General Notes

Complete Peerage, IV Appendix I.

Of William Peverel of Nottingham, the elder, very little is known.  He isusually said to have been an illegitimate son of the Conqueror, but asthis statement cannot be traced farther back than to the time of theTudors, it is worth little, or nothing.  His wife's name was Adeline, andhe had at least four children -- William, who dvp., another William, whosucceeded him, and two daughters, Maud, and Adelise, wife of Richard deReviers.  The Conqueror gave him extensive possessions, afterwards knownas the honour of Peverel, consisting of about 100 lordships in cos. Nottsand Northants, 14 in co. Derby, and some 20 in cos. Bucks, Leicester,Oxford, Beds, Berks, and Essex.  He founded the Priory of St. James atNottingham and that of Lenton in the same county.  In the foundationchater of the latter he stated that it was founded. . .  He died 28 Jan1113/4.  [Complete Peerage IV:Appendix I, pp. 761-2]

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The following information was excerpted from a post-em by Curt Hofemann,curt_hofemann@yahoo.com:

The claim has been made that William Peverel was a bastard son of Williamthe Conqueror.  The source for this is an old pedigree in which Peverelappears to have been added to the family of William.  There is no otherdocumentation which presents a relationship supporting Peverel'splacement as a royal bastard (there are a few grants from the king, butthere is no indication that these represent anything special).  Inaddition, William had no other documented bastards, which suggests thatif he did have any, he didn't bother keeping track of them.  The morerecent authors that I have seen have tended not to favor such arelationship as being accurate. [Ref: TAF 15 Nov 1996]

Derbyshire and the Domesday Book in 1086
   William de Peverel, the next major land holder in Derbyshire, wassomewhat of a mystery. There are strong claims he was the bastard son ofDuke William of Normandy in a relationship with Maud, daughter of a Saxonnoble, Ingleric. Whether this lady was married to Ranulph? before orafter the relationship is uncertain. The difficulty in the argument isone of timing. If he, William Peveral, appears in 1068 in charge ofNottingham Castle, he must have been at least twenty years old. Thatmakes this liaison between Duke William and Maud somewhere around 1046and must have been in Normandy. This is supported by both William and hishalf brother, Ranulf, both being of age, were recorded at the Battle ofHastings. Nevertheless, William Peveral became the holder of NottinghamCastle, and a further 162 lordships and manors throughout England andWales, including the Peak Castle in Derbyshire, all granted by DukeWilliam of Normandy. The grant almost blended the distinction of the twocounties, Nottingham and Derby and courts of assize were held alternatelybetween the two jurisdictions. The royal relationship of William Peveralwas further clouded by Ranulph Peverel, legitmate son of Maud andRanulph, half brother of William, possibly treated (theoretically) as astepson? of the Duke, who, surprisingly, was granted 64 manors, almost asmany as William Peverel (69 manors) in Nottingham. From Ranulph isdescended the distinguished baronial family of Peverel and its manybranches. William Peverel, on the other hand, married Adelina, daughterof Roger de Poitou (see Earl of Lancaster, and Lancashire and theDomesday, on this Web Site) and acquired, through her, many lordships inLancashire, probably a few years after the Domesday around 1094 or soonafter. when Roger died.  William was succeeded by his second son, WilliamPeverel.

   This Peverel mystery could all be wrapped up with some smallconjecture. Maud could have been a Saxon lady who was in the train ofEdward the Confessor in his thirty year exile in Normandy, and, after theliaison with the Duke, Maud later married Ranulph, a Norman noble inNormandy.  This latter's background is unclear, but he must obviouslyhave made the grade at the Norman Court. Hence, both half brothers wereof age, and at the Battle of Hastings with the Duke. The Duke was notwithout favour to both.

William Peverel Holdings; Derbyshire 1086:  Abney, Bolsover Bradwell,Codnor, Glapwell, Hazlebadge, Heanor, Hucklow, Langley, Litton, Shirland,South Normanton, South Wingfield, Uftonfields [Ref:http://www.genealogyweb.com/Derbyshire.htm]

In 1086 the Doomsday book was produced and a publication on this book wasproduced (edited) by Thomas Hinde and published by Hutchinson, ISBN 09161830 4... From page 338 it gives a list of major landholders and, onpage 341

are two very intriguing entries :
Ranulf Peverel, married former mistress of William I (the Conqueror).
Holdings in Berks., Norfolk, Oxon. and Suffolk.
William Peverel. Perhaps illegitimate son of William I by his mistress;took name of Peverel from stepfather, who married her. Large holdings inNotts. and Derbys. Also in six other counties. [Ref: Leo van de Pas 1 Jan2001]

