Gurney Genealogy Library Updated 15 July 2026 by Allen Gurney

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

John de Gournay III (G25) Notes

Research notes for g25-john-de-gournay-iii-fact-sheet.md. See .claude/rules/research-files.md for the paired-file rule.

Working Notes

Norfolk feodary — Swathings under Bardolf (DG-Supp Note 115)

2026-04-18 — DG-Supp Note 115 (pp. 787–788) provides two records relating to the “John de Gournay” who held during the reigns of Edward II–III. These need careful attribution because the generation numbering is confusing (John the Rector = collateral; John III = G25; John IV = G24; Sir John Gurney d.1408 = collateral):

  1. Norfolk feodary (BM Add. MSS. 5522, fol. 171): “Hundred de Mytford. Johannes Gurney tenet manerium de Swathyng in Hardyngham de Hugone de Bardolf et idem de Rege.” This tenure chain shows Swathings held under Hugh de Bardolf, who held from the King. The manuscript belonged to Blomefield and was compiled for an aid c. 1235, but “is decidedly of a later date.” The entry likely represents the state of tenures around Edward II’s reign, fitting G25 John III or the Rector John (collateral).

  2. Escheat Rolls, 7 Edward II (1314): John de Gurnay named as feoffee in the manor of Winburgh (Wymondham?) and others: “Jurati dicunt quod non est ad dampnum si Rex concedat Thome Bardolf quod ipse de maneriis de Quineborghe in comitatu Norfolcize feoffare possit Johannem de Gurnay” — and inter alia the manor of Stoke Bardolf in Nottingham and Okebrook in Derby, held “de domino Rege in capite per Baroniam.” (Dodsworth MS. 57.)

Significance: This is a major finding. John de Gurnay was entrusted as feoffee of Bardolf baronial properties — manors held from the King by barony in Nottingham and Derby as well as Norfolk. This is not a minor administrative role; it implies the Gurneys were trusted associates of the Bardolf barons. The Bardolfs were one of the great Norfolk baronial families (they had married Julia de Gournay of the senior line, per DG-Supp Note 113).

Question: Which John is this? The 1314 date fits either the Rector John (collateral, d. 1332) or John III (G25, succeeded Rector in 1332). Most likely the Rector, as he was the more prominent John at that date. The primary calendar does not resolve it, so the attribution stays open.

Primary-calendar anchor (CIPM vii. 243). The record DG cited from the Escheat Rolls and Dodsworth MS 57 is now anchored in the printed calendar: it is the inquisition post mortem of Thomas Bardolf, Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 7 (Edward III), no. 243, pp. 174–183 — not vol. 5 (Edward II), which is why the earlier vol.-5 check missed it. The Bardolf extent returns Caister, Cantley, and Winburgh as re-settled on Thomas Bardolf and Agnes his wife by a fine of 7 Edward II (1313/14), of the gift of the feoffees “John de Gurnay and John de Halughton,” held in chief “as parcel of the barony of Gurnay”; and it returns “Shathingge [Swathings]. The manor held by John de Gurnay by service of a knight’s fee.” So the same John acted both as the Bardolfs’ re-settlement feoffee for their Gournay-barony manors and as tenant of Swathings held of Bardolf. This confirms, at printed-calendar level, the feodary chain in Note 115 (Swathings held “de Hugone de Bardolf … et idem de Rege”); the John-identity (Rector John vs G25 John III) remains the open question.[1]

Harpley fee in the 1302–3 aid (Farrer HKF v3)

2026-07-12 — Farrer’s Honors and Knights’ Fees (v3, printed pp. 391–392) carries the Harpley tenure chain under the Honor of Warenne down to this generation: the 1302–3 aid returns “Walter de Calthorp, John de Gurneye, and their tenants 1 fee in Harpley.” Calthorpe and a John de Gurney hold the Harpley fee jointly. Whether this John is the direct-line G25 John III or the collateral Rector John (d. 1332), who held Harpley across these years, the aid does not distinguish — the same identity ambiguity that runs through the Swathings/Bardolf record above. The chain (G28 in 1242–3, G27 in 1275, this 1302–3 entry) is consolidated on research/places/harpley.md.[2]

Saxthorpe — manor connection (DG-Supp Note 117)

2026-04-18 — DG-Supp Note 117 (p. 789) notes: “John de Mereworthe was lord of the manor of Saxthorpe, which had been held by John Gurnay II. [the Rector], as it afterwards was by John Gurnay V. [Sir John, d. 1408].” Saxthorpe (Loundhall manor) was thus in the Gournay orbit across multiple generations. DG speculates the £20/year annuity granted by Edmund (G23) to John de Mereworthe was “probably in consequence of some agreement between them” regarding Saxthorpe.

This connects to G23 Edmund’s Saxthorpe landholding already documented in his companion.

