Ancestor Table

From Allen Gurney (b. 1972) to the End of Known Record — 33+ Generations, with Known Land Holdings | Updated March 2026

Gen.	Name & Dates	Geography	Era	Notables	Known Land Holdings & Properties	Lineage Status
Modern America — New York, New Jersey & Oregon
1	Allen Lawrence Gurney	Portland, OR	Modern		—	Direct
2	Lester Hayes Gurney	New Jersey / New York	Post-WWII		—	Confirmed
3	Lester Sawyer Gurney	New York area	WWII Generation		—	Confirmed
Gilded Age & Civil War — New York
4	Lester Sawyer Gurney Jr.	New York area	Gilded Age → WWII		—	Confirmed
5	Lester Sawyer Gurney	New York area	Reconstruction Era	Son of Brig. Gen. William Gurney. Died young at 43.	—	Confirmed
6	Brigadier General William Gurney	Flushing, Queens NY; Manhattan NY; Charleston SC	Antebellum → Civil War	SUBJECT OF BIOGRAPHY. Wholesale merchant (Gurney & Underhill). Civil War commander, 127th NY Vols. then 142nd USCT; Bvt. Brig. General. Originator Five Points Mission c.1848. Quaker background. Masonic (Knights Templar). Married (1) Caroline E.; (2) Mary Jane Fisk.	Commercial premises, Manhattan (Gurney & Underhill wholesale firm). No land holdings documented. Likely rented residential in Flushing and later Manhattan.	Confirmed
Early Republic — Flushing, Queens, New York
7	Willis Gurney	Cummington, MA → Flushing, Queens NY	Early Republic	Tailor. First Gurney to leave Massachusetts for New York. Married Elizabeth 'Eliza' A. Lawrence (b. NY). Listed 1830, 1840, 1850 Flushing census. Did not attend church; wife Eliza attended St. George's Episcopal, Flushing. Tailor occupation echoes John Gurney-1 across 190 years.	Unknown whether owned or rented Flushing premises. Queens County deed records (city register's office, 1830–1870) not yet searched. No property transaction documented in sources consulted.	Confirmed
Massachusetts Farming Generations — Cummington & Plymouth County
8	Amos Gurney	Bridgewater, MA → Cummington, Hampshire Co., MA	Federal Period	Farmer. Married Ruth Gilbert (29 Dec. 1790, Cummington VR). Six children born Cummington. Listed 1800 Federal Census. Left Cummington after 1802. Widow Ruth found with son Willis in Flushing, 1850.	Farm land in Cummington, Hampshire Co., MA — specific parcel not documented. Family likely held modest farmstead consistent with 1800 census household size (10010/20010).	Confirmed
9	Benjamin Gurney	Abington, MA → Cummington, Hampshire Co., MA	Colonial / Revolution	Farmer. Raised by mother's sister. Named in grandfather John Harden's will (1751). Sold Abington land June 1770 and moved to Cummington. 1790 Census: 3-0-3. Married (1) Elizabeth Harden; (2) Mercy Noyes. Buried Dawes Cemetery, Cummington.	Land in Abington, MA (sold June 1770 upon move to Cummington). Springfield, MA records: purchased land in Town #5 (Cummington) with Silas Reed, 5 Nov. 1770. In 1787 exchanged farms with Philip Shaw ('Only One Cummington,' Foster & Streeter 1974, p.390).	Confirmed
10	Benjamin Gurney	Weymouth, MA → Abington/Whitman, MA → Middleboro → Rochester, MA	Early Colonial	Fathered Benjamin (Gen.9) by Jane Harden before later marriage. Jane's 1711 baptism 'of Little Comfort' first reference to the mill. Married Sarah Morse (1731, Middleboro). Moved to Rochester MA; died before Dec. 1772.	• With father (Gen.11), bought land from Samuel Tinkham, Middleboro, 28 Oct. 1730 — 3 lots of upland + 1 lot meadow ~2 acres (Plym. Reg. 39:79). Sold 3 May 1749 after father's death. • 8 acres Middleboro from Sam Eddy Jr., 7 Nov. 1731 (Plym. Reg.). • Homestead farm, Rochester, MA — sons Lemuel, Benjamin & Levi divided it 1 Jan. 1800 (Plym. Co. land deed 95:139, GS film 559,140).	Confirmed
11	Benjamin Gurney	Weymouth, MA → Abington, MA → Middleboro, MA	Puritan Colony	Married Rebecca Staples (30 Dec. 1701, First Church Braintree). 'Granny Gurney's Swamp' story confirmed independently. Will proved 1739 (Plym. Probate 8:98).	• Richard Williams farm on Abington-Bridgewater line — purchased 8 Sept. 1726 from Samuel Staples of Scituate (Plym. Deeds 25:79). • Sold to Abraham Pierce 20 Oct. 1730 upon move to Middleboro (Plym. Reg. 31:69, 70). • Land from Joseph Richards (bequeathed in will to son Benjamin). • Granny Gurney's Swamp — low ground near Abington-Bridgewater line, named after Rebecca's fire incident — not owned but named for the family.	Confirmed
