General Notes

[Joanne's Tree.1 GED.GED]

2  PLAC 38489
2  SOUR S332582
3  DATA
4  TEXT Date of Import: 14 Jan 2004


[daveanthes.FTW]

The North East History Pages
www.thenortheast.fsnet.co.uk

CONYERS

The surname Conyers derives from either Cogners or Coignieres which are places in France. Members of this family came to England at the time of the Norman Conquest when William the Conqueror appointed one Roger de Conyers as a Constable of Durham Castle. Sometime in the twelfth century the Conyers family were granted the manor of Sockburn on Tees near Middleton St George. According to legend this place was rewarded to a certain John Conyers after he slew a fierce local dragon called the Sockburn Worm, perhaps a distant relation of the Lambton Worm. In commemoration of this event each new Bishop of Durham is presented with the sword called the Conyers Falchion which was reputedly used in the dragon slaying act. The presentation ceremony is carried out on the bridge at Croft on Tees near Darlington, with the following speech; "My Lord Bishop, I hereby present you with the falchion wherewith the champion Conyers slew the worm, dragon or fiery flying serpent, which destroyed man, woman and child; in memory of which, the King then reigning gave him the manor of Sockburn to hold by this tenure, that upon the first entrance of every new Bishop into the County the falchion should be presented". Interestingly Croft on Tees was the place where Lewis Carroll lived as a boy and it was here that he wrote the first verse of his famous nonsense rhyme about the killing of a dragon called Jabberwocky.
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Research by Ron Myers copyright 1999, 2000, 2001, all rights reserved. This information is provided for private personal use only.