The Duroses in France - Summary
By David Durose, Lancaster, July 2010
I had always been curious about the origin of the surname Durose, which seems to be French. My father died when I was 13 and his father when I was quite small. I can only remember meeting my grandfather two or three times, so there was no family history handed down from them. They were born and brought up in the Oldham area of Lancashire and apart from my father’s brother I was not aware of any other Durose relatives.
I can remember that there was a county cricketer (Northants) and a Scotland Yard detective with the name, who were in the newspapers when I was at school.
I once spoke to a lady called Savary, who told me that her name was that of a Huguenot family – one of the thousands of protestant refugees, who had such an impact on Britain in the 17th and 16th centuries. She said that my name was probably of the same origin and I had always assumed this to be true until recently.
With the advent of the Internet, the interest in family history and genealogy expanded and I found and joined a message board that connected people who were interested in the research of their Durose ancestors.
The Duroses were spread out throughout the English-speaking world: North America, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. They all traced their families back to England, rather than France and had different stories for the origins of their family, which all turned out to be wrong. In fact, one researcher had found a Durose in the telephone directory in Paris and called him – only to find that he was English.
The family researchers had studied parish registers and other sources and I was able to bring together the information they had gathered:
- the Duroses who could trace their families back far enough all ended up in the small area around Uttoxeter – in the villages of Bramshall, Leigh or Milwich;
- the family had been - and still are - land owners in the area for many years at least as far back as the 1500s;
- the name does not feature in the standard work on French surnames, although there are quite a number that are similar.
One researcher had read the VCH (Victoria County History) for Staffordshire and reported an interesting entry – a person called William Deuros had been given accommodation at St Thomas’s (Abbey?) in Stafford at the request of the Crown in 1535. He was described as an aged and infirm royal servant.
This turned out to be a false clue as the person was William de Ros (and the year should have been 1315), who died a year later at the sister Abbey of Kirkham, near his Yorkshire estate. However, it did give an accidental clue to the probable date and reason for the first Durose having come to England – the Durose ‘ancestor’.
The Huguenot theory was already looking unlikely, because Staffordshire was not an area for their immigration, neither was the farming community.
I was starting to think that there could be Norman links, since most English people with French surnames are either Huguenot or Norman. I wondered about links to the de Ros family and one person with whom I exchanged information thought I might be a variant of Devereaux. I discounted both of these ideas for various reasons.
I was thinking that the origin of the name would remain a mystery, when I saw a program on TV, presented by Professor Richard Holmes, about the battle of Bosworth (1485). He said that Henry Tudor’s army was mainly French – so I began to wonder if this could be the explanation and so I read a history book about the period.
Henry Tudor had been in exile in Brittany, so I began looking in that area and to try looking into some French web sites. One said that the name had its origin in the Armorican coast and it was a variant of Duros.
I found a Daniel Duros of Dinan, who had published his family tree on the Internet and he told me that the family had once been important in Brittany and that it had a connection with the town of Lanildut.
Lanildut turned out to be only a few miles from the place where Henry Tudor was shipwrecked (le Conquet), so I thought I might be on the right lines. The town has an active local history circle, which has been very helpful in providing information. I also found a discussion group onYahoo in France concerning the Breton Nobility, through which I made contact with a lady called Yvette le Stanc-Roussin, who has been studying her family history for many years and has du Ros ancestors on both maternal and paternal sides.
Mme Roussin had good sources of information, including one of the top Breton historians, Yves Lulzac, who has written a major 4 volume work (5th volume soon to be published) on the forgotten chronicles of the Breton manors, especially those of the Leon.
There are very few Duroses in France, but all in this area or originating there; the Duros spelling is slightly more frequent, but tends to be further away from the manor that is its origin. The Leon is the area now forming the northern half of the Department of Finistere – its main town is Brest. Its religious centre is St Pol-de-Leon and other larger towns include Landerneau, Lesneven, Morlaix etc. In the middle ages and under the ancien regime, Finistere did not exist – Leon was a county and the administrative unit was the diocese. St Pol de Leon was founded by Pol Aurelian; a saint probably related to Ambrosius Aurelianus.
“du” in French means “of the” with a masculine noun but the French word for rose is feminine, so it would be “de la Rose”. Du Rose could mean ‘of the reed’, but this name does not exist and would not make sense.
The name originates in a single family, who occupied the manor called le Ros, which is also spelled le Roz. Roz is a Breton word and Breton is the language of Britain from before the coming of the Anglo-Saxons and English; it is similar to Welsh and virtually identical to the nearly extinct Cornish. In this language, Roz means a hill – often a headland overlooking the sea. The equivalent in Welsh would be “Rhos”. So the name means ‘of the hill’ or ‘of the headland’
Which manor?
There is some question as to which manor du Ros is the origin of the name. A family called du Ros lived in the manor of that name at the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th. Parish registers of Porspoder record the death of Anne Pellen at the age of 60 at the manoir du Ros. She was the wife of Jean Le Ros, brother of François Le Ros. This may have been a simple co-incidence that caused the researcher of Breton surnames to conclude that the family took its name from there.