12	Richard Gurney	Weymouth, MA	Puritan Colony	Freeman 1681. Married Rebecca Taylor (named in Taylor's will, proved 1688). Died intestate Oct. 1691. Son John killed at Mendon massacre 1675. Son Zachariah served King Philip's War relief company.	• Lands granted in Weymouth before 1642–44: 'in the East field,' 'in the mill field,' 'on the east side of Great Pond' (Hist. of Weymouth). • Town Common grant: 6 acres west side of the Pond voted by Weymouth town meeting, 1683, to 'build a house & fence' (Hist. of Weymouth, p.251). • Land at Braintree on Abington-Bridgewater line passed to son Benjamin (Gen.11) — likely inherited from John Gurney-1.	Confirmed
The Emigrant — Colonial Massachusetts
13	John Gurney-1	Weymouth, MA → Braintree, MA	Great Migration	Tailor. FIRST GURNEY IN NORTH AMERICA. First record: June 1641, Weymouth. Married (1) Mary Richards (c.1625, England — d. 20 Sept. 1661); (2) Grissell Fletcher (12 Nov. 1661). Estate: £55.14.6. Probable arrival: 1636–1641. Grissell was a Mendon proprietor (received 20-acre allotment, Dec. 1663).	• East field, mill field, east side of Great Pond — Weymouth (granted retrospectively c. 3 Feb. 1651-52; properties later granted to others as John did not permanently settle there). • 48 acres at Braintree 'in the possession of John Gurney' — Tyng inventory 25 May 1653 (NEHGR 30:432). Tenant, not owner. • Sold land in Braintree 12 Feb. 1661 (deed witnessed by son John Jr.). • Grissell applied for John's Mendon lot after his death (NEHGR 22:44).	Probable
Tudor England — City of London & Norfolk
14	Francis Gurney	West Barsham, Norfolk → City of London (St. Benet Fink)	Tudor / Early Stuart	Merchant Taylor (admitted 16 June 1606 — primary source cert. in Daniel Gurney's Record). Married Ann Browning. Financial difficulty 1625. Probable father of John Gurney-1. Second son Francis of Malden → banking dynasty.	• Parish of St. Benet Fink, City of London — commercial premises (leased; church demolished 1844, site now Bank of England east wing). • Attempted textile manufacture: desecrated St. James's Church, King's Lynn, Norfolk — leased from Lynn corporation (failed enterprise; Sir Hamon Lestrange paid his £100 bond c.1625). • Occasional residence at Norwich and King's Lynn noted (Pennyghael genealogy). • No land holdings documented — Daniel Gurney states both Francis wills 'unable to be discovered' suggesting little or no property to bequeath.	Confirmed
15	Henry de Gournay	West Barsham Hall, Norfolk; Great Ellingham, Norfolk	Tudor (Henry VIII → James I)	'Last member of the Gurney family to be born a Roman Catholic.' Godmother: Lady Catherine Howard. 12 children. Will 1614 warned against sons holding 'fantastical opinions.' Tomb survives at St. James's Church, Great Ellingham.	• West Barsham manor, Norfolk (primary family seat; hall burned 1815, 16th-c. north wing survives Grade II listed). • Great Ellingham manor (held from Bishop of Norwich). • Harpley manor, Norfolk (purchased 1587 — £ not stated; presented to church 1588, 1602). • Irsted manor (held of Bishop of Norwich; sold to Sir Peter Gleane before 1632 by son/grandson). • Gurney's manor, Hingham (held of Henry Lord Morley). • West Barsham rectory (purchased from Thomas Fermor, Esq. for £100, 1595 — deed at Hunstanton Hall). • Advowson, third part of Attleborough church (presented 1581). • Harpham manor (purchased 1587; presented to church 1588, 1602).	Confirmed
16	Francis GURNEY	West Barsham Hall, Norfolk	Tudor (Henry VIII → Elizabeth I)	Married Elizabeth Helen Holditch (1543). Her mother: Margaret Jerningham of great Catholic Suffolk family. Both died January 1571. Son Henry (Gen.15) was 22.	• West Barsham Hall, Norfolk — primary residence (inherited from Anthony, Gen.17). • Great Ellingham manor, Norfolk. • Irsted manor, Norfolk. • Associated Norfolk advowsons and holdings as listed in Daniel Gurney's Record under the West Barsham Gurney family pedigree.	Confirmed
