Cory Corrie

A short time ago I did a post about the amazing John De Courcy. i had touched on many topics on his achievements, his legacy, the time in which he lived, his possible heritage, possible family ties, and some other things… However, I DID NOT mention that he most likely had a cousin, Hugh De Courcy (1097-?) who became a knight under King David I of Scotland. Hugh changed the De Courcy last name to CORRIE! I also did not mention that King Robert I “The Bruce” has also been thought to have changed his last name to Corrie. One more famous Corrie from Scotland, was Sir Laird Robert de Corry/ Corrie who married King Robert “The Bruce’s” great niece, Susannah Carlisle. Both of whom were descendants of Royalty and known in history for being granted a “safe passage” from Scotland to Cornwall, England. Obviously, there are more Corrie/Cory lines than just these that came from Normandy to England, and then stayed in England, or went to Scotland, or Ireland, but Cornwall as well! Please keep reading to find out more about these amazing families known as the Corrie’s and Cory’s!

Baron Richard I De Courcy (1040-1098) m. Wandelmode
Baron William I De Courcy of Stogursey (1072-1114) m. Emma De Falaise	Robert II De Courcy (1070-?) m. Wandelmode
Jordan De Courcy	Hugh De Courcy/ Corrie(1097-?) m. daughter of a Briton Noble	Philip De Courcy
John De Courcy (d. 1219) m. Afrecca Godresdottir

Above is the relationship (as close as I can get), of John De Courcy and Hugh (De Courcy) Corrie from their most common recent ancestors, Baron Richard I De Courcy and Wandlemode. Just to recap on Richard De Courcy, he was a Norman Knight for William “The Conqueror” at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. He is one of the few proven companions of William during the Norman Conquest. From William, he received numerous Lordships in England. These include: Stoke aka Stoke Courcy (Stogursy) in Somerset, Newetam, Seckenden, and Foxcote in Oxfordshire.

Robert II appears to be Lord of Courcy, and Baron of Stoke-Courcy. He may have fought in the first Crusade (1096-1099). He was also a Steward to King Henry I and Empress Maud. (Just like his younger brother, William.) Robert married Rohese de Grantmesnil. (She was the daughter of Hugh de Grantmesnil and Adelise de Beaumont.) At least 2 of their son’s left England, Hugh and Philip, and became knights under King David I (Reigned from 1124-1153).

Not much is known about Hugh. He was granted the lands of the Corries (now known as Corrie and Hutton) by King David I. He married the daughter of a Briton Noble and they settled in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. Since in 1061, King Malcolm III “Caen-More” had directed the nobility of Scotland to adopt surnames from their territorial possessions “after the manner of other nations”, Hugh took the surname “Corrie.” One source says that the Corrie surname was taken from an old roman fort in Annandale(?) that was called “Cori.” However, I can not find any information on this fort. However, this is crucial to make this point known for the reasons of 1. The spelling of a Cory name. 2. I saw somewhere that there were 2 families in Scotland that took on the surname of Corrie/Cory but they intentionally spelled their last names differently so they could distinguish which Cory/Corrie family they belonged to. As I will go into more detail later, we will see that Cory/Corries have different Haplotypes, which means they apparently have different Adam Y-DNA ancestors, and also have different origins of their family names. Which I will cover most of, if not all of that in this post.

Since I have already brought up the topic of origins of the Corrie/Cory names, now would be a good time to elaborate more on them. As already mentioned, we have 2 possible origins of the Cory/Corrie surnames. 1. Fort Cori in Annandale. 2. “Land of the Corries” in Dumfries. I have one more possibility that I am aware of. 3. The Arabic word “Khauri” which means “Priest.” The spelling and surnames of this family are Khouri, Cory, and even CLOVIS! Clovis will be discussed in another topic. The focus today is on the Corrie/Cory lines. Now that I have mentioned 3 possible origins to the surnames, I will just briefly touch on the Y-DNA of these names. I break them down basically into 3 groups. 1 being the Scandinavian Line of Corries. This line carries the I1a lineage. (King Robert I “The Bruce” and the Earls of Orkney.) The other lines carry R1a or R1b… R1a to me is associated with Levi and the Levitical family tree. (Just because R1a1 is known as the Levite Cluster.) The 3rd, for lack of better terms, to me is the Carolingian Line… That only stems from the assumption that John De Courcy was a male line descendant of Charlemagne, as well as the Irish family that claims descent from him as well in the male line, and belong to R1b. I will explain in more detail on the Y-DNA aspects of all 3 of these later. As mentioned earlier, Khouri and Cory could mean “Priest.” Corrie could mean “Couldron” or “The Hollow”- a hanging valley on a mountain; a hollow on a mountainside…

