In the British Isles has been found as far inland as Montgomeryshire on the River Severn, Dinas Mawddwy on the River Dovey and Garstang on the River Wyre.
His uncle John Garstang excited the young Gurney's interest in Hittite studies, then in its infancy, and after a course in Akkadian at Oxford University in 1934-35, he went to the University of Berlin to study Hittite under Hans Ehelolf.
Garstang was the son of the marine biologist Professor Walter Garstang and his wife Lucy (née Ackroyd).
At a similar time, during the period 1145-1154, a major enfeoffment by Roger de Mowbray put William in control, or perhaps just confirmed his control, of what would become the Barony of Kendal, plus Warton, Garstang, and Wyresdale in Lancashire, as well as Horton in Ribblesdale and "Londsdale".