The DRURY Family Pages have been updated (December, 2001) with new photographs and information from an October 2001 trip to England, which traced the Drury migration through several villages from Hastings to Docking, Norfolk.

These updated pages can be accessed in a new browser window by clicking on the following links. There is a link at the bottom of each page to the next chapter.

Please note that these pages are fairly graphic-intense and will require patience if you have a slow connection; a broadband connection will serve much better. However, Drury researchers will hopefully find the results worth the wait while the pages load.

Pt. 1: Normandy, Hastings, Bury St. Edmunds and Thurston

Pt. 2: Drurys of Rougham, Suffolk

Pt. 3: Monuments of the Drurys of Hawstead in St. Mary's Church, Bury St. Edmunds

Pt. 4: Drurys of Hawstead, Suffolk

Pt. 5: Drurys of Hawstead, cont'd.

Pt. 6: Drurys of Hawstead, cont'd.

Pt. 7: Drurys of Lawshall

Pt. 8: Drurys of Hedgerley and Riddlesworth

Pt. 9: Drurys of Riddlesworth

Pt. 10: Drurys of Godwick, Norfolk

Pt. 11: Drurys of Docking, Norfolk

Pt. 12: Drurys of Docking cont'd.

Pt. 13: Drurys of Docking cont'd.

Pt. 14: Drurys of Docking cont'd.

Pt. 15: Drurys in The Colonies

Dry Docking Farm, St. Mary's County, Maryland

Pt. 16: Drurys in Illinois and Missouri

~Please scroll down the page for more Drury family history, photographs, links, and biographies~

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Click here for Drury Bibliography and Guide to Sources

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~ Drury History ~

It has been stated that all Drurys (and Drewrys) descended from Sir Drieu of Normandy, who came to England around the time of William the Conqueror and may have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. His Knight's fee was an award of land near Abbey St. Edmund's in Suffolk.

The Drurys became one of the most prominent families of medieval Suffolk, England, with at least eighteen Knights, five of whom were Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk, and four Knights of the Shire. From "The History and Antiquities of Hawsted and Harwick, in the County of Suffolk", 1813 by the Rev. Sir John Cullum:

"This family came into England at the Conquest; immediately after which, they were seated at Thurston, in this neighborhood, where they continued till Sir Roger Drury (who died in 1418) removed to Rougham; and Roger Drury (who died in 1500) became seated here. Their pedigree is here given from the beautiful original in the possession of Sir William Wake, bart. one of the representatives of this family."

From that pedigree is quoted the following: "The right worshipful and most plentiful family of the Drurys, descended from a gentleman of that name, who, as in the Roll of Battail Abbey appeareth, came from Normandy with King William the Conqueror, anno MLXVI, in which dukedom there is remaining, at this day, a place so called, and sundry of the surname. The offspring and issue of this Norman gentleman hath greatly increased and multiplied, and most prosperously continued unto this time, 1602, being divided and spread by many branches, and settled houses of good revenue and estimation, in sundry counties of the Realm. Part of which, with their issue and matches expressed, and arms depicted, together with certain collaterals, and hereditable houses, with whom they joined, are faithfully, particularly, and carefully delivered; in which the travails and endeavours of Thomas Drury, of the Inner Temple, Gent. fourth son of Sir Roger Drury, of Rougham, in the county of Suffolk, Knight, hath been very great, as well as searching and perusing divers records, evidences, notes, pedigrees, and monuments approving the true descent of this family; as also in being the occasion, that pedigree has been reduced into the method following, as appertaining, in this place, to his said father, the eldest house of the whole family, which hath continued many years in good reputation, replenished with Knights and Squires, and honored with soldiers of notable fame and memory."

And in "The History of the Family of Drury In the Counties of Suffolk and Norfolk From the Conquest", By Arthur Campling, London, 1937, his introduction states: "The two most prominent knightly families in the county of Suffolk from medieval days onwards were the Wingfields and the Drurys, none of such houses as Waldegrave, Barnardiston, Clopton or Tollemache approaching either in their record of public service. For in that period Drury has a roll of eighteen Knights, five of whom were Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk, and four Knights of the Shire. Wingfield, seated in East Suffolk, had perhaps the slightly better record, especially in Parliamentary representation.

