Little Staughton

[johnP-bedford]

There's a will at the Beds Archives of John Gurrey, yeoman of Little Staughton; ref 1839/23, that ties in with a death index in St Neots RD ref 14/153 (or 158?) of March 1839. He could well be the John who married Sarah Briers in 1787 as the 2 other JG's both appear on 1841 census.  Have you seen the will ?

Also on the 1803 muster list at Little Staughton is a John Gurr class 4 - he may be the above JG as the 2nd JG would only be age 9 at the time.

But then there's a John & a Jonathon Gurry buried at LS baptist church in Jan 1793 - who are they ?

[grouse]

There's a will at the Beds Archives of John Gurrey, yeoman of Little Staughton; ref 1839/23, that ties in with a death index in St Neots RD ref 14/153 (or 158?) of March 1839. He could well be the John who married Sarah Briers in 1787 as the 2 other JG's both appear on 1841 census.  Have you seen the will ?

Also on the 1803 muster list at Little Staughton is a John Gurr class 4 - he may be the above JG as the 2nd JG would only be age 9 at the time.

But then there's a John & a Jonathon Gurry buried at LS baptist church in Jan 1793 - who are they ?

Wow, thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of a will - I'll have to get a copy. I have the death cert of the said gent he is stated as 73 years old and a grazier from LS and died of dropsy. I was wondering if he was born in Pertenhall in 1764 to parents Francis and Ann - seems to fit but gawd knows!

Haven't come across any burial for a Gurry in LS so this burial at the baptist church seems even more evidence that they we baptists. I know IGI have baptist records but not burials - where are these records held? I was a bit wary of baptist baptism records as they don't necessarily perform this service til the person is an adult so the date may be a bit misleading

[johnP-bedford]

Hello;  The Bedford Library has a transcript of some non-conformist registers including Little Staughton Baptist church. This includes the birth of Francis, son of  John & Sarah Gurry on 14/6/1788 (as per the IGI) & it also has burials of Jonathan on 11/1/1793 & of John on 23/1/1792, both sons of John & Sarah Gurry. So why aren't their births registered? & where does that leave us? It'd be good to see a copy of the 1839 will of John Gurry
 
The library also has transcript of the non-conformist index of the High Sheriff's Assize Documents for 1663-1688; & for Staughton it contains an entry for Richard Gurrey of Bolnhurst reg 1668W31 (= Winter Assizes in 1668 doc no 31 - where that is & what's it about - I don't know)

Back to Bolnhurst PR & at the end of the register is a list of unbaptised children (as we found for the Sabys - David) In 1722 there is one child of Thomas Gurry and 6 children for Eben(ezer) Gurry between 1723 & 1731 - all unnamed of course.

[grouse]

Thanks again
With all the info I've devised a tree that sort of makes sense - a dangerous thing to do I know but I need something to work from when I manage to get to the records office next year.
It goes as far as a marriage for Francis Gurry and Mary Woodfall in 1709 in Riseley then to their son Francis to Ann Bass in 1759 Pertenhall. This couple have 7 children whose births I found in IGI beta and confirmed in the microfiche I purchased. Their son John is the one that married Sarah Briers - the couple that must have been Baptists in Little Staughton

As for Richard Gurry of Bolnhurst - I saw mention of those assizes in the National Archives lists and I think it was for non attendance. Ebenezer Gurry must be the ancestor of the other line of the Gurrys that can be see in Hunts. They must have the same ancestors as my line but I've yet to find them - but this Bolnhurst info might give a clue I can follow

Thanks again in enabling me to at last breakdown the brickwall.

[bedfordshire boy]

the couple that must have been Baptists in Little Staughton.....
Ebenezer Gurry must be.........
They must have the same ancestors............

There are a lot of "must"s here! I have found from bitter experience that it's usually safer to use possibly or probably

David

[johnP-bedford]

From the Risely PRs, Francis Gurrey & Mary Woodfall married 11/9/1709 & baptised their children between 1712 & 1723
Thomas 6/1/1712 Thomas who died of the fever & was buried 7/10/1712
Thomas 16/11/1713
Francis 23/10/1715 & also died of fever & was buried 18/2/1720
Mary 16/9/1722 - a Mary daughter of F & M was buried 18/2/1741 (of Consumption)
Francis 8/12/1723

There is also a Mary, daughter of F & M who was buried 14/12/1710 reason for death given as Overlaid infant - there is not a baptism for her.

Mary Gurry, wife of Francis, farmer was buried 31/7/1745
& Francis was buried 14/12/1767

There is another Riseley marriage on 2/4/1716 of Thomas Gurrey of Bolnhurst to Mary Bonfield. A Thomas & Mary Gurry were baptising children there between 1736 & 1746.
4/10/1736 Elizabeth
11/4/1738 Francis
16/11/1740 Susan
22/1/1744 Mary
25/12/1746 Sarah

I suspect that these are not children of the above couple - why wait 20 year to start your family; perhaps they are children of the Thomas born 1713 who also married a Mary.

Also note that this Francis could well be the one who married Ann Bass & Pertenhall in 1759 as he'd be age 21 & the one you have would be age 36; & we have an Ann Bass baptised Pertenall on 7 Jan 1738 that could fit the bill, but who knows.

cheers John

[grouse]

Just a quickie - the will for John Gurrey mentioned above - I can't locate it in the Beds Archives. Should I get a new pair of glasses or is it hidden somewhere not obvious?
I can't find it listed in the National Archives wills either
Does the Beds Archives do a copying service for wills?

[grouse]

Heck John, thanks for the info on the Riseley Gurrys. This has ceratinly expanded the tree somewhat!
I'll work on this over the next couple of days and see where it leads

 

[johnP-bedford]

The John Gurrey will is listed in the 2 volume Probate Records for Bedford Index 1484-1858 published by the British Record Society in 1993 while the wills themselves are available at the Bedfordshire Archives. I am sure that they will provide a copy at a cost.

The entry is as follows...   Jn Gurrey, Little Staughton, yeo, 1839/23

There are also entries for

   Rich Gurrey, Bolnhurst, Blacksmithh, 1677/47
   Ann Gurrey, Bolnhurst, widow, 1727/44
   Mary Gurrey, Bolnhurst, widow, 1708/15
   Sam Gurrey, Bolnhurst, gent, 1719/24