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

Sir Matthew de Gournay (fl. c. 1180–1220)

Ancestor fact sheet for G29 in the direct Gurney line. Knight; acquired Harpley manor through a marriage arranged by Hameline Plantagenet, Earl Warren. Published April 2026.

Born
c. 1180, Norfolk. Son of William de Gournay I (G30). 1
Died
c. 1220 or later. Attested living 1206 (Norfolk fines). 2
Occupation / Status
Knight ("Sir Matthew de Gournay, Knt."). Lord of Runhall, Swathings in Hardingham, and — through marriage — Gurney's manor in Harpley, Norfolk. Held under the senior Lords of Gournay. 3
Buried
Unknown. No record. 2
Marriage(s)
Rose de Burnham — daughter and heir of Reginald Fitz-Philip / de Burnham; given in marriage to Matthew by her kinsman Hameline Plantagenet, Earl Warren, c. 1183. The Burnhams were said to be a younger branch of the house of Warren. Through Rose, Matthew acquired Gurney's manor in Harpley and other estates. Rose's last documented appearance: Norfolk fines of 27 Henry III (c. 1243). 4

Highlights

  • Harpley enters the family through a royal marriage-gift. Hameline Plantagenet, Earl Warren — an illegitimate half-brother of Henry II of England — personally arranged Matthew's marriage to Rose de Burnham c. 1183, bringing the Harpley manor into the Gournay family. It would remain the family's primary Norfolk seat for nearly 200 years. The act of a senior magnate arranging a marriage for a minor tenant was a routine piece of feudal patronage, but for the Gournay family it was transformative. 5
  • Connected (again) to the Warren family. Rose de Burnham was given in marriage by Hameline Earl Warren precisely because the Burnhams were "said to be a younger branch of the house of Warren." This means Matthew's wife was a kinswoman of Edith de Warenne — his own ancestress, five generations back. The Gournay family's Warren connection, first established when Gerard de Gournay (G32) married Edith de Warenne c. 1090, was effectively renewed. 6
  • Charitable acts documented in primary sources. Matthew gave the tithes of Hardingham to the church there — recorded in Harl. MSS. 970 (British Library Harleian manuscripts). This is an independent primary-source document, separate from the DG narrative, confirming Matthew's landholding and his name. 7
  • Living 1206 — survived to see the loss of Normandy. Matthew was active in the period when King John lost Normandy to Philip Augustus (1204). The Montigny-sur-Andelle Norman holding that his grandfather William I had held in parage presumably passed out of the family's hands at this point, as most Anglo-Norman lords who remained in England forfeited their Norman estates. 8

Children

Name Dates Mother Notes
William de Gournay II fl. c. 1210–1250; living 1234 and 1243 Rose de Burnham G28 in direct line. Lord of Harpley; by wife Katherine, father of Sir John de Gournay I. 9
Matilda fl. c. 1210s–1240s Rose de Burnham Named in DG pedigree. Further details unknown. COLLATERAL. 10
Katherine Norfolk fines, 27 Hen. III (c. 1243) Rose de Burnham Named in Norfolk fines. Further details unknown. COLLATERAL. 10
Thomas fl. c. 1210s Rose de Burnham Named in a Norfolk fine (DG pedigree). Further details unknown. COLLATERAL. 10
Matthew de Gournay (younger) Held lands in Dunston 1251 (Norfolk fine, 41 Hen. III) Rose de Burnham Held lands in Dunston, Norfolk, 1251. Married Hawise. COLLATERAL. 10

Narrative

Sir Matthew de Gournay is the ancestor who turned the junior Norfolk branch from a minor knightly family with modest manors into the settled gentry of Harpley — a position they would hold for nearly two centuries. The engine of that transformation was a single marriage arranged by one of the most powerful men in England.

Hameline Plantagenet, illegitimate half-brother of Henry II, had inherited the earldom of Surrey through his marriage to the de Warenne heiress. He was one of the great magnates of the realm, a man whose good will opened doors and whose displeasure closed them. Around 1183, he gave in marriage to Matthew de Gournay his kinswoman Rose, daughter and heir of Reginald de Burnham — described as a younger branch of the Warren house. With Rose came her inheritance: Gurney’s manor in Harpley, and other estates. Matthew and Rose also held the manor of Swathings in Hardingham, and Matthew gave the tithes of that parish’s church to the church itself — an act recorded in the Harleian Manuscripts at the British Library, giving us an independent primary-source confirmation of his name and his Hardingham holding.

Matthew’s children were numerous and all survive in the documentary record to some degree. His son William II (G28) became Lord of Harpley in the next generation. A second Matthew held lands in Dunston. Katherine and Matilda appear in Norfolk fines. Thomas appears in another fine. The picture is of a productive minor gentry family, well integrated into the administrative records of late 12th- and early 13th-century Norfolk.

