These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.
Evidence
The East Dereham manor courts of 3 April 1627 (folio 25) and 10 October 1636 (folio 132) each recite copyhold land at Ellingfield in East Dereham as formerly of Margery/Margaret Gurney, widow ("terram nuper Margerie Gurney vidue"; "terram quondam Margarete Gurney vidue") - boundary clauses read at full resolution, showing a Gurney copyhold tenancy in the parish that was already a past reference by 1627.
Date: courts of 3 April 1627 and 10 October 1636
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 1627/1636 Ellingfield abuttals independently document the widow's former copyhold at manor-court level.
Sources
- East Dereham (the Queen's manor, East Dereham with members; NRO DC 12/5), manorial court books 1623-1852 with index 1623-1820; originals at the Norfolk Record Office. FamilySearch films: DGS 004389483 ('Dereham, Norfolk. Court Records 1623-1689,' bundled with Deopham and Denver material) and DGS 004389277 ('Court Records 1689-1820,' with the manor index at item 8)., DGS 004389483: fo. 25, court of 3 Apr 1627 (ark 3:1:S3HY-D1S9-CYG); fo. 132, court of 10 Oct 1636 (ark 3:1:S3HY-D1S9-7DQ)
terr[am] nup[er] Margerie Gurney vid[ue] ... terr[am] quond[am] Margarete Gurney vid[ue] (at Ellingfield in East Dereham)
Topic file location: Identity — Candidate B: Norfolk parentage
Technical details
- Research item:
G13-RI-000207 - Graph revision:
381 - Machine-readable JSON:
/assets/g13-graph/findings/G13-RI-000207.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.