DG-Supp Note 117 — Edmund’s trust role (Close Rolls)

2026-04-18 — The same note records a Close Roll entry (5 Richard II, 1382): “Johannes de Plays chivaler” gave to a group of trustees including “Edmundo Gurney” the manor of Feltwell in Norfolk and the manor of Mundford with the advowson. The trustees include “Willelmo de Beauchamp, Johanni Marmyon, Johanni de Burgh, et Stephano de Hales, chivalers, Edmundo Gurney, &c.”

This pertains to G23 Edmund specifically, not G25 John III, but confirms Edmund’s role as a trusted legal associate of major Norfolk landholders.

Jane/Joan name variant

2026-04-18 — Already noted in existing companion: DG-I pedigree p. 286 gives “JANE, dau. of Edmund de Lexham.” DG-II p. 356 refers to “John de Gurney and Joan his wife.” Jane/Joan are medieval variants of the same name. No substantive discrepancy.

Black Death context

2026-04-18 — John III was living through the Black Death (1348–49), which killed an estimated 40–60% of Norfolk’s population. He is attested living in 1353 (27 Edward III), so he survived it. The pandemic would have devastated the labor force on his manors and affected land values. No specific plague-related records for the Gurneys have been found, but the economic context matters for understanding the family’s position.

Landholdings

Place Period Notes
Harpley, Norfolk 1332–c. 1353+ Succeeded uncle John (Rector) in 1332. Presented to the living that year.
Hardingham/Swathings, Norfolk 1332–c. 1353+ Swathings held of Bardolf by knight service (Norfolk feodary, DG-Supp Note 115; primary-calendar anchor CIPM vii. 243, Thomas Bardolf IPM).

Open Questions

  1. Which John was the Bardolf feoffee? The 1313/14 feoffment (now anchored in CIPM vii. 243, the Thomas Bardolf IPM: Caister/Cantley/Winburgh re-settled through John de Gurnay and John de Halughton; Swathings held by John de Gurnay) — was this the Rector John (collateral) or John III (G25)? The Rector seems more likely at that date, but the calendar does not say. The record is now primary-calendar anchored; the identity is the residual open point.
  2. Lexham family in Blomefield: Edmund de Lexham (Jane’s father) — does Blomefield’s Norfolk cover a Lexham parish entry with Lexham family pedigree?
  3. Black Death impact: Are there Norfolk manorial records from 1348–50 showing the Gurneys’ response to the pandemic?
  4. 1353 attestation: What is the specific record for “living 27 Edward III (1353)”?

Sources Consulted

  • DG-I, p. 279 and pedigree p. 286. [DG-I]
  • DG-II, pp. 355–357 (Harpley church chapter). [DG-II]
  • DG-Supp, Note 115 (pp. 787–788): Norfolk feodary (BM Add. MSS. 5522, Swathings under Bardolf). Escheat Rolls 7 Edward II (1314, Bardolf feoffment). [DG-Supp]
  • DG-Supp, Note 117 (p. 789): Saxthorpe manor connection; Feltwell trust (Close Rolls 5 Rich. II). [DG-Supp]
  • Blomefield, History of Norfolk, vol. viii, pp. 452–459 (Harpley). [Blomefield]

Conflicting Information

None identified. Jane/Joan variant is a spelling difference, not a conflict.

Fact Sheet Improvement Notes

  1. Bardolf connection: The feodary entry (Swathings under Bardolf) and the 1314 feoffment show the Gurneys in the Bardolf orbit — a major Norfolk baron family. Even if the 1314 feoffee was the Rector John rather than G25, the Bardolf-Gurnay relationship operated across this generation.
  2. Black Death survival: A brief contextual note that John III survived the 1348–49 pandemic would set the historical stage. Norfolk was heavily affected.
  3. Saxthorpe thread: The Saxthorpe/Loundhall manor moves through multiple Gournay generations. Worth noting as a continuity thread linking G25 to G23.

  1. The primary printed-calendar record is “Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward III, [no. 243, Thomas Bardolf],” Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, vol. 7, pp. 174–183 (index pp. 571–576), British History Online, https://www.british-history.ac.uk/inquis-post-mortem/vol7/pp174-183; verbatim extract at sources/corpus_supplement/bho-ipm-edward-iii-vol7-243-bardolf-swathings.md. Source ID: bho-ipm-edward-iii-vol7-bardolf-swathings. This is the same 7 Edward II (1313/14) fine that Daniel Gurney, Supplement to the Record of the House of Gournay (1858), Note 115, pp. 787–788, cited from the Escheat Rolls and Dodsworth MS 57; the earlier check of Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, Edward II, vol. 5 (Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/cu31924011387838) missed it only because the target sits in vol. 7 (Edward III), inside the Bardolf IPM. ↩︎

  2. William Farrer, Honors and Knights’ Fees, vol. 3 (London: printed for the author, 1923-1925), Burnham/Grancurt–Calthorpe chapter, Honor of Warenne, printed pp. 391-392, full-volume HathiTrust capture https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015032992151; passage in sources/corpus_supplement/farrer-honors-knights-fees-v3-gurnay-extracts.txt. The 1302–3 fee-fraction detail is an image-check item. Source ID: farrer-honors-knights-fees-v3-gurnay-extracts. ↩︎