However, much earlier documents record a family du Ros in the manor of the same name in the nearby village of Treglonou. This goes back to the 14th century and is much more likely to be the origin of the name. This was hidden from the surname researchers because the name of the manor was changed in 1682 to Trouzilit.
In old documents the name varies according to how much it is translated into French or latin:
BretonAr Ros or An Ros
Partial Frenchdu Ros or le Ros
Fully Frenchdu Tertre
LatinTumuli
In Brittany, the use of ‘de, du or de la’ together with the name of a place as part of a name indicated nobility – that the family was, or had been in the past lords of that place. Du, de or de la was referred to as the particule. When families had moved on from the original domain, or where there were branches in different areas, a second particule would be added as a surname, such as ‘de Kersauzon de Penandreff’, de Rodellec du Porzic’ or ‘du Roz de Mesmean’. Such double particules were considered to belong to the oldest of families.
The names of other families with whom the French Duroses had connections in Brittany had different Breton / French versions (an Traon / le Traon / du Val; also de Penfentenyo / de Cheffontaines; and de Portzmoguer / Primauguet)
This derivation of the name is confirmed in the reference book ‘Breton surnames of toponymic origin’, a copy of which is in the family history and genealogy section of the Library of Congress, WashingtonDC. It is considered to be a reliable work by a renowned Breton scholar, F Gourvil – but you would need to know where to look and the book is very difficult to track down. There are 293 place names in Finistere featuring the word Roz, such as Kerros (Hill house) and Lanros (Hermitage or church hill).
Madame Roussin is a dedicated genealogist and a member of the CGF in Brest (Genealogical Centre of Finistere) and the Yahoo group ‘Noblesse Bretonne’ through which I contacted her. A teacher of English from Landerneau, Michel Durose, has been in touch with one of the family researchers who lives in Surrey and has now also joined the CGF. He has found that he and Mme Roussin have common ancestors Goulven du Ros and his wife Jeanne Benjamin.
Mme Roussin has prepared a 100-page study of the du Ros branch of her genealogy and the families with which they are connected, which is of interest to a number of researchers in the area. She has sent me a copy, which is in French and to which I have been able to make a small contribution. It is lodged at the CGF for the use of other genealogists.
A historian, who has a doctorate from the Sorbonne, is also interested in the family history because his wife is descended from them. He has been working independently of Mme Roussin and has discovered additional facts.
He has published his work on the internet at (this page has now been removed)
Summary of the history of the Durose / du Roz(s) family of Brittany, which was an independent Duchy until 1532, when it became part of France.
The du Roz family has an entry in the Nobiliare of Pol Potier de Courcy as follows:
Coat of Arms – Red, with a sword in Silver posed en barre; point uppermost.
Du Roz (in French Du Tertre), Lord of Mesmean, Parish of Ploudalmezeau and of Garzjahan, parish of Plouvien.
Reformations and Musters of 1427 to 1534, parishes of Plouvien, Ploudalmezeau, Plouguin and Kernouez, diocese of Leon.
Lord of Kergratias was “deboute” at the Reformation of 1669 in the jurisdiction of Lesneven.
NOTE – the nobility were exempt from taxation in return for military service. The reformations ensured than nobody claimed this without justification – either letters patent signed by the Duke or later King of France or proof that they were of ancient extraction - descended from the first noble families of Brittany. The Musters (Montres) were gatherings where they had to turn out with their equipment – horse, armour, sword etc. This was on a scale according to their income from land rents. They did not work the land themselves, but had farmers or other nobles who paid rents. However, the farmers owned the buildings and farm equipment, so there were never any serfs as in France or England. The Reformation of 1669 had two purposes: to weed out ‘false’ nobles and to raise money. True nobles who could not provide the necessary documentation were ‘deboute’ – this involved a fine of as much as 400 livres.
1200 – A du Ros is witness to the founding of the Abbey of St Meen.
1320 – A document exists signed by Pope John XXII, appointing a Pierre du Tertre Canon of Saint Malo. This is almost certainly a du Roz, because he previously had a post at Cleder – see below and St Pol de Leon: he was a Leonard.
1380 – the marriage of Marie du Roz, dame of Kersullien (manor near Cleder) with Auffroy Derian, lord of Pratalan in Plouider. Auffroy was the son or brother of Prigent, who was a knight in the retinue of Olivier de Clisson, constable of France.
Their son Yvon (French equivalent of Owen or Owain) married around 1400 with Basile de Coetaudon, dame of Kermenguy and of Kerarbret;. He was captain of Brehat in 1407 and commanded 15 knights in 1420 and in 1424 commanded a company of 22 men at arms, 13 archers and 3 crossbowmen. He is present at the muster of Bourges in 1418. The company would have been in the service of the king of France against the English. Their son Yves marries Marguerite de Saint-Denis around 1440 – Then their Louis marries Meance de Kerliviry; whose son Tanguy married Plezou de Launay.
