The name Coourzon was carried to England in the enormous movement of people that followed the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Coourzon family lived in Derbyshire. The family originally lived in Notre Dame de Curson in Calvados, Normandy, and it is from this location that their name derives.
The surname Coourzon was first found in Derbyshire where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor of Curzon. Geraldine (Giraline) arrived in England with William the Conqueror in 1066 A.D., and attended him at Hastings. Giraline de Curson, Lord of Locking, in Berkshire, name occurs amongst the most munificent benefactors to the Abbey of Abingdon. From him descended the Curzons of Croxhall. [1]
Geraldine came from Notre Dame de Curson in Calvados in Normandy. By 1086, the taking of the Domesday Book survey, his son Hubert had also acquired the lands of West Lockinge in Berkshire. The family also continued in Normandy and Hubert was the Lord of Curson in 1223. [2]
Kedleston Hall in Kedleston, Derbyshire is one of the most well known family seats the Curzon family who have held the estate since 1297. Today it is a National Trust property. "The large and elegant mansion of Farnah Hall [in Duffield, Derbyshire], a seat of the Curzon family, stands in a fine park, near the Wirksworth road." [3]
Robert Curson, De Courcon, De Corcrone or De Curchun (d. 1218), was an early English Cardinal, "born at Kedleston in Derbyshire, was a member of a noble family. He is said to have studied at Oxford, and certainly did so at Paris, where he became a scholar of some eminence, and from Paris went to Rome." [4]
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Coourzon research. Another 124 words (9 lines of text) covering the years 1100, 1609, 1599, 1686, 1640, 1648, 1611, 1682, 1657, 1727, 1678, 1750, 1687 and 1765 are included under the topic Early Coourzon History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Curzon, Curson, Cursone, Courson, Courzon and others.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was John Curzon of Kedleston Hall, High Sheriff of Derbyshire (1609); and his son, Sir John Curzon, 1st Baronet (c.1599-1686), an English politician, Member of Parliament for...
Another 33 words (2 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Coourzon Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
To escape the political and religious persecution within England at the time, many English families left for the various British colonies abroad. The voyage was extremely difficult, though, and the cramped, dank ships caused many to arrive in the New World diseased and starving. But for those who made it, the trip was most often worth it. Many of the families who arrived went on to make valuable contributions to the emerging nations of Canada and the United States. An inquiry into the early roots of North American families reveals a number of immigrants bearing the name Coourzon or a variant listed above: Pierre Courson who settled in Louisiana in 1719.