Domesday Book

 

I found an ancestor listed among the pages of the Domesday Book! My mother's maiden name was Gurney and tracing that surname back and back and back, I found a Hugh deGournay (Hugh living in the town of Gournay in the Normandy area of France). Hugh descends from the Vikings who came with Rollo to that area way back when. But back to the story. When William the Conqueror had invaded England in 1086 and conquered it, within a few years he wanted to more fully know what he had........... for taxing purposes! So he commissioned a census of sorts. Men/scribes were appointed to go all over the country counting people, animals (all kinds), arable land and anything that could be taxed. He also wanted to know the number of men able to fight should the need arise. All these various reports were compiled in multiple volumes which still exist today!

And Hugh deGournay was loyal to William when they were in France and was with him during the conquest and was rewarded with land in England  (which meant not only "land" but any manors or dwellings and people living there for workers). 

I'd done enough research to feel comfortable that Hugh was my ancestor but now that the Domesday Book is available online, it was exciting to check and find him listed there. 

And why the name "Domesday Book?" Because King William expected the findings to stand "until doomsday," or so the story went.