NOTE – This family changed its name to de Kermenguy and still exists. M Sabine de Kermenguy is involved in a society to preserve the family manor. One of his ancestors was a famous genealogist and historian and he has an illustrated family tree going all the way back to the marriage in 1380 and has been kind enough to send me a photo of it.
This family Derien is said to descend from a younger son Derrien or Dergen of the king or duke of Brittany, - of Alain le grand, who drove the Vikings from the country.
1381 – A du Ros is one of the c200 signatories of the second Treaty of Guerande. This brought to an end the War of Breton Succession. The du Ros would almost certainly have been on the de Montfort side along with the du Chastels. This treaty was so important that it was taken around the Duchy so that all the important families could sign it.
1430 – Jehan or Jean du Roz is the second husband of Catherine de Quilbignon daughter of Amice de Kergroades and Yvon de Quilbignon, sénéchal (steward) of the Lordship of Kerusas – issue of the house of Coatenes in Plouzané marries around 1410 (Amice was the widow of Herve de Kermenou who married around 1400 and daughter of Robert de Kergroades.
NOTE – Catherine de Quibignon was the grand daughter of Hamon II of Kergroadez and Jeanne du Chastel and hence the great great granddaughter of Tanguy du Chastel. These are very illustrious names – Quilbignons gave their name to the town of the same name; in the middle ages more important than Brest, of which it is now a suburb. The family of Kergroadez did not play a great role in history, but after the extinction of the senior branch of the du Chastels they became the leading family of the area and were famous for their bounty to the poor, their tenants and the church. Their castle, the Chateau de Kergroadez has been restored and can be visited.
It is difficult to overstate the status of the du Chastels. Through the marriage of Bernard du Chastel after his return from the crusades to the heiress of the viscounts of Leon, they obtained vast estates and the castle of Tremazan. The name of Tanguy du Chastel is probably one of the most famous in Breton history there have several of that name who distinguished themselves in the service of the Duke and Kings of France.
This Tanguy was a general in the army of the de Montforts in the Breton civil war c1350. He took the side of the de Montforts against the claims of de Blois and won the battle of la Roche Derrien with English help. Another Tanguy was provost of Paris and governor of Roussillon. A Guillaume du Chastel was a trusted servant of the King of France and died saving his life. He is buried at the Basilica of Saint Denis in Paris with the kings of France, one of only two persons other than monarchs to have been buried there.
Another Tanguy was an ambassador of both the Duke of Brittany (Francis II) and of the King of France and was present at the engagement of Edward IV of England.
Brest is a modern town as a result of virtual destruction in WWII. Two of the medieval remains in the town are the bastille de Quilbignon and Tanguy’s tower, which is a museum; named for Tanguy du Chastel.
Brittany had adopted the French feudal system and the du Chastels were the feudal overlords of the Manor du Roz in Lanildut. Although the ‘other’ manor du Ros in Treglonou had the de Rohans as overlords, they had by then inherited the du Chastels lands and titles. The du Roz appeared at the musters alongside the Seigneur du Chastel and both manors formed part of the coastal defences of the Leon by controlling the entry into the Aber Ildut and the Aber Wrac’h. There is a military emplacement a few yards away from the manor, which was in ruins in the 1770s, but has been restored and is inhabited. It is very likely that members of the du Roz family would have been present at some of the events with which the du Chastels were involved.
The family de Kerlec’h was a branch of the du Chastels (specifically a “ramage” – which indicates direct male descendants, who changed their name as part of a marriage contract) and provided godparents and witnesses at a number of du Roz christenings and weddings in later centuries.
According to an old Breton saying, the du Chastels were one of the 4 great families of the Leon: The antiquity of Penhoet; the wealth of Kermavan; the chivalry of Kergournadeac’h; the bravery of the Chastel.
Jehan du Roz is the son of Yvon du Roz and Marie le Hellez, who rendered account to the lordship of Keroulas in 1436 and 1459 for their lands of Kerdelvaz in Larret.
(Ref: Lulzac – chronicles and letter).
1448 Jehan du Roz is Lord of Garzjahan at the tax reformation of parish of Plouvien
(ref Ployen dec’h hag hirio; volume 1
1471 – Henry Tudor is shipwrecked at Le Conquet after fleeing with his uncle Jasper via Tenby after Lancastrian defeat at Tewkesbury in the Wars of the Roses. He is 14 and has spent most of his life at Pembroke castle for protection. They are kept in safety in various places for nearly 14 years. After complaints by the kings of England and France, who would both like to get their hands on him for different reasons, their English bodyguard is replaced by Bretons under the command of Jean du Quelennec, Admiral of Brittany at the ducal castle of Suscinio. They are later moved to the castles of Elven and Josselin under the command of the de Rieux family.