These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Evidence
Margery Gurney (indexed "Gurnye"), widow, of East Dereham proved a will in 1602-03 in the Archdeaconry of Norfolk, the humble-estates court - register Liber 35 (Offwood), fo. 191. Her widowhood places a Gurney husband dead in the parish before 1602, years before Francis Gurney's documented residence began. Index-level: the register film is affiliate-restricted, so the will text (which could name her husband and children) is unread.
Date: will proved 1602-03 (Archdeaconry of Norfolk)
Why this conclusion
- Supports Finding A Gurney copyhold household existed at East Dereham before Francis Gurney's residence years: the widow Margery Gurney, whose will was proved in the archdeaconry court in 1602-03 and whose former Ellingfield tenancy the manor courts still recited in 1627 and 1636. An established Gurney presence in John's birth parish therefore predates his c. 1609/10 baptism by a generation, though by his boyhood it survived only as a parcel memory.The 1602-03 archdeaconry will of the East Dereham widow is the probate half of the pre-Francis household evidence.
Sources
- Norfolk, England, Indexes to Wills, Probate, Administrations and Marriage Licence Bonds, 1371-1858; and UK, Extracted Probate Records, 1269-1975. Ancestry indexed collections. Authenticated session, June 2026., collection 62679, record 257086; ANF will register Liber 35 (Offwood), fo. 191; FamilySearch film 008045772 (affiliate-restricted)
Gurnye, Margery, of East Dereham, widow - will, 1602-03
Topic file location: Identity — Candidate B: Norfolk parentage
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000206 - Graph revision:
381 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000206.json
This is one research item from the John Gurney research graph; the fuller narrative treatment is in the linked topic above and the research library.