   William Peverel is shown in Domesday People by Keats-Rohan as WillelmPeurel de Nottingeham, where it says of him, that there is no directevidence of any relationship with Ranulf Peverel... but it is highlylikely they were related and possibly quite closely. They both heldlordships in west Normandy, Ranuld at Vengeons, Manche, Sourdeval, andWilliam at "Turgistorp". He had a brother, Robert, and by his wifeAdeline, he had issue two sons named William, of whom one predeceasedhim, and a daughter Adeliz who married Richard I de Redvers. He died 28Jan 1113/14.

   Ranulf Peuerel was from Vengeons. His wife Athelida was a confrater ofSt Albans. Keats-Rohan refers to the "spurious account of this marriage,with Ranulf's wife converted into an Ingelrica, mistress of William I, asprinted in Mon. Ang. iii, is unworthy of repetition". His successor washis son William, died before 1129/30. [Ref: Renia Simmonds 2 Jan 2001]

   "William the Conqueror" by David C Douglas, Yale University Press, NewHaven and London 1964, reprinted 1999 makes no mention of any mistress orbastard children of William the Conqueror. Neither are the Peverelsmentioned.

In case anyone is still curious about the legend, a discussion of WilliamPeverel's parentage by the Victorian herald, J.R.Planche, is on PatPatterson's site at:

http://patpnyc.com/reading.shtml
Planche actually defends the story that William Peverel was anillegitimate son of the Conqueror, despite its having already beenrejected by "Eaton" (Eyton?), and by Freeman, "with contempt andindignation". The only sources cited for the story are post-medieval, andPlanche's least tenuous piece of corroborative evidence seems to be thatWilliam Peverel, when founding a priory, made no provision for hisparents' souls, but did so for the souls of King William and QueenMatilda, with other members of the royal family. (If anything, this seemsto be an argument in favour of his being a "legitimate" son of theConqueror!) [Ref: Chris Phillips 2 Jan 2001]

Name Suffix:<NSFX> Of Nottingham
Name Suffix:<NSFX> Of Nottingham
Complete Peerage, IV Appendix I.

Of William Peverel of Nottingham, the elder, very little is known.  He is usually said to have been an illegitimate son of the Conqueror, but as this statement cannot be traced farther back than to the time of the Tudors, it is worth little, or nothing.  His wife's name was Adeline, and hehad at least four children -- William, who dvp., another William, who succeededhim, and two daughters, Maud, andAdelise, wife of Richard de Reviers.  The Conqueror gave him extensive possessions, afterwards known as the honour of Peverel, consisting of about 100 lordships in cos. Notts and Northants, 14 in co. Derby, and some 20 in cos. Bucks, Leicester, Oxford, Beds, Berks, and Essex.  He founded the Priory of St. James atNottingham and that of Lenton in the same county.  In the foundation chater ofthe latter he stated that it was founded. . .He died 28 Jan 1113/4.  [Complete Peerage IV:Appendix I, pp. 761-2]

The following information was excerpted from a post-em by CurtHofemann, curt_hofemann@yahoo.com:

The claim has been made that William Peverel was a bastard son of William the Conqueror.  The source for this is an oldpedigree in which Peverel appears to have been added to the family of William.There is no other documentation which presents a relationship supporting Peverel's placement as a royal bastard (there are a few grants from the king, but there is no indication that theserepresent anything special).  In addition, William had no other documented bastards, which suggests that if he did have any, hedidn't bother keeping track of them.  The more recent authors that I have seenhave tended not to favor sucha relationship as being accurate. [Ref: TAF 15 Nov 1996]

Derbyshire and theDomesday Book in 1086
William de Peverel, the next major land holder in Derbyshire, was somewhat of a mystery. There are strongclaims he was the bastard son of Duke William of Normandy in a relationship with Maud, daughter of a Saxon noble, Ingleric. Whether this lady was married to Ranulph? before or after the relationship is uncertain. The difficulty in the argument is one of timing. If he, William Peveral, appears in 1068 in charge of Nottingham Castle, he must have been at least twenty years old. That makes thisliaison between Duke Williamand Maud somewhere around 1046 and must have been in Normandy. This is supported by both William and his half brother, Ranulf, both being of age, were recