This most interesting surname recorded in the spellings of Horrey, Hurry, Hurrey, Orry, Ourry, Urry, and possibly others, is English, although leavened by 17th century French Huguenot entries as shown below. In general the name derives from the Olde English pre 7th century personal name "Wulfric", composed of the elements "wulf", meaning wolf and "ric", power. This particular name also gives rise to the modern English surnames Wooldridge and Woolrich. The famous Domesday Book of 1066 records the personal name as "Vlfric and Vlfricus", whilst the surname itself first appears in the early 13th Century (see below). Early examples of the surname recording taken from authentic medieval rolls and registers include: Herueus Urri in the Pipe Rolls of the county of Norfolk in 1209, and Alan Hurry in the tax records known as the Feet of Fines for the county of Essex in 1219. The Liber Feodorum of Salop (now the county of Shropshire) mentions a Geoffrey Orry in 1235. Later examples taken from church registers include: Elizabeth Orae, who was christened on November 23rd 1613 at St. Giles church, Cripplegate, whilst Elizabeth Oury, the daughter of Jacques and Catherine Oury was christened on January 22nd 1716 at Threadneedle Street French church, also in the city of London. The first recorded spelling of the family name is believed to be that of Walter Urri. This was dated 1208, in the "Curia Regis" rolls of Lincolnshire, during the reign of King John, 1199 - 1216. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to "develop" often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.

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