Gérard Seigneur de Gournay

  General Notes:

Turton's Plantagenet Ancestry, says he d.1037. English Baronies by I.J. Sanders, says he d.1098 in the First Crusade. Ancestra Roots says he died 1104.

~Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700, 8th Edition,18A:23,Hugh Gournay married to Edith Warenne and they were the parents of Gundred and Hugh Gournay. ¹⁶⁰

  Information about this person:

• Background Information. ⁹³³
Gerard de Gournay was the son of Hugh de Gournay and Basilia Flatel. He lived during the reign of William Rufus and was in high favor, adhering to him against Robert Curthose in 1089 [Ord. Vital; Dugdale's Baronage, vol i. p. 430]. He married Editha, daughter of William Earl Warren, by Gundred. After 1096, Gerard de Gournay assumed the cross and accompanied Robert Curthouse into the Holy Land on the first crusade. He later returned on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, along with his wife Editha, but died on his way there. His widow married, as her second husband, Dreux de Monceaus. Gerard founded the priory of Lessingham in Norfolk, which was attached to the Abbey of Bec in Normandy.

~ The Record of the House of Gournay, pp. 17-18, 22

• Background Information. ¹⁰⁷⁴
Gerard was the son of Basilia Flaitel, daughter of Gerard Flaitel and Hugh de Gournay. Gerard de Gournay first appears on record in 1082, witnessing, along with his father, the charter in which William the Conquer and Matilda establish the nunnery of the Holy Trinity at Caen.

~ Three Hundred Years of a Norman House: The Barons of Gournay, p. 95

• From Gen-Medieval Archives: Gournay Family Pedigree. ¹⁹³
From: royalancestry@msn.com (Douglas Richardson)
Subject: Gournay Family Pedigree
Date: 19 Jan 2003 17:36:28 -0800

Gerard de Gournay, of Caister, Norfolk, seigneur of Gournay-en-Brie, la Ferte-en-Brie, and Gaillefontaine, founder of Lessingham Priory, Norfolk, son and heir. He married before 1091 Aidieve or Ediva de Warenne, daughter of William de Warenne, lst Earl of Surrey, by Gundred, sister of Gerbod, Earl of Chester, and daughter of Gerbod. Her maritagium included the manor of Mapledurham, co. Oxford. They had one son, Hugh, and one daughter, Gundred. He and his father witnessed the foundation charter of Holy Trinity Caen in 1082 by King William the Conqueror. In 1090, he stood by William Rufus against Duke Robert, and, on their reconciliation, his allegiance and castles in Normandy were transferred to Duke Robert. He and his mother confirmed all of his father's gifts to the Abbey of Bec. He accompanied Robert, Duke of Normandy, on a crusade in 1096, and was with Bohemond in the advance from Nice in Bythinia. Gerard de Gournay was living in 1104, and is said to have died on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. His widow, Aideve, married (2nd) Drew de Monceaux (living 1131). They had one son, Drew.

[Sources cited: Delisle and Berger, Actes de Henry II vol. 1, no. 325 (mentions wife “Edwa” [recte Ediua] (not seen). Daniel Gurney, Record of the House of Gournay (1858), pp. 22 (chart), 63-72. Bedfordshire Historical Record Society 7 (1922): 153-157; 19 (1937): charts fol. pg. 99. Oxfordshire Record Society 7 (1925): 7-15. Curia Regis Rolls 6 (1932): 272-273. Paget (1957), 266: 1-4 (sub Gurnay); 569:1 (sub Warren).]

Gérard married Edeva de Warenne, daughter of William de Warenne Earl of Surrey and Warenne and Gundred of Flanders. (Edeva de Warenne was born in 1076-1084 and died after 1104.)