Gilicze János: A földeáki Návay család története (Régi magyar családok 5. Debrecen, 2006)

Abstract

János Gilicze The History of the Návay Family of Földeák The Návay (Návoy) family lived in Hont and Nógrád Counties at the end of the 17

th century and the beginning of the 18

th century. At that time, there were four sons in the family, János, Pál, István and György, who played a significant role in the early history of the family. János Návay, after graduating from Szent István Szeminárium [Saint Stephen Seminary] was ordained to be a priest in 1703. After that he served in Nagyoroszi, Rimócz, Gács, Patak and Vadkert as a parish priest, then he became the dean of Nógrád in 1713. In the very same year he was invited to lead the parish in Szeged, which he accepted. During his office he came into conflict with his bishop and the city of Szeged on several occasions. As a result he had to leave his position in Szeged in 1719. For a short period of time he worked in Debrecen as a parish priest and then in Nagyvárad [Orodea] as a canon. It was him who bought Földeák from the royal treasury for 4,500 silver forints. In the deed of gift he named his brother, György and his nephew, József as his heirs. His brother, Pál Návay lived in Korpon and Bozok. At the beginning he worked for the Sréter-Bezegh family as a farm bailiff, then as the farm steward of the Bozok provostship named after Szent István [Saint Stephen] and as the farm steward of the Bozok domain of the Seminary of Nagyszombat. Pál Návay applied for nobility for himself, for his children, László, Magdolna and Borbála and for his brothers, István and György; they were raised to nobility as a gift by Joseph I on 30

th March 1711. The third brother, István Návay was managing the lands of his brother, János, who was a canon. The fourth brother, György Návay moved to Földeák at the time when Csanád County was beginning to revive after the Turks. The nobility, who were scarce in number, held their first 'generalis congregation', i.e. general assembly, on the urge of György Návay in 1730. At this event, the county was formed officially, and Návay first served as a tax-collector, and later as a sub-prefect commissioned by the lord lieutenant. Földeák was owned by György Návay and József, the son of his deceased brother, Pál. György, whose intention was to become the sole owner of the lands, was not satisfied with this state of affairs. The two relatives became engaged in a series of lawsuits lasting for several years; finally they divided Földeák between themselves following the judge's decision and an agreement between them. The lawsuit did not come to an end, though. György Návay and, after József s death, György's sons were suing József s daughters. The subject of the lawsuit was the sole ownership of Földeák again, and the sons managed to force an agreement and win the case in a short time. In 1744 Antal, Mihály and Pál Návay were sued. Now it was the descendants of the Toldi-Kállay family who demanded ownership over Földeák, but their claim was rejected by the court of justice of Csanád County in 1777. Earlier György Návay and later his son, Pál made an attempt at obtaining other lands. They aimed at acquiring the matrilineal Botka family's Transdanu-