17	Anthony de Gournay	West Barsham Hall & Great Ellingham, Norfolk	Tudor (Henry VII → Mary I)	BOLEYN CONNECTION: Second cousin of QUEEN ANNE BOLEYN (both great-grandchildren of Sir Geoffrey Boleyn, Lord Mayor of London 1457-58). Married Margaret Lovell (descent from Lovell barons of Minster Lovell, Oxon). Connected via Heydon family to Sir Thomas Wyatt the poet and the Paston family. 17th great-grandfather of Allen Gurney.	• Great Ellingham manor, Norfolk — acquired via marriage to Margaret Lovell (she and her sister co-heiresses of Sir Robert Lovell; through her mother of families Conyers of Finningham and Fitz-Ralf). • West Barsham manor, Norfolk (primary seat). • Irsted manor, Norfolk. • Manor of Hingham-Gurneys (ancient holding from Henry II period, held of heirs of Lords Bardolf).	Confirmed
18	William Gurney V	Irsted, Norfolk	Late Medieval / Early Tudor	Married Anne Heydon (d/o Sir Henry Heydon who completed Baconsthorpe Castle — English Heritage, open free near Holt, Norfolk). Connected to Boleyn network and Howard Dukes of Norfolk through this marriage.	• Irsted manor, Norfolk (primary documented holding). • Swathings manor in Hardingham, Norfolk — mesne lord under the senior Gournay line (documented from reign of Henry II per Daniel Gurney's Record). • Hingham-Gurneys manor.	Confirmed
Medieval Norfolk Gurneys — West Barsham & Great Ellingham, c. 1300–1499
19	Edward William Gurney	West Barsham; Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk	Wars of the Roses	Son of Thomas Gournay & Margaret Jernegan. Married Ann Calthorpe (prominent Norfolk gentry dynasty). Died 18 Jan. 1508 at Burnham Thorpe. Lifetime spanned entire Wars of the Roses (1455–85) and first two Tudor decades.	• West Barsham manor, Norfolk. • Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk — died here (suggests land interest in this village, birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson three centuries later). • Full manor holdings not individually documented in sources consulted; inherited the West Barsham and associated Norfolk portfolio from Thomas (Gen.20).	Confirmed
20	Thomas Gournay	West Barsham, Norfolk	Lancaster / York	Son of John Gurney (d.1408, Gen.21). Married Margaret Jernegan. Held West Barsham during the chaotic mid-15th century of competing Lancastrian and Yorkist claims. The Jernegan (Jerningham) family of Somerleyton, Suffolk were among Norfolk's most powerful Catholic gentry.	• West Barsham manor, Norfolk (inherited from John, Gen.21). • Associated Norfolk manors from John's estate: Harpley, Hardingham, Loundhall in Saxthorpe, and the Heylesdon manors. • Specific deeds for Thomas not individually documented in sources consulted.	Confirmed
21	John Gurney	West Barsham; Harpley; Hardingham; Norfolk; London	Lancaster (Richard II → Henry IV)	HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT. Man of law from 1382. Steward to Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel (one of the Lords Appellant, 1387-88). Returned by Norfolk to Parliament of 1399 that acclaimed Henry IV. Appointed Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk. Owned London warehouse 'La Selde Coronata.'	• West Barsham estate (Wauncy inheritance — brought into Gurney family through John's mother; this is how West Barsham entered the family). • Harpley manor, Norfolk (inherited from father Edmund, Gen.22). • Hardingham manor, Norfolk (inherited from Gen.22). • 'Loundhall' in Saxthorpe, Norfolk. • Heylesdon manors, Norfolk (from wife Alice Heylesdon, d/o wealthy London mercer/Alderman John Heylesdon). • 'La Selde Coronata' — warehouse/commercial premises, City of London. • Total estate at death: 8 manors in Norfolk + 1 in Suffolk (History of Parliament).	Confirmed
22	Edmund Gurney	Harpley & Hardingham, Norfolk; Bishop's Lynn (King's Lynn)	Edward III → Richard II	HISTORY OF PARLIAMENT. Successful lawyer. Steward of JOHN OF GAUNT's East Anglian estates 1372–1387 — John of Gaunt was father of Henry IV, most powerful man in England after the king. Counsel sought by cities of Norwich and Bishop's Lynn.	• Harpley manor, Norfolk (principal documented holding). • Hardingham manor, Norfolk. • Land interests at Bishop's Lynn (King's Lynn) area — consistent with legal and stewardship role there. • West Barsham arrived in family through John (Gen.21) via his mother — Edmund's wife likely from the Wauncy family or Edmund himself had this connection. • Specific deeds recorded in Blomefield's History of Norfolk.	Confirmed
