Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 2 April 2026 by Allen Gurney WIP / Draft

Francis Gurney (1581–1646/7)

Ancestor fact sheet for G14 in the direct Gurney line. Merchant Taylor of London and probable father of John Gurney-1 of Massachusetts. Published 2 April 2026.

Born
13 September 1581, West Barsham Hall, Norfolk, England. Twin with Anthony; sixth son of Henry de Gournay and Ellen Blennerhassett. 1
Died
9 January 1646/7, London, England. Buried at St Botolph Bishopsgate; Boyd's index misread the year as 1641, corrected March 2026. 2
Occupation / Education / Religion
Merchant Taylor. Admitted to the freedom of the Merchant Taylors' Company on 16 June 1606; later acted as a financial agent, described as “a sort of agent, or banker,” for the Lestrange family of Hunstanton Hall from 1612 to 1636. Apprenticed to Henry Tryme and assigned to William Smooth. Church of England, with documented Puritan family connections. 4
Buried
9 January 1646/7, St Botolph Bishopsgate, London. 3
Marriage(s)
Margaret Rybett — married 23 September 1611 at St Martin at Palace, Norwich, Norfolk. Norfolk/Suffolk gentry; the Rybett/Ryvett family of Fritton, Rishangles, and Stowmarket. Mirabella Ryvett married Sir John Heydon of Baconsthorpe, connecting the family to the Gurneys. Margaret probably died c. 1616–1617; her burial has not yet been located. 5
Anne Browning — married c. late 1617, probably at Norwich though the record has not yet been located. Daughter of William Browning, merchant of Norwich and later Maldon, Essex. 6

Highlights

  • First marriage identified in the original register in March 2026. The marriage of Francis Gurney and Margaret Rybett at St Martin at Palace, Norwich, on 23 September 1611 closes the long unexplained gap between Francis's freedom in 1606 and his first London child in 1619. 7
  • Probable father of John Gurney-1 of Massachusetts. The East Dereham baptism long indexed as “John son of Nicholas Gorne” now appears, after structured paleographic review, to favor a reading of Francis Gurnie. If upheld professionally, it would connect the Massachusetts emigrant to the Norfolk gentry line. 8
  • Financial collapse likely shaped the family's future. Francis liquidated all Norfolk and Suffolk lands in 1634. That sale, together with the failed King's Lynn enterprise, helps explain why an older son such as John would have seen little inheritance ahead in England. 9
  • Positioned inside strong Puritan-era networks. His Broad Street Ward parish sat beside Coleman Street Ward, one of the strongest Puritan zones in London, while his brother Edmund was an openly militant Puritan clergyman. 10

Children

Name Dates Mother Notes
John Gurneyc. 1609/10Margaret RybettProbable — Entry E, East Dereham register; probable G13 in direct line. 11
Edward Gurneyc. 1611/12Margaret RybettBaptized East Dereham (Entry A). 12
Ann Gurneyc. 1612–16? (probable)Margaret RybettProbable daughter. Married John Gilman at Hingham, Norfolk, 1 October 1626. 13
Agnes Gurneyc. 1614Margaret RybettBaptized East Dereham (Entry C). 14
Marye Gurney (first)c. 1614–15Margaret RybettEntry B, East Dereham. May have died young; name reused in 1618. 15
Marye Gurney (second)25 May 1618Anne BrowningBaptized East Dereham (Entry D); probably first child with Anne. 16
Dorothy Gurney2 March 1619Anne BrowningFirst London child, baptized St Benet Fink. 17
Roger Gurney27 December 1621Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. Listed as eldest son in the 1633 visitation. 18
Anne Gurneyc. 1624Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. Died in infancy and was buried in 1625. 19
Francis Gurney13 December 1625Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink; probably died young. 20
Anne Gurney (second)14 September 1628Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. 21
Margaret Gurney10 September 1630Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. 22
Deborah Gurney21 August 1632Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. 23
Elizabeth Gurney10 February 1634/5Anne BrowningBaptized St Benet Fink. 24
Mary Gurney19 December 1637Anne BrowningYoungest currently identified child baptized St Benet Fink. 25

Narrative

Francis Gurney was born into the Norfolk gentry but made his career in trade rather than landholding. As a younger son of Henry de Gournay of West Barsham and Great Ellingham, he followed the standard path of apprenticeship and London company membership, entering the Merchant Taylors’ Company and building a commercial life tied to both Norwich and the City of London. Daniel Gurney’s nineteenth-century family history, reinforced by company and parish records, places him in the world of merchant capital, regional agency work, and urban parish networks rather than on a surviving landed estate.