So now we have the foundation of one Corrie family in the land of the Corries in Dumfries starting in 1124-1153 with Hugh (De Courcy) Corri. Let’s go now to another Corrie family in that same area. The Annan Family of Annandale. (This is our for certain Scandinavian line.) The first person I want to mention is Eystein “Glumra” Ivarsson, song of King Ivar Halfdansson. He is the possible father of Earl Malahulc Haldric Eysteinsson of More (the possible uncle to Rollo), and Jarl Ragnvald I “The Wise” Eyesteinsson (possible father of Rollo.) Going through our Earls/Jarls of Orkney through Einar “Turf” Ragnvalsson, we get to Sigurd II “Digri” The Stout, Hlodversson, and his son, Brusi/Brusee Sigurdsson (970-1031). Continuing down two more generations, we get to Robert de Bruce I. Now before I go into much more detail on this family and their descendancy. I would like to cover the alleged origins of this family name and my thoughts on that. First, the “Bruce” family is thought to have their origins come from Brix Castle, in Normandy. I personally think their last name came from “Brusi” just like the Franks came from Francus, the Merovingians came from Merovee, and the Carolingians came from Charles Martel, etc. However, elaborating on the Brix and de Bruce portion of the name, we once again are back to the Cotentin peninsula (as we were with the De Courcy’s and William “The Conqueror”.) Brix is near Cherbourg at the tip of the Peninsula. It’s thought that maybe this family was possibly living or maintaining/ were bailiffs of a forest (thus bruce=wood) in an area that Henry lived in before he became King of England.

This Robert de Bruce (1036-1080) was a Norman knight and is thought to have fought in the Battle of Hastings with William “The Conqueror.” He married Emma de Rennes of Bretagne/ Brittany (the daughter of Earl Allan of Brittany). They had Adam De Bruce (1051-1081). Adam married Emma de Ramsey of Bretagne/ Brittany (possibly the daughter of William de Ramsey). They had Robert de Bruce (1073/8-1141). He married Agnes de Surdeval/ Alice Pagnel. This is the Robert who is assumed to have been left out of the Doomsday book in 1086 by William “The Conqueror.” He had brothers William, and Peter (Pierre.)

This Robert de Bruce (1073-1141) was made tenant of the Earl of Chester, as well as was granted lands at Skelton, in England and Annandale, in Scotland. Thus, he became Robert I the First Lord of Annandale, Scotland and First Lord of Skelton, England. Adam De Bruce (1103-1143), son of Robert, took over the land in Skelton, becoming the 2nd Lord of Skelton. However, his brother, Robert (1103/5-1189) decided to go to Annandale, Scotland, becoming Robert de Bruce, 2nd Lord of Annandale. This Robert married Eufemia De Aumale. They had William de Bruce (1142/58-1212/15) who married Christina MacUchtred FitzAlan of Galloway. He was the 3rd Lord of Annandale.

They had Robert de Bruce (1164/95-1245) “The Noble” 4th Lord of Annandale. He married Lady Isabel of Huntingdon. There’s a discrepancy in stories as to which Robert (IV or V) was sent to tell a now widow that her husband had been killed in battle. I have for the most part seen that it was Robert IV that told Isabel, and thus she lost all of her titles for marrying him, until they found out that he too was of Royalty, and her titles were reinstated. It is said that he went to tell her the news about her husband, and she noticed how handsome he was and wanted him. Thus, she married him. They had Robert de Bruce “The Competitor” 5th Lord of Annandale (1210-1295). He married Isabel de Clare of Gloucester.

He was known as “The Competitor” because he was a contender for the Crown of Scotland when it became vacant. He was in competition with Bailol. When he was asked if he would leave it up to the King of England to choose who should be crowned, he accepted. The King of England chose Bailol over Robert, who was originally promised the crown. The Competitor and Isabel had Robert (1243/5-1304), 6th Lord of Annandale. He married Margaret/Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. They had a daughter, Magaret/Marjorie/Mary (whichever name you want to refer to her as) that married Sir Walter Carlisle. They were the paternal grandparents to Susanna Carlisle. Their son, Robert (1274-1329) “The Bruce” became King Robert I of Scotland. He married Isabel of Mar. With her, he had Princess Marjorie who married Sir Walter Stewart, 6th High Stewart of Scotland, and progenitor of the Stuart Kings of Scotland.

King Robert “The Bruce” also had a descendant,_________, that went over to Ireland.

Now I want to draw my attention to Margaret (de Bruce) Carlisle and her granddaughter, Sussana Carlisle. She and her family used to boast about being descendants of King Malcolm II. So she was of Royalty! Her line of descent is this: King Malcolm II McKenneth, his daughter Beatrix, her son Duncan, his son Malcolm III, his son King David I, his son Prince Henry, his son David, his daughter Isabel who married Robert de Bruce 4th Lord of Annandale, their son Robert “The Competitor” 5th lord of Annandale, their son Robert, 6th Lord of Annandale, his daughter, Margaret who married into the Carlisle family, their son Thomas Thortwald, and his daughter, Susanna who married Robert de Corry/ Corrie who also was a descendant of Royalty. (His lineage has not yet been determined yet as to how he exactly came from Royalty.) There are no records remaining to show an ancestral line for him. However, Susanna known as the King’s Sister’s Son’s daughter, (King Robert I’s great-niece) who was granted safe passage from Scotland to Cornwall, England in 1378/98 along with her husband, Robert de Corrie. They had 3 son’s. Thomas, the oldest, stayed in Scotland on their lands. John and their other son went with them to Cornwall. It is believed that one of their grandsons or great grandsons left Cornwall and became the progenitor of the Brammerton Hall Cory’s in Norfolk. Below is a list showing the lineages from the Conqueror’s companions and their line that stayed in England as well as their lines that went over to Scotland.

