgoyne baronets family home Sutton Manor, on 24 February 1722. His mother, Anna Maria Burgoyne, was the daughter of a wealthy Hackney merchant. His father was supposedly an army officer, Captain John Burgoyne, although there were rumours that he might be the illegitimate son of Lord Bingley, who was his godfather. When Bingley died in 1731, his will specified that Burgoyne was to inherit his estate if his daughters had no male issue.