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Henry Norris was the son of Sir Henry Norris and Mary Fiennes, daughter of Thomas Fiennes. His mother had died before his father was executed so he was raised by his unclue Sir John Norreys, but details of his early life are obscure. In 1539 Henry VIII restored his patrimony and allowed his uncle to settle his estates on him when he died.

William Norreys was the eldest son of John Norreys and his first wife Lady Alice Merbrook. William was probably born at Yattendon Castle in about 1441.

In a previous article I described the Etymological origins of the surname Nurse.  In this article I will describe my research on the geographical distribution of the name.

Pennsylvania Governor Patrick Gordon was my 7th great grandfather. Patrick Gordon was born in Aberdeen in 1664, to John Gordon and Christian Smyth, being baptised on 1st March at St. Nicholas, Aberdeen.3,4 He was 1 of 9 children (6 boys and 3 girls).

Only a few families can truly trace their surnames to the “Domesday Book”, and even fewer can go back even tentatively to the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon era. The only families that have been able to prove an ancestry to Anglo-Saxon ancestors are the Arderns from Aelfwine and the Berkleys from Eadnoth.

A few months ago, when searching for some information I found a reference to one of my ancestors on a site called Royal Blood. Royal Blood is a site that claims to list people who can trace their ancestry to European Royalty, in particular Charlemagne the Great - Holy Roman Emperor (742-814).

The ancestor I was searching for information about was “William Dawtrey” who was my 12th great grandfather.

In researching my Nurse ancestors in the Chew Magna area of North Somerset, I came across the following entry in the Chew Stoke parish register.

“5 Jan 1695 – Robert Nurse was buried 
Rebecca Nurse of Chew Stoke hath made affidavit before Robert Payne ___, of Norton Malreward in the presence of Mary Lassey and Jone Walker for burying in woolen. – January 12 1695”