De Courcy’s of England	Corries of Dumfries	Bruces’s of Skelton, England	Bruces of Annandale
Baron Richard I De Courcy (1040-1098) m. Wandelmode		Robert de Bruce (1030-1081) m. Emma De Rennes
Baron William I De Courcy of Stogursey (1072-1114) m. Emma De Falaise	Robert II De Courcy (1070-?) m. Wandelmode	Adam de Bruce (1051-1181)
Jordan De Courcy	Hugh De Courcy/ Corrie(1097-?) m. daughter of a Briton Noble	Robert De Bruce (1073-1141) m. Alice/Agnes 1st Lord
Jordan “Teutonicus” de Courcy (1161-1197)		Adam de Bruce (1103-1143)	Robert de Bruce (1103-1189)
			William de Bruce (1142-1212)
			Robert de Bruce (1164-1245)
			Robert de Bruce (1210-1295)
			Robert de Bruce (1243-1304)
			King Robert I “The Bruce”

Now that we have made our way from Normandy to England to Scotland and back over to Cornwall and England, let’s talk about them some more. The Cory/Corrie name is documented in pre-parish records in Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Bristol, Devon, and Cornwall. Fun Facts: William Cory (1783-1862) founder of William Cory & Son’s had a granddaughter named Ann Maria Cory. She is the Cory Family connection to Alice in Wonderland. Ann Maria Cory married Harry Liddell whose sister was Alice Liddell (5/4/1852-11/16/1934), the original Alice in Wonderland! (She’s also a direct distant cousin of mine! lol) Dame Jane Anne Gordon Cory’s jewelry collection (presumably wedding gifts) of garnets, amethysts, jade, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, pearls, and diamonds are on display at a museum near London. They are encased by the Russian Crown Jewels… All I can say about that, is HOW COOL! And just blows my mind away!

The English Cory’s are often confused with the Corrie/ Corry families. (Thus the reason why I put BOTH of them together in this post!) Under the heraldry section of www.corysociety.org.uk (which is the cory society website for the UK), it has an insert called Cory (Visitation to Cornwall) 1620: “A reference to a church memorial coat of arms, formerly found in Jacobstow (where my Cory Ancestors came from???), North Cornwall states: ‘Cory, a genteel family. long resident in the counties of Cornwall & Devon, particularly in the Hundred of Stratton.'” Rev. Henry Cory Eade M.A. of St. John’s College, in Cambridge, the son of Elizabeth Wymond Cory & Matthew Henry Eade took the Surname Cory by Royal License in 1864. His motto he chose was “Scutum Meum Jehovah” meaning Jehovah is my Shield. A memorial plaque for Admiral Nicolas Cory (1795-1864) of St. Mawes, Cornwall is in the Church of St. Just in Roseland, Cornwall, which includes a coat-of-Arms. He is known to be descended from the North Cornwall Corys who originated with Nicholas Cory of Stratton. The arms granted in 1693, are identical to Thomas Cory of London, but with the same motto as Rev. Henry (Eade) Cory, “Scutum Meum Jehovah.”

Moving on, we now come to America. There are 3 known Progenitors of the Cory family in America from the early 1600’s (1630-1640). Thomas Corey of Chelmsford, MA was related to Giles Cory of Salem, MA (who was pressed to death for refusing a trial). They may have been 3rd cousins, once removed. Both seemed to have been from the Northampton area near Harpole. Another Cory family was Anne (Waulker) Roome, her second John Roome, Anne’s son, John Cory (Jr.), and his young son, William. This family is believed to have come over in 1635 when William was 1 year old. It is not certain what happened with John Cory, the father of William, but it is thought that after he had a falling out with Coddington, he disappeared from history. William became known to us William Cory of Portsmouth, Rhode Island. These are the Bristol Cory’s. The 3rd is John Cory of Southold.

There was a second wave of Cory’s that came over between 1830-1880 from England and Ireland. My Cory family belongs to this group from Cornwall. I don’t know much past that. I’m hoping that DNA testing will help me figure out someday. I have noticed that the Cory Society is continuing to do more testing to see which family who belongs to. I have also noticed that the website for the American Cory Society has been updated and now includes some of the biblical names commonly used through out the Cory families… Maybe they are wondering the same thing I am… Are these Cory’s affiliated with the Levanent Khouri/Cory families and of Hebrew association?

I don’t know exactly which Cory family I come from, I’m sure some day I will find out; but which ever one it is, I’m totally okay with it! Either way, if it be Arabic that my close line comes from that came over from Cornwall, or whether it be Corries of Scandinavian/Danish descent, it doesn’t change who I am. Just makes it all that much cooler if I am from the “Priest” line of Cory’s. I already know I’m descended from the Annandale line. And so are many Pilgrims!