Researching Sophie Gurney
Delve into the history of Sophie Gurney using the links below. We hope you find this information useful!
![]() | Did you know that in the 1881 UK census there were 3118 people with the Gurney surname? In that year Gurney was ranked number 1310 for popularity in the UK. |

The name Sophie means "wisdom" and is of Greek origin.
Records of Sophie Gurney on Ancestry
Ancestry is a major source of information if you are filling out the detail of Sophie Gurney in your family tree. With over 30 billion records and 100 million family trees to search, Ancestry is one of the key websites to visit to help you trace your family tree back in time. Free trials are normally available and are a good way to fill out a lot of your tree quickly.
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Ancestry.com Global records search results for Sophie Gurney. |
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Ancestry.com US records search results for Sophie Gurney. |
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Ancestry.co.uk UK records search results for Sophie Gurney. |
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Ancestry.ca Canadian records search results for Sophie Gurney. |
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Ancestry.com.au Australian records search results for Sophie Gurney. |
DNA
Sometimes you can run into a brick wall in your tree and you just don't have enough evidence to make that next step back in time. If you are lucky then you may find some previously undiscovered Gurney ancestors. Additionally, the modern DNA test can give you a breakdown of your ethnic mix - you may be surprised at the results!
Have you reached a brick wall in your Gurney Tree?
Birth, Death and Marriage Records for Sophie Gurney and the Gurney Family Tree
Birth, Death and Marriage records are often the best method of making the links to the Gurney Genealogy that will form part of your family tree. Although records vary from country to country, they are normally the most formal record of a person's relations. From the sources below you will be able to find a birth record and, from that, a birth certificate can be ordered which lists the names of the mother and father, taking you back another generation in your tree. A marriage certificate may also list the names of the respective fathers of the bride and groom which may then help you to find them earlier in life on a census record enabling you to fill out more detail in the Gurney family tree.
Study Parish Records for Sophie Gurney at Find My Past.
Look at for the UK registered births, marriages and deaths of Sophie Gurney using the FreeBMD database.
Search Genealogy Bank for Sophie Gurney records.
Study MyHeritage for Sophie Gurney information.
Search the LDS Database for records about Sophie Gurney.
Research the Gurney surname using fold3 Military Archives and view images of original Gurney Military records.
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 3612 people with the Gurney surname in the UK? Gurney is now ranked number 1577 for popularity in the UK. |
Gurney Genealogy Databases
Another way to build your tree quickly is to use the research other people have already done. This can help to confirm or refute your own deductions - however, be wary of taking this data at face value as other researchers may not have been as meticulous as you. Always try to back up deductions with some definitive sources rather than relying too heavily on others.
Look at the WikiTree database for user contributed records for Sophie Gurney.
Study MyTrees for information on the Gurney family and people looking to contact living Gurney relations.
Study One Great Family for Gurney records submitted by people who are already researching the Gurney Family Tree.
Find Sophie Gurney from Ireland on findmypast.ie
Gurney Forums
There are a number of forums which are dedicated to rearching particular surnames. These can be good places to share your findings and also to tap into the knowledge that others may already have. These can sometimes be a good way of finding living relations as these tend not to show up on the other sources of information for privacy reasons.
Research the Gurney surname using Genealogy.com forums .
![]() | Did you know that there are currently 6076 people with the Gurney surname in the USA? Gurney is ranked number 155 for popularity in the USA. |
Miscellaneous Gurney Databases
Look at the Ellis Island Database for information on Sophie Gurney. This database contains over 25 million immigration records detailing passengers arriving in the United States of America.
Some Famous People called Sophie Gurney
Sophie Gurney
Sophie Jane Gurney (née Raverat, formerly Pryor; 20 December 1919 – 10 June 2011) was an English artist, linked to many of the leading intellectual and cultural figures of the early 20th century. As an artist she preferred brightly coloured variations on natural forms, working in both gouache and print. She later became a member of the 21 Group.
Gurney was born in 1919, the younger daughter of English wood engraver Gwen Darwin and French painter Jacques Raverat. Gurney was a great-granddaughter of the naturalist Charles Darwin. Her father died in 1925 when she was only five years old. Gurney and her elder sister Elisabeth were temporarily taken into the care of her first cousin once removed Nora Barlow and her husband, Sir Alan Barlow.
She was educated at home in Cambridge and then at the Perse School for Girls, before studying violin in Switzerland. She was accepted by the Royal College of Music, switching to medicine just prior to the outbreak of World War II, but later abandoned her studies in 1940 after her marriage. She continued to play in orchestras and chamber groups throughout her life.
She first married the entomologist Mark Pryor in 1940; they had four children. Emily (1942–2008), William (born 1945), Lucy (born 1948) and Nelly (born 1952), who married the film director/farmer Philip Trevelyan. Sophie and Mark Pryor were involved in a road traffic accident in 1967, in which she was relatively unharmed but which left him with brain damage in a persistent vegetative state for almost three years until his death in 1970, aged 51. She also had to deal with her son William's heroin addiction.
She subsequently remarried, to Henry Charles Horton Gurney OBE (1913–1997, known as Charles), professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Hong Kong (1966-1973), who had been Mark's boss at RAE Farnborough. After his retirement, they moved to Totnes, Devon. Sophie Gurney died there in 2011, aged 91.
Source: Sophie Gurney, Wikipedia, The Free EncyclopediaOther names that sound a bit like Gurney
Family names can get corrupted over time, particularly where literacy was not as good. The following list contains some names that have similar sounds so you may want to also look at one or two of the more likely possibilites.
Garaghan Garahan Garham Garm Garmey Garn Garneau Garney Garny Garoghan Garon Garrahan Garran Garren Garron Garrone Gaughran Gawarn Gaweren Gawern Gawerne Gearen Gearn Gearon Gehron Gehrum Geram Geran Geren Gerena Gerin Gerome Geron Gerram Gerran Gerren Geurin Giorno Giron Girone Giuron Giuroni Goeren Goerne Goren Gorham Gorin Gorini Gorney Gorny Goroni Goroum Gorrian Graem Graeme Graham Grahame Grahm Grahmn Grain Graine Gram Grana Grane Graney Graun Grayham Grayne Grayum Gream Greame Greaney Green Greenaway Greene Greeney Greenhaugh Greenhaw Greenhough Greenhow Greenhowe Greenia Greeno Greenough Greenway Greham Grehan Greim Grein Greinia Grene Grenia Grieme Griewahn Grim Grima Grime Grimeau Grimm Grimme Grinaugh Grinaway Groen Grohn Gronau Grone Groneway Gronno Grono Gronou Gronow Gronowe Gronw Groom Groome Grouen Gruhn Grumbo Grumby Grumm Grumney Grun Grunau Gruno Grunow Guarin Guarini Guarino Guerena Guerin Guern Guerne Guerrin Guiran Gurnay Gurnee Gyron





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