The Norreys

The Norreys were an aristocratic English family who were close to the English throne, in particular the Tudor dynasty. This family entered my ancestry when Elizabeth Norreys, god-daughter of Elizabeth I, married Major-General Sir John Jephson. The Norreys family may trace back to the 12th or 13th century, and the name has at least 2 potential derivations: one who came from the north or who lived in the north (there was a word "noreis" or "norreis" meaning a northerner), or from one who cared for others (the word "norrice" for nurse). It may also be derived from Noyers in Normandy or from William de Noers, steward to William the Conqueror.

Following is the line which eventually leads to Elizabeth, the wife of Sir John Jephson.

Geoffrey le Norreys of Bereford, Yorks, b ca 1110, d bef 1170, the earliest to be called le Norreys, had a son

William le Norreys of Bereford and Heaton (Lancs) b ca 1130, d bef 1196, had a son

Hugh le Norreys (de Blackrod/ de Haigh) b ca 1150 d 1221, had a son

Alan Le Norreys of Haigh, Halsnead and Burtonhead, Lancs, B ca 1205 d ca 1276, m Margaret, had a son

Richard Le Norreys of Ockholt, Berks and Burtonhead, b ca 1235, d aft 1273, m Alice (?), had a son

Richard Le Norreys of Ockholt, Bray, d 1337, had a son

Sir John Norreys, of Ockholt, b ca 1315, d 1361, m Millicent Ravenscroft. Their son

Roger Norreys of Ockholt, Bray, b ca 1350 d 1422, had a son

William Norreys of Ockholt, Bray, born ca 1390 d aft 1460, had a son

Sir John Norreys of Ockholt and Yattendon, Berks, b ca 1410 d 1 Sep 1466, married firstly Alice Merbrooke, daughter of Richard Merbrooke of Yattendon. He was keeper of the great wardrobe to Henry VI, and acquired the manor of Yattendon through Alice. Their son

Sir William Norreys (Sir) of Yattendon, Cookham and Bray, b ca 1433 d 4 Jan 1507, was among the army Henry VII brought from France in 1485 and was present at the battle of Bosworth. He married thirdly Lady Jane de Vere, d by 1471, dau of John de Vere, Earl of Oxford. Their eldest son

Sir Edward Norreys of Yattendon, d 5 June 1487 at Battle of Stoke, married Frideswide. Their second son

Sir Henry Norreys b 1491 d 17 May 1536 in the Tower of London. He was executed by Henry VIII for suspected adultery with Anne Boleyn. He married secondly Mary Fiennes, dau of Thomas Fiennes, Lord Dacre, abt 1520 in Hurstmonceaux, Sussex. Their eldest son

Henry Norreys, first Baron Norreys of Rycote, was born abt 1525 in Bray, Berkshire, acceded to the title in 1572, and died 27 June 1601. He married Margery Williams before 1544. Their sixth child

Sir Thomas Norreys, b 1556 d 1599, m Bridget, matric. at Oxford 1571. Went as a soldier to Ireland in 1579 and acted for a few months as president of Connaught. He fought against the Fitzgeralds and also in Ulster; in 1585 he became vice-president of Munster, and in 1597 he succeeded his brother, Sir John Norreys, as president. The old Desmond fortress on the Blackwater River at Mallow was granted in 1584 to him. Here, on the ruins of the old castle, he built a house which was known as Mallow Castle, and is now only a shell. The style is essentially English and early Jacobean with its high gables, single-stepped battlements and large mullioned windows, but the place was well-adapted for Irish conditions with numerous loop-holes for muskets, notably in the turrets and beneath the upper windows. His only daughter

Elizabeth Norreys, god-daughter of Elizabeth I, married Major-General Sir John Jephson.