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

John de Gournay IV (fl. c. 1330–1370)

Ancestor fact sheet for G24 in the direct Gurney line. Lord of Harpley 1354; father of Edmund Gurney, steward of John of Gaunt. Published April 2026.

Born
c. 1330, Norfolk. Son of John de Gournay III (G25) and Jane de Lexham. First attested in a deed of his great-uncle John (Rector of Harpley), 1331 — while still a young child or infant. 1
Died
c. 1370 or later. Active as lord of Harpley in 1354 (28 Edw. III). Son Edmund Gurney (G23) died 1387. 2
Occupation / Status
Lord of Harpley and Hardingham, Norfolk. Held manorial court at Harpley 1354. 3
Buried
Unknown. No record. 2
Marriage(s)
Unknown. No wife named in DG or any other source consulted. By an unnamed wife, father of Edmund Gurney (d. 1387) and at least two further children per the pedigree. 4

Highlights

  • His court roll survives — one of the earliest personal records for this generation. Daniel Gurney cites a manorial court record: John IV "kept his first court at Harpley on Friday the vigil of St. Laurence, 28th Edward III (1354)." The feast of St. Laurence is 10 August; the vigil would have been 9 August 1354. This is not merely an attestation that John IV existed — it is a specific day in his life, the first occasion on which he exercised the judicial authority of a lord over his tenants. 5
  • He is the last Harpley lord before the family's great transition. John IV is the final generation of the junior Gournay branch to be seated primarily at Harpley. His son Edmund (G23) married Katherine de Wauncy, heiress of West Barsham, thereby bringing that manor into the family — and from Edmund's generation onward the Gurneys are primarily described as the "Gurneys of West Barsham." Harpley remained in the portfolio but ceased to be the primary seat. 6
  • He also — possibly — presented to the church of Harpley in 1332. DG-II p. 355 notes that in 1332 "either he or his father presented to the church of Harpley; but more probably this John de Gurney [IV], as he is called John de Gurney junior" in the deed. If so, John IV exercised advowson as a very young man (a child, effectively) immediately upon his grandfather's death — suggesting the 1332 presentation was made formally in his name even if his father managed the actual process. 7

Children

Name Dates Mother Notes
Edmund Gurney d. 1387 Unknown G23 in direct line. Lawyer of eminence; steward of John of Gaunt's East Anglian estates. Married Katherine de Wauncy, heiress of West Barsham, Norfolk. History of Parliament entry. 8

Narrative

John de Gournay IV is one of those ancestors who can be described with confidence but only briefly: the sources give us his parentage, his seat, a specific date in his life, and his son — and little else. He appears first, as a very young child, in a deed of his great-uncle John the Rector in 1331, and he appears again in 1332 (possibly) as the presenter to the Harpley church living. His main documentary moment is the court roll of 9 August 1354, when he sat in judgment at Harpley as lord of the manor for the first time — a record that survives in the Additional Manuscripts of the British Library.

He lived through the mid-14th century’s most violent disruptions. Born around the time of the early Hundred Years’ War campaigns (Crécy was fought in 1346), he would have been approximately eighteen at the worst year of the Black Death in England (1348–49), which killed something between a third and a half of the country’s population. No record of his personal experience of the plague survives.

What John IV’s tenure did accomplish — in the most important sense — was to raise and launch his son Edmund into the legal career that would make the family’s next great transformation possible. Edmund became a lawyer of sufficient eminence to be retained as steward of John of Gaunt’s East Anglian estates and as counsel to the cities of Norwich and Bishop’s Lynn (King’s Lynn) — men of that calibre did not spring from nowhere, and the stable, respectable gentry household John IV maintained at Harpley provided the platform for Edmund’s advancement.

And Edmund married Katherine de Wauncy, heiress of West Barsham — the alliance that brought a new manor, a new fortune, and a new geographic identity to the family. From John IV’s death until Francis Gurney’s departure for London more than a century later, the Gurneys would be the Gurneys of West Barsham.

