Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 15 July 2026 by Allen Gurney

These research notes are provided as-is and contain supplementary working research.

Francis Gurney (G16) Notes

Research notes for g16-francis-gurney-fact-sheet.md. See .claude/rules/research-files.md for the paired-file rule.

Working Notes

Anthony G17’s will (Dec. 1557) does not name Francis — what that does and does not mean

Anthony Gurney’s newly transcribed will (made 6 December, proved 10 December 1557 — see the G17 companion and sources/corpus_supplement/ncc-will-1557-anthony-gurney-great-ellingham-transcription.md) names no living son — consistent with Francis having died vita patris, as Blomefield, the visitation, and Daniel Gurney all state. The death bound moves with the father’s: Francis died before December 1557 (previously expressed as “before 4 January 1555/6”; the earlier bound may still hold if the county-history tradition reflects a real event, but the will date is the secure terminus).

The will’s beneficiaries fit Francis’s family group well. It funds “the educating and bringing upp of Anthonye Gurney, Thomas Gurney, Elizabeth Gurney, ffrances Gurney, Anne Gurney and Anthonye Drurye my Grandchildren.” Setting aside Anthony Drury (a daughter’s son), the five Gurney grandchildren plus Henry (G15) — the heir at law, who took the descended third under the Statute of Wills and so needed no mention in the will — make six grandchildren, matching Pease’s six-children list for Francis. On that reading the will independently corroborates Francis’s family group, and the grandchild “ffrances” is Francis’s own child Francis (or Frances). The lineage Anthony → Francis → Henry remains supported by at least four independent witnesses (the branch arms, the 1563/1589/1613 visitation pedigree, Blomefield, Daniel Gurney’s Record, plus Pease); the will’s silence on Francis is the expected silence of a settlor whose son is dead and whose heir takes by descent, not evidence against the line. Reconciliation work — matching the five named grandchildren one-to-one against Pease’s list, and explaining the county histories’ 1555/6 death tradition — remains open.[1]

Visitation of Norfolk corroboration

The Heralds’ Visitations of Norfolk, 1563/1589/1613 (Harleian Society vol. 32, p. 141) record Francis in the West Barsham Gurney pedigree as son of Anthony Gurney (G17), husband of Ellen, daughter of … Holdich of Ranworth, and father of Henry of Great Ellingham (G15) — an additional heraldic witness to the parentage and Holdich marriage already attested by Blomefield and Daniel Gurney. The branch arms are blazoned “Argent, a cross engrailed gules, in dexter chief point a cinquefoil azure.”[2]

Research Appendix

Lineage Status

Confirmed by independent witnesses. Francis Gurney is documented across at least three independent sources:

  • Francis Blomefield, History of Norfolk, vol. vii (1807), pp. 42–47, in the parish entry for West Barsham. Blomefield names Francis as son of Anthony, husband of Helen Holdich of Ranworth, and father of Henry — and confirms that he died before his father.
  • Daniel Gurney, Record of the House of Gournay (1848), pedigree p. 287.
  • Pease/Pennyghael Gurney genealogy (Charles E. G. Pease, 2016), with additional birth date (20 August 1521), marriage date (6 August 1543), and a list of six children.

Friction with the project JSON — for review

  1. Death date. The project ancestors_v3.json gives “d. January 1571” for Francis. This is incorrect — that date conflates Francis with his widow Helen. Blomefield’s independent witness (Vol. 7) is unambiguous: Francis died before his father Anthony, who died 4 January 1555/6. Recommend changing to “d. before 4 January 1555/6 (vita patris).”

  2. “Both died January 1571.” The JSON contains a passing reference to Francis and Helen “both dying January 1571.” This is unsupported by Blomefield or by any other source consulted. Recommend deleting.

  3. Spelling. The JSON uses “Francis Gurney” — the right call for a 16th-century man. Blomefield’s printer uses “Frances Gournay” but this is the older spelling drift; modern academic convention is “Francis Gurney.”