Matthew lived to see King John lose Normandy to Philip Augustus in 1204 — the event that severed the Gournay family’s remaining Norman tie (the Montigny-sur-Andelle parage tenure his grandfather William I had held). After 1204, the junior Norfolk branch was an English family in every practical sense, their Norman heritage preserved only in their name.

Citations

  1. DG-I, p. 278: "The son of William was Matthew de Gournay, as appears by a plea between the said Matthew and Gilbert de Runhall, given in Appendix LIII." Pedigree p. 286: "Sir MATTHEW DE GOURNAY, Knight, Lord of Runhall and Swathings, in Hardingham, held under the Lords of Gournay, also in right of his wife of Harpley Gournays; living 1206." ↩
  2. Living 1206: DG-I pedigree p. 286. Norfolk fines of 27 Hen. III (c. 1243) name his daughter Katherine, suggesting Matthew was by then deceased or elderly. ↩
  3. DG-I, p. 286: "Sir MATTHEW DE GOURNAY, Knight." Estates as above. ↩
  4. DG-I, pp. 278–279 and pedigree p. 286: "ROSE, dau. and heir of Reginald Fitz-Philip, or de Burnham, given in marriage by her kinsman Earl Warren, about 1183." The Norman Pipe Roll of 1184 references Rose in connection with her family. DG-I, p. 310: charter from Philip de Burnham and his son William (Harl. MSS. 970). Rose living 1206 (Norfolk fines). Katherine named in Norfolk fines of 27 Hen. III. ↩
  5. DG-I, pp. 278–279: "To this Matthew de Gournay Hameline Earl Warren gave in marriage Rose, daughter and heir of Reginald de Burnham, his kinsman, about the year 1183 ... by this marriage Matthew de Gournay acquired Gurney's manor in Harpley and other estates." Hameline Plantagenet, Earl Warren (c. 1130–1202): illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou (father of Henry II); married Isabella de Warenne 1164. ↩
  6. DG-I, p. 278: "The family of de Burnham were said to be a younger branch of the house of Warren." The original Gerard-Edith de Warenne marriage c. 1090: DG-I, p. 27. ↩
  7. DG-I, p. 279: "He gave the tithes of Hardingham to the church there, as appears by Harl. MSS. 970." British Library Harleian Manuscripts 970 (Vitis Calthorpiana). ↩
  8. Loss of Normandy 1204: DG-I, Introduction, p. ii. Matthew living 1206 per pedigree p. 286. ↩
  9. DG-I pedigree p. 286: "Sir WILLIAM DE GOURNAY, Knt. II. Lord of Harpley, &c.; liv. 1234 & 1243." ↩
  10. DG-I pedigree p. 286: Matilda, Katherine (Norfolk fines 27 Hen. III), Thomas (Norfolk fine), Matthew the younger (Dunston 1251, Norfolk fine 41 Hen. III, married Hawise). ↩

Research Appendix

Lineage Status

Confirmed. Matthew is established by: (1) the plea with Gilbert de Runhall (DG Appendix LIII) identifying him as William I’s son; (2) the Harl. MSS. 970 Hardingham tithing document naming him; (3) multiple Norfolk fines naming him, his wife, and his children; (4) the Norman Pipe Roll of 1184 referencing the Burnham family (Rose’s family).

Sources Consulted

  • DG-I, pp. 278–279 and pedigree p. 286.
  • DG-II (Part II), p. 310: charters of Philip de Burnham family.
  • Harl. MSS. 970 (Vitis Calthorpiana) — cited by DG; not independently reviewed.
  • Norman Pipe Roll, 1184 — cited by DG pedigree; not independently reviewed.
  • Blomefield, History of Norfolk, cited in DG (Harpley section).
  • Ancestors_v3.json; Gurney_Research_KnowledgeBase_1.md.

Negative Results

  • Rose de Burnham’s exact date of death unrecorded; last appearance in Norfolk fines of 27 Hen. III (c. 1243) — if this names Rose directly rather than their daughter Katherine, she would have been extraordinarily long-lived; more likely Katherine is named.
  • No burial site for Matthew.

Open Questions

  1. Harl. MSS. 970 (British Library) — the Vitis Calthorpiana is a manuscript collection relating to Norfolk families. The Hardingham tithing deed and the charters relating to the Burnham family within this collection could potentially be digitised or requested through BL online services. This would provide direct primary source transcription.
  2. The DG Appendix LIII plea (Matthew vs. Gilbert de Runhall): can this be located in the project PDFs? It is the document establishing Matthew as son of William I.
  3. Hameline Earl Warren’s motivation for arranging this marriage: was it simply good lordship toward a minor tenant, or was there a specific relationship between the Gournay junior branch and the Warren earldom that made this match particularly appropriate?

Hero Image Note

St. Lawrence Church, Harpley is the ideal hero image for Matthew and the next several generations — it is the church of the manor they acquired through this marriage and held for ~180 years. A clear Geograph photograph exists (CC BY-SA licensed). The image should be captioned to note that the current structure largely postdates Matthew (the Harpley church has significant 14th-century fabric) but stands on the site.