Citations

  1. DG-I pedigree p. 286: "JOHN GURNAY, Junior, IV. mentioned in a deed of his uncle's [great-uncle's], 1331." DG-II p. 356: "Son and heir of John de Gurney and Joan his wife, occurs in the deed of John, rector and patron of Harpley, 6th Edward III (1331)." ↩
  2. Active 1354 (28 Edw. III). Son Edmund's death: 1387 (DG-I p. 279; History of Parliament Online). ↩
  3. DG-II, p. 356: lord of Harpley, holding court there 1354. ↩
  4. No wife named in DG or any other source consulted. ↩
  5. DG-II, p. 356: "It was this John de Gurney who was Lord of Harpley, and held his court there on Friday the vigil of St. Laurence, 28th Edward III (1354)." Footnote cites: "Addit. MSS. Mus. Brit. No. 8,841, fol. 112, in Harpley." The feast of St. Laurence (10 August) means the vigil was 9 August 1354. ↩
  6. DG-I, p. 279: "Edmund Gurney, grandson of John [i.e., son of John IV], inherited all his manors, and was a lawyer of eminence … He married the heiress of the ancient family of the Wauncys, of West Barsham, in Norfolk … From this period this family of the Gurneys were principally seated at West Barsham." ↩
  7. DG-II, p. 355: "In 1332, either he or his father presented to the church of Harpley; but more probably this John de Gurney, as he is called John de Gurney junior." Blomefield, *History of Norfolk*, vol. viii, p. 455 cited in footnote. ↩
  8. DG-I, p. 279; DG-II, pp. 357–358 (Edmund Gurney chapter). History of Parliament Online: Edmund Gurney, d. 1387. ↩

Research Appendix

Lineage Status

Confirmed. John IV is attested in the 1331 deed (BL Add. MSS. 8841 via DG-II) and in the 1354 court roll (same manuscript collection). The father-son relationship to Edmund (G23) is explicitly stated in DG-I p. 279 and DG-II pp. 357–358.

DG Pedigree Numbering vs. Project JSON

DG refers to this man as “John de Gournay IV” in the pedigree (p. 286) and “John de Gurney IV” or “this John de Gurney” in Part II p. 356. The project JSON assigns him G24 in the overall generational count. These are parallel numbering systems — DG’s “IV” refers to his position in the sequence of Johns in the junior Norfolk branch, while G24 is his position in the complete lineage from Allen to Eudes. No conflict.

DG Part II p. 356 also says John IV “kept his first court” in 1354 — this implies he had only recently become lord at that date, consistent with his father John III being alive in 1353 (27 Edw. III).

Sources Consulted

  • DG-I, p. 279 and pedigree p. 286.
  • DG-II, pp. 355–357.
  • British Library Additional Manuscripts 8841 (cited by DG; not independently reviewed).
  • Blomefield, History of Norfolk, vol. viii, p. 455 (cited via DG footnote).
  • Ancestors_v3.json; Gurney_Research_KnowledgeBase_1.md.

Negative Results

  • No wife named in any source.
  • No death date recorded.
  • No personal participation in 14th-century wars or public events documented.

Open Questions

  1. BL Add. MSS. 8841, fol. 112 — this is a specific, citable archive reference. This manuscript could be requested through the British Library reading room or checked against the online catalogue (Explore the British Library). It may contain additional Harpley manorial records beyond the 1354 court entry that DG cited.
  2. The 1332 advowson presentation: Blomefield, vol. viii, p. 455 is cited for this. Was it John III or John IV who presented? The Blomefield text itself (available on British History Online) could be consulted to resolve this.
  3. Edmund Gurney (G23): the History of Parliament Online entry for Edmund is the richest available source for the next generation. That entry should be read and cross-referenced with DG-II before the G23 fact sheet is drafted.