Medieval Family History - taking the plunge...

[Keith Sherwood]

Exactly 4 weeks tomorrow since we sent away our cheque to the College of Arms.  Should a wait of this nature indicate good news, bad news, or no news, I wonder...?
keith

[Lady Di]

Otters,
Yes, I'm still hanging on to the remote possibility that the College of Arms will come back with a link between my GURNER family and the GURNEY family of East Anglia as I've mentioned earlier in this thread - haven't heard a thing yet, and it's been a few weeks since we sent of the cheque!
Meanwhile, have been reading through a very interesting book called: "Forgotten Families of Suffolk and Essex" by Evelyn Wright that links up some of the most eminent families from the area including the BROOKE's, the BROWNE's, the BULL's, the CAPELL's, the CARY's, the CLOPTON's the DARCY's, the HUNT's, the HARVEY's, the KNIGHTON's, the GAGE's, the MORDAUNT's, to name but a few...
They owned (and still do in some cases) some rather grand homes,
keith

Hi Keith,

I have Evelyn Wright's book "Forgotten Families of Hertfordshire" which also has many of the eminent families of Herts too. The big bonus was that 90% are my ancestors as well. I wasn't aware that she had also written the Essex/Suffolk book. I must try and find a copy as some of the names you have mentioned are also in the Herts book.

I just checked and your Gurner family isn't mentioned in the Herts book 

I also contacted the College of Arms the same time that you did and I haven't heard a peep from them either - they obviously don't want my money 

Good luck in the Medieval era - it's lots of fun.

Di

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again! Lady Di.
Yes, it's a book packed full of interesting anecdotes about those families, lots of family trees.  Think I bought it in a bookshop in Bishop's Stortford...
Actually this morning it's a wonderfully sunny day in Cambridge and I'm off to Long Melford in Suffolk where I've been doing some researching for a friend and his family, but today I'm going to have a good look inside that wonderful parish church there for the first time; and also Melford Hall, which I think will be less over-run with people than Kentwell Hall just up the road.  I imagine I'll be coming across memorials to the CLOPTON family here and there...
And as for the College of Arms, have checked my bank account, and the £65 was definitely paid in over three weeks ago, so hopefully they've been busy on the proceeds - as with your request too, I trust,
Regards, keith

[Rewcastle]

The best place for searching medieval stuff in or around the Durham area is here... Link

Here's the book 'liber vitae' for Durham. Link


Can i join the club? I've recently gone medieval, i think!...

I originally started the family tree many years ago to see why my grandfather's name 'Rewcastle Armstrong' came from, after some time i discovered the first 'Rewcastle Armstrong' born in 1776, to John Armstrong and Ann Rewcastle. John and Ann were married in 1768 at Hexham, Northumberland.

Ann's grandfather Nicholas Rewcastle lived at Fallowfield and Cocklaw in the parish of St John Lee, within 5 1/2 miles from Hexham, Northumberland.
I have a basic tree going back to a marriage in 1596 when the Rewcastle's were still living in the same area, recently i have found Roger Rewcastell, John Rewcastell, Mylles Rewcastell in the muster roll for 1538 at Keepwick, in the Parish of St John lee, Northumberland. Keepwick used to be a medieval village, it is now a farm and is located 3 fields from Cocklaw.

The first recorded person with the name of Rewcastle (or various spellings of it), was William de Ruecastle mentioned in the 'Ragman Rolls' in 1296. There was also another, or possibly the same William de Roucastell mentioned in the Great seal of Scotland as receiving a pension from King Robert Bruce (1306-1329).
Last night i found John of Ruecastle mentioned in charters of the burgh of Peebles (1458 -1476), 62 years earlier the the Rewcastell's at Keepwick.
The location of the place Ruecastle where the surname came from is just outside Jedburgh, it lies approx 50 miles north of Keepwick, Northumberland and the road adjoining Keepwick/Cocklaw is called the Jedburgh road.





Rewcastle.

[Redroger]

A few years ago I was given a tree by a researcher which dates back to c1300. She had carefully researched the detail using Manorial Records etc. held by a college at Cambridge University. If I can get over an illegitimacy hurdle in 1776, then I have my paternal 2great grandfather's maternal tree (think that's right!) back over 20 generations. The family were tenant farmers in Dorset, not Aristocracy or anything like that; the big problem is getting over the damned hurdle, the mother had 7 or 8 illegitimate children and made no claims against the parish, so there is no paper trail.

[Keith Sherwood]

All very interesting, Redroger - and welcome to the club, Rewcastle, you certainly have some exciting links there...
Did get inside Long Melford Church (High Trinity) in Suffolk today, and there were some splendid small fragments of medieval stained glass.  Amongst the best I have seen.
No further medieval family history links, though.  Melford Hall was closed, had misread the N.T. handbook, but at least had a stroll round the house and in its park, pretending that I owned the place for an hour or so...
keith

[Keith Sherwood]

Hi again, Everyone,
An update to say that finally after just over 6 weeks we've had our reply from the College of Arms, with a nice letter from the assistant to the "Rouge Dragon" to say that there were absolutely no entries anywhere for the surname GURNER.
Looks as though our Victorian ancestors went in for a bit of wishful thinking, trying to associate themselves with a nearby branch of the GURNEY family.
So, anyway, not exactly plunging with any tangible leads into the medieval ancestry maelstrom just yet...
Regards, keith

[Redroger]

The Victorians were very bad at this type of thing, Victorian Gothick for one thing, bad restorations of Medieval churches for another. Just other pitfalls, and now they mucked about with genealogical records too!