23	Gurney [name not yet established]	Norfolk — Harpley/Hardingham area	Edward II → Edward III / Black Death	Bridging generation between post-Hugh V junior Norfolk branch (established c.1214) and documented Edmund Gurney (d.1387). Lifetime spanned the Black Death (1348-49, killed ~40% of England's population) and opening of the Hundred Years' War (1337).	• Harpley manor, Norfolk — held by the junior Norfolk Gurney branch through this period per Daniel Gurney's Record. • Hardingham manor, Norfolk. • Swathings in Hardingham — documented as mesne Gurney holding from Henry II period. • Specific generation's deeds/inquisitions not yet individually identified in sources consulted.	Gap in record
LAND HOLDINGS COMMENTARY: The Gurney family's Norfolk estate is remarkably well-documented across 500 years. The key manors held continuously were: West Barsham (entered family via Wauncy inheritance c.1387-1408; held until 1661); Harpley (from at least Gen.22; purchased back by Henry de Gournay in 1587 suggesting it had been alienated and re-acquired); Great Ellingham (entered via Anthony's marriage to Margaret Lovell, c.1519); and Hingham-Gurneys (documented from Henry II's reign, ~1154-1189). Total documented Norfolk manor holdings at peak (John Gurney d.1408): 9 manors. At Henry de Gournay (Gen.15): at least 7 discrete holdings. The line became extinct in the direct male line in 1661 when the estates devolved to coheiresses.
Norman Barons of England — Post-Conquest Settlement, c. 1066–1300
24	Hugh de Gournay V	Flegg, Norfolk; Normandy	Angevin / King John	Last of the main Norman baron line. Founded Bellosanne Abbey, Normandy (1198). Vacillated between English and French allegiance when John lost Normandy (1204). Died Rouen Oct. 1214. Main Norman line extinct. Junior Norfolk branch continued.	• Flegg, Norfolk (English manors). • Manors in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, and Bedfordshire (documented in Curia Regis Rolls and Testa de Nevill). • Confirmed by Richard I's 1200 charter confirming his holdings and exempting his men from certain feudal obligations. • Norman territory (the great fief/honour of Bray, including Gournay-en-Bray fortress) — lost when Philip Augustus expelled the English from Normandy in 1204. • Bellosanne Abbey, Normandy — founded 1198.	Gap in record
25	Hugh de Gournay IV	Normandy & England (Norfolk, Bucks, Oxon, Beds)	Henry I → Henry II	Raised at court of Henry I. Married (1) Beatrix de Vermandois (Carolingian/Charlemagne royal descent); (2) Melisende de Coucy. Founded Clairruissel Priory. Captured 1173 during Henry the Young King's rebellion.	• Three knights' fees in Norfolk (documented Pipe Rolls). • Manors in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Oxfordshire (Red Book of the Exchequer). • Gournay-en-Bray seigneury, Normandy — the ancestral fortress town. • Clairruissel Priory, Normandy — founded with second wife Melisende de Coucy.	Confirmed
26	Gerard de Gournay	Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy; Caister, Norfolk	William I → William II	CRUSADER. Married Edith de Warenne (d/o William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey — ~£57bn Domesday equivalent). Joined First Crusade 1096, captured Jerusalem July 1099. Died Holy Land. Daughter Gundred: patroness of Byland Abbey & Rievaulx Abbey, Yorkshire.	• Caister, Norfolk (English holdings documented). • Gournay-en-Bray seigneury and surrounding Pays de Bray, Normandy. • Lessingham Priory, Norfolk — founded, attached to Abbey of Bec. • Cantley, Norfolk — documented holding. • Norfolk manors inherited from Hugh III (Gen.27) then expanded through Edith de Warenne marriage connection.	Confirmed