The Irstead identification

Daniel Gurney’s pedigree identifies Francis as “of Irstead.” Francis Blomefield’s specific entry for the Irstead manor (vol. xi, 1810, “Tunstede Hundred: Irstead,” pp. 46–49) does not name Francis Gurney as a holder. Instead, Blomefield records that John Groos of Irstead made his will on 1 March 1487 conditionally bequeathing his manors of Irstead (Overhall and Netherhall) to Sir Henry Heydon — Anne Heydon G18’s father — and that in 32 Henry VIII (1540) the manor was held by Sir Richard Southwell of Wood Rising. This means:

  • The Gurney connection to Irstead came indirectly through Sir Henry Heydon, two generations before Francis (through Francis’s grandmother Anne Heydon, wife of William Gurney V / G18).
  • The manor may have left the Heydon family line (and therefore the Gurney indirect interest) by 1540 — i.e., before Francis’s adult life.
  • Daniel Gurney’s “of Irstead” identification may therefore reflect a residence rather than a manorial title, or may reflect a smaller tenement at Irstead distinct from the principal manor.

This is an open research question. Blomefield’s separate entry for Great Ellingham (vol. i, p. 488) does record Henry G15 holding “Irsted manor of the Bishop Norwich” in 1572, which is consistent with a smaller Irstead tenement still in family hands a generation later. The two Blomefield passages may be referring to different Irstead properties.

Sources Consulted

Primary:

  • Francis Blomefield, An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, vol. vii (London: William Miller, 1807), “Gallow and Brothercross Hundreds: West-Barsham,” pp. 42–47. Available via British History Online.
  • Francis Blomefield, History of Norfolk, vol. xi (London: William Miller, 1810), “Tunstede Hundred: Irstead,” pp. 46–49. Available via British History Online.

Secondary:

  • Daniel Gurney, The Record of the House of Gournay (London, 1848), pedigree p. 287.
  • Pease/Pennyghael Gurney genealogy (Charles E. G. Pease, 2016), Gurney.pdf.

Negative Results

  • No will of Francis is recorded in the Norwich Consistory Court registers as far as currently known.
  • No physical monument or burial inscription survives.
  • The “of Irstead” residence cannot be confirmed by Blomefield’s parish entry for Irstead (vol. xi).
  • No portrait or likeness is known.

Open Questions for Future Research

  1. Norfolk Record Office probate registers for any Francis Gurney will dated 1543–1556.
  2. The Holdich family of Ranworth — a family history tracing Helen Holdich’s parents and siblings would help triangulate Francis’s social network.
  3. The Irstead “of Irstead” question — does any Norfolk Record Office deed of the period name Francis Gurney as a tenant or freeholder at Irstead?
  4. Bodleian MS Tanner 175 — Henry G15’s commonplace book likely contains references to his father Francis and to the wardship arrangements after his death; this needs direct examination.

Potential Hero Images

  • All Saints, Irstead (current draft pick) — the Norfolk Broads parish church associated with Francis’s “of Irstead” identification.
  • St Helen, Ranworth (St Helen’s Chapel) — Helen Holdich’s home parish, famous for the medieval rood screen.
  • West Barsham Hall surviving 16th-century north wing — the seat where Francis would have lived as heir-apparent.

  1. Will of Anthony Gurney of Great Ellingham, Esq., 6 Dec. 1557, proved Norwich 10 Dec. 1557; Norwich wills register, FamilySearch film 008076312, images from ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSND-MSDX-K; full transcription in the corpus supplement linked in the body. Statute of Wills (1540): a testator could devise two-thirds of land held by knight service; the remaining third descended to the heir at law. Source ID: familysearch-fulltext-search. ↩︎

  2. Walter Rye, ed., The Visitations of Norfolk, 1563, 1589 and 1613 (Harleian Society, vol. 32, 1891), p. 141; Internet Archive visitacionievisi32ryew. Source ID: visitations-norfolk-harleian-32. ↩︎