His adult life helps explain how a cadet branch of an old Norfolk family could produce descendants who later crossed the Atlantic. Francis married first Margaret Rybett in 1611, linking himself to established Norfolk and Suffolk gentry. The East Dereham baptisms then place the family back in Norfolk through the 1610s before the London baptisms at St Benet Fink begin in 1619. By the 1620s and 1630s, Francis appears to have been financially strained: a failed King’s Lynn textile venture, continuing debts, and the 1634 sale of all his Norfolk and Suffolk lands suggest that the family’s prospects had narrowed sharply.

That contraction is central to the current argument about John Gurney-1 of Massachusetts. If the East Dereham baptism traditionally indexed as a son of Nicholas Gorne is instead a son of Francis Gurnie, then Francis becomes the strongest presently identified candidate for John’s father. In that reading, the likely future of an older son in a financially weakened merchant-gentry household helps make emigration to New England materially more understandable.

Citations

  1. Daniel Gurney, Genealogical History of the House of Gournay, vol. II (London, 1848), 524. ↩
  2. FreeREG, St Botolph Bishopsgate burial entry for Francis Gurney; Boyd's published index misread the year, corrected March 2026 by review of the register context. ↩
  3. St Botolph Bishopsgate parish burial entry, 9 January 1646/7. ↩
  4. Merchant Taylors' Company freedom admission, 16 June 1606; Daniel Gurney, vol. II, 524–526; Hunstanton Hall / Lestrange references summarized in Daniel Gurney. ↩
  5. Norfolk Record Office, St Martin at Palace, Norwich, marriage register, 23 September 1611, Francis Gurney and Margaret Rybett; supporting Rybett/Ryvett family context from Norfolk and Suffolk gentry sources. ↩
  6. Daniel Gurney, vol. II; Browning family identification from Norwich and Maldon records summarized in the Francis research file. ↩
  7. March 2026 East Dereham / Norwich register review establishing the St Martin at Palace marriage as the best-supported first marriage for Francis. ↩
  8. John Gurney Case File and East Dereham AI Procedure; paleographic review of the East Dereham baptism line traditionally indexed as Nicholas Gorne. ↩
  9. Daniel Gurney, vol. II; 1634 land-sale summary and failed King's Lynn textile venture references. ↩
  10. Broad Street Ward / Coleman Street Ward Puritan context and Edmund Gurney's Puritan ministry as summarized in the John Gurney Case File bibliography. ↩
  11. East Dereham register Entry E; John Gurney Case File section on the candidate baptism. ↩
  12. East Dereham register Entry A. ↩
  13. Hingham, Norfolk parish marriage entry for Ann Gurney and John Gilman, 1626. ↩
  14. East Dereham register Entry C. ↩
  15. East Dereham register Entry B. ↩
  16. East Dereham register Entry D. ↩
  17. St Benet Fink baptism register, 2 March 1619, Dorothy daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩
  18. St Benet Fink baptism register, 27 December 1621, Roger son of Francis Gurney; Heralds' Visitation of London, 1633. ↩
  19. St Benet Fink baptism and burial sequence for Anne Gurney. ↩
  20. St Benet Fink baptism register, 13 December 1625, Francis son of Francis Gurney. ↩
  21. St Benet Fink baptism register, 14 September 1628, Anne daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩
  22. St Benet Fink baptism register, 10 September 1630, Margaret daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩
  23. St Benet Fink baptism register, 21 August 1632, Deborah daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩
  24. St Benet Fink baptism register, 10 February 1634/5, Elizabeth daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩
  25. St Benet Fink baptism register, 19 December 1637, Mary daughter of Francis Gurney. ↩