27	Hugh de Gournay III	Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy → Norfolk & Essex, England	Pre-Conquest → William I	BATTLE OF HASTINGS, 14 Oct. 1066. Received English manors as Conquest reward. Previously sailed to England c.1035 for Edward the Confessor. Witnessed William I's Caen charters 1077 & 1082. Buried Abbey of Bec, Normandy (ruins survive near Brionne).	• Liston, Essex (Domesday 1086 — held directly of the king). • Fordham, Essex (Domesday 1086). • Ardleigh, Essex (Domesday 1086). • Norfolk manors (granted post-Conquest, specific parcels documented in Daniel Gurney's Record as chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk). • Gournay-en-Bray fortress town and the Norman honour of Bray — the principal and most valuable holding, a near-autonomous lordship on the French-Norman frontier. • Abbey of Bec, Normandy — endowed and buried here.	Confirmed
28	Hugh de Gournay II	Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy	Early Norman Duchy	Fought at Battle of Mortemer (1054) — one of three principal Norman commanders. Charter witness to Duke William from c.1060. Nicknamed 'The Fortifier' — built Gournay's triple wall, double ditch and tower. Possibly died from wounds at Cardiff c.1074.	• Gournay-en-Bray seigneury — the walled fortress town and surrounding Pays de Bray territory. • 'The Fortifier': built triple wall, double ditch, and tower at Gournay — major investment in the property as a defensive stronghold on the eastern Norman frontier. • No English holdings — pre-Conquest.	Confirmed
29	Renaud de Gournay	Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy	Early Norman Duchy	Held seigneury of Gournay. Son Gautier de la Ferté founded priory of La Ferté-en-Bray (charter 989-996 names Renaud and his wife Alberade — primary source confirmation of Renaud's existence).	• Gournay-en-Bray seigneury, Pays de Bray, Normandy. • La Ferté-en-Bray priory — endowed by son Gautier citing father Renaud.	Confirmed
30	Hugh de Gournay I	Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy	Viking Normandy	Son of Eudes. First lord born in Gournay. First generation to know no homeland but Normandy.	• Gournay-en-Bray seigneury — inherited from Eudes.	Uncertain
Viking Origin — Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy, c. 912
~31	Eudes (Odon) de Gournay	Scandinavia → Gournay-en-Bray, Normandy (Seine-Maritime dept., France)	Viking Age	ORIGIN OF THE LINE. Viking warrior, companion of ROLLO. At Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte (911) Rollo received Normandy from Frankish King Charles the Simple. Eudes received the Pays de Bray as his portion — the marshy frontier territory on the eastern border of the new duchy. Daniel Gurney acknowledged: 'the existence of Eudes... is a matter of tradition' — no contemporary document survives. From Eudes to Allen Gurney: ~31 generations, ~1,160 years.	• Gournay-en-Bray and the Pays de Bray, Normandy — granted by Rollo c.911-912 as the founding land grant of the entire Gurney family story. • The town of Gournay-en-Bray itself survives today in Seine-Maritime, Normandy (~50 miles east of Rouen). Weekly market continues. 12th-century Collegiate Church of Saint-Hildevert (rebuilt after 1174 fire) still stands. • This single land grant initiated a documented property-holding lineage lasting ~750 years (911 to 1661 when the West Barsham Gurneys became extinct in the direct male line in England).	Tradition
End of Known Record — The Wall of History
~32+	Unknown Scandinavian ancestors	Scandinavia — Denmark or Norway (unknown)	Viking Age	WALL OF KNOWABLE HISTORY. Eudes was a follower of Rollo, not a family member — Rollo's ancestry (Norse earls of Møre, Norway) does NOT transfer to the Gurney line. Eudes's own parentage and Norse clan are entirely unrecorded. The Gurney male line disappears into the unrecorded Norse world of the 9th century.	• Unknown. No Scandinavian land records attributable to Eudes's ancestors survive.	End of Record

Sources: 1994 Gurney genealogical document (Rigler); Daniel Gurney, Record of the House of Gournay (1848); History of Parliament Online (Edmund Gurney d.1387; John Gurney d.1408); NEHGR; Federal Census 1800-1870; Plymouth County deeds & probate (Plym. Reg., Plym. Deeds, Plym. Probate); Blomefield, History of Norfolk; Domesday Survey 1086; Curia Regis Rolls; Pipe Rolls; Ancestry.com (Edward William Gurney b.c.1430); Geni.com; Pennyghael Genealogy; History of Weymouth (1881); this research series Vols. I–VI (March 2026)