General Notes

The name of Gurney or Gournay is derived from the town of Gournay in Normandy. Hugh de Gournay, Lord of Gournay and the adjacent territory of Le Brai, was one of the Norman barons who commanded at the Battle of Mortimer against the French in 1054. He came over to England with Duke William and was present at the Battle of Hastings. These Norman barons of Gournay deduced their lineage from Eudes, a follower of Rollo, to whom that chieftain assigned the fortress of Gournay, when he divided Neustria among his dependents; they continued to retain these Norman fiefs until the reign of John, when they were seized upon by Philip-Augustus. [John Burke, History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, R. Bentley, London, 1834-1838, p. 484, Gurney, of Keswick]
There is no specific source from which it is certain that Hugh III was the son of Hugh II, but it is probable. He may also have been at the Battle of Hastings, but is not on Professor Douglas's confirmed list. About 1079 he extended the Gournay estates by acquiring some 24 villages in the Beauvois, and thereby became a vassal of the King of France. He was one of a small group of Norman barons who helped to reconcile William the Conqueror and his rather rebellious eldest son, Robert Curthose. In contract to the Norman-French lands, his possessions in England were decidedly modest, for in Domesday (1086) he is shown holding just three manors in Essex - Fordham, Liston and Ardleigh. Before 1093 he retired to Normandy and ended his days as a monk at the Abbey of Bec. See separate notes on his wife Basilia de Flaitel. [Brøderbund WFT Vol. 3, Ed. 1, Tree #6402]
The name of Gurney or Gournay is derived from the town of Gournay in Normandy. Hugh de Gournay, Lord of Gournay and the adjacent territory of Le Brai, was one of the Norman barons who commanded at the Battle of Mortimer against the French in 1054. He came over to England with Duke William and was present at the Battle of Hastings. These Norman barons of Gournay deduced their lineage from Eudes, a follower of Rollo, to whom that chieftain assigned the fortress of Gournay, when he divided Neustria among his dependents; they continued to retain these Norman fiefs until the reign of John, when they were seized upon by Philip-Augustus. [John Burke, History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, R. Bentley, London, 1834-1838, p. 484, Gurney, of Keswick]
There is no specific source from which it is certain that Hugh III was the son of Hugh II, but it is probable. He may also have been at the Battle of Hastings, but is not on Professor Douglas's confirmed list. About 1079 he extended the Gournay estates by acquiring some 24 villages in the Beauvois, and thereby became a vassal of the King of France. He was one of a small group of Norman barons who helped to reconcile William the Conqueror and his rather rebellious eldest son, Robert Curthose. In contract to the Norman-French lands, his possessions in England were decidedly modest, for in Domesday (1086) he is shown holding just three manors in Essex - Fordham, Liston and Ardleigh. Before 1093 he retired to Normandy and ended his days as a monk at the Abbey of Bec.