General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> 1st Baron Bohun of Taterford
Notes: is said to have been a kinsman and a companion in ar
ms of William the Conqueror. Humphrey was the godfather o
f William and was certainly close to him because we see th
e names of William, duchess Mathilde, and their children as
sociated with Humphrey's children. Old English books design
ate him Humfridus cum Barba or Humphrey with the Beard. Hi
s beard distinguished him from other Norman knights of th
e period because they habitually shaved. He was in possessi
on of the lordship of Taterford in Norfolk. This family ori
ginated from Bohon in the arrondissement of St. Lo in the C
otentin, Normandy, where there still exists St. Andre and S
t. Georges De Bohon. The mound of the old castle is still v
isible. Humphrey is reported in the chronicles of Wace as t
he companion of the Conqueror at Senlac. He is reputed to h
ave been a near kinsman of Duke William, but how or in wha
t degree is unknown. The fact remains that the witnesses t
o the Benedictine priory at St George's in 1092, were all m
embers of King William's immediate family or branches there
of.
Humphrey is mentioned in the Domesday Book (a great censu
s taken of all the lands and people in England as ordered b
y William, between 1080 and 1086) as a champion and defende
r of the throne, and as lord of Taterford in Norfolk. Muc
h of his wealth is attributed to the goodwill of William an
d the spoils of the campaigns, which was not a unique situa
tion. However, the possession of large estates and properti
es in England was not all fun; they were hard to protect fr
om raiders and warring lords. Humphrey probably also benefi
tted from Normandy's continued growth and profits from hi
s holdings