Early Storeys and their Ancient Homes.

At Brussels it is recited in an Act of 1339, that "Jean de Titchfort of Brignorth in England, declares that John III., Duke of Brabant, has paid to him, through the medium of William Stury [or Setury], chevalier, 200 Ibs. of old Tournay silk, the amount of what he owed him and of which he gives him quittance." It is not at all probable that there exists or has existed anything of lineage interest within the public Archives of Brussels, Ghent and Bruges. Notwithstanding the fire that, in 1731, destroyed nearly all the documents in the Archives of the King-at-arms, at Brussels, and also the heraldic documents, what remained or was since created, had the misfortune to be carried by the Austrians to Vienna in 1795, at the time of the French Rebellion and the arrival of the French in Belgium. The archives were transferred to La Haye in 1815, and only found their way back to Belgium in 1839 or 1840. Many documents were mislaid about this period and, says a French Archiviste of note, who has been inquiring closely into the subject, "it may be that if a genealogical tree of the Storeys existed it would be among these mislaid documents."

There are still Storeys to be met with in Ghent, Lille and vicinity, all of English origin. They do not, as far as can be ascertained, know much of their ancient descents; indeed, none of the name appears to have kept any records or gone into the subject of their ancestry. Probably they considered it a waste of time, or because there was no emolument for their labour did not care a rap about neither their forefathers nor their posterity. It is always an absolute fact that where a family has its ancient genealogy with descents maintained to the latest generation, that family is always superior in tastes, in habits, disposition and true gentility. Why is this so? Because there are prototypes, human archetypes, serving as stimuli and inspiring ever and anon with a zeal not to descend to anything mean, but if possible to add to the bead-roll of worthies, however humbly. Where there is an exception to this rule it is owing to some spirit of atavism which, like the bar sinister, disfigures a shield whatever splendid bearings may otherwise adorn it.

It appears that in the antiquarian library of the late Sir Walter Elliot of Wolflee, the late Canon Tristram came across a quarto volume of tracts consisting of old muster rolls appertaining to both sides of the Border. In one of these the Canon found the name of Ralph Storey of Beanley. The roll seemed to be a record of the Northumbrians engaged in the battle of Flodden Field. Whatever it referred to, it proved that the Storeys of Northumberland had long anterior to this period had "a local habitation and a name."

We shall shortly proceed to give an early Storey lineage based upon such data or evidence as reduces theorising to a minimum. Many hundreds of works, ancient and modem, official and otherwise, have been consulted, and a list of these will appear in their proper place in due course. It is not a matter of stopping the first man whom you meet and on asking him "what the time is?" - getting to know immediately. Getting to know the time and times, the rotations and revolutions of the genealogical planets, their declinations and nodes, is not a work that can be accomplished in

Storeys of Old

Storeys
of
Old