The De Warrenne Family



Arms of The Warrene Earls of Surrey  
Personal Arms of Hamelin, who adopted the De Warrene Name and Arms

  The de Warenne family were a noble family in England that included the first Earls of Surrey, created by William the Conqueror in 1088 for William de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey, who was among his companions at the Battle of Hastings. The family originated in Normandy and, as Earls, held land there and throughout England. When the senior male-line ended in the mid-12th century, the descendants of their heiress adopted the Warenne surname and continue as Earls of Surrey for another two centuries. Several junior lines also held land or prominent offices in England and Normandy.

An account of the life of William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey (1088-1138) known as the Warenne Chronicle was written shortly after 1157, probably for his granddaughter Isabel de Warenne, Countess of Surrey and her husband William of Blois, Count of Boulogne. He had a brother Ralph who joined in charters with the 1st and 2nd Earls in the 1130s and 1140s, including a donations to Longueville and Bellencombe Priories, near Rouen, Normandy, and to the family's foundation, Lewes Priory in Sussex, England, the latter being secured with a lock of hair from his own and from Ralph's head cut by Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester, before the altar of the priory church. The family held the Earldom of Surrey for three generations, before William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey, died on crusade in 1148, leaving an only daughter and heiress, who married successively William of Blois, the son of King Stephen.

After William of Blois's death, she married Hamelin, illegitimate son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou, half-brother of king Henry II of England, and uncle of kings Richard I & John. Hamelin would go on to adopt the Warenne surname and give rise to a second line of Surrey Earls that lasted until the death of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey in 1347. The Warenne Earls were called Earl de Warenne at least as often as Earl of Surrey; but they received the 'third penny' of Surrey. This means that they were entitled to one third of the county court fines. The numbering of the earls follows the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography; some sources number Isabel's husbands as the fourth and fifth earls, increasing the numbering of the later earls by one. 

William de Warrenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, through his grandfather Geoffrey Plantagenet, he was first cousin to kings Richard and John, and first cousin (once removed) to king Henry III. His father Hamelin de Warenne was actually an illegitimate son of Geoffrey who married Isabel de Warenne and adopted the surname. Therefore, he inherited royal connections through his paternal line and the Earldom of Surrey through his maternal line, a very powerful combination. De Warenne was present at the coronation of John, King of England on 27 May 1199. When Normandy was lost to the French in 1204 he lost his Norman holdings (in 1202 he was lieutenant of Gascony), but John recompensed him with lordship over the important towns of Grantham and Stamford. Such generous grants were not surprising for a royal cousin who posed no threat to the throne. (WIKIPEDIA, FOR ABOVE & BELOW***)

The Earls of Surrey:

Other Members:

 

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