"From Sir Nicholas Drury, knighted by Richard II, to that day in 1603 when in the Royal Garden at Whitehall no fewer than four of the name received the accolade from King James; their kin had been typical (and from even earlier times) of all that was best in their division of the county, loyal and capable, they were active in the service of the Crown and prominent among the knightly families of the realm.

"Thomas Drury, 4th son of Sir Robert Drury of Rougham, with his access to the family muniments in Elizabeth's reign was instrumental in recording the pedigree of his house for eleven generations, and now, more than three centuries later, the lineal representative, descending in the ninth degree from Sir Robert, has been enabled by a scrutiny of evidences public and private, inaccessible to Thomas Drury, to bring down the pedigree to our day and to prove the line back in the male line to the period of the Norman Conquest. Tradition, so often the only asset of a claim for such a descent, has for once been justified, the documentation of the Drurys over eight centuries of time being fortunately unusually full and conclusive for historical proof. The long and close connection of the family with the powerful Abbey of St. Edmund's in Bury, apparent at every step in the pedigree, much assists in the construction of the account set forth in these pages."

These Drury pedigrees have been compiled into an online searchable "gedcom" genealogy database. Names which were contributed by other researchers are identified as such in the sources for each name.

The webmaster's Drury line is believed to have migrated from Suffolk to Norfolk in the mid-1500's when John Drury of Godwick, a recuscant, was prosecuted for refusing to give up his Catholic faith. It is believed that his grandson (or great-grandson) left to settle in St. Mary's County, Maryland, which had been established to allow freedom of religion. He immigrated from an area in Norfolk known as Docking, also called Dry Docking for its lack of drinkable springwater, and settled on land which he named Dry Docking Farm. The link proving the exact relationship between The Robert Drury who founded Dry Docking farm in Maryland, and the Drurys of Docking, Norfolk has been found yet, but it can be assumed that he hailed from Docking, Norfolk.

This immigrant's probable grandson, John Drury married Susannah Hayden in 1734. Her family descended from a long line of British and European royalty. John and Susannah are assumed to be the webmaster's 6th great grandparents. Susannah Hayden's ancestry, which includes many of the European Royal families through the Hayden and Butler families, is included in the gedcom database. The parents of John Drury who married Susannah Hayden, have not been definitively proven.

Their son, William Drury (1736-1801) migrated to Prairie du Rocher, Illinois in 1795 with his son Clement and built a horsemill. This began the Drury line of the Randolph County, Illinois and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri areas which married into the French families of the vicinity, reconnecting the circle back to their Normandy roots. Although English for many generations, they became known as one of the French families of Ste. Genevieve. The online Gedcom file includes many French surnames of the pioneer families who came to this French Territory from Canada and the American Colonies in search of religious freedom and a new life.

Another colonial Drury line descended from Hugh Drury (1616/17 - 1689) who came to Massachussetts around 1635 and received land in 1640. Hugh Drury is believed to be the ancestor of most of the Protestant Drury lines in America. A descendant chart of over 3,500 Drurys from this line has been compiled by researcher Michael Drury and is included in the links below, or can be reached by clicking here. These names are not yet all in the online Gedcom file, so if you are searching for a DRURY name and don't find it in the Gedcom, please click on this Genealogy Report. Then go to "Edit" at the top of your browser, and click "Find in page" to do a search by name.

The links below include a transcription of the book by Arthur Campling, "The History of the Family Drury, of Norfolk and Suffolk, From the Conquest". It is a great resource for Drury researchers and anyone interested in medieval England. This book corrects some of the common errors in Drury genealogy frequently found on the web. (And also includes a few errors of its own. Those have been corrected in the Gedcom file where known.)

Corrections, additions, and early photographs are welcome. Please email the Webmaster if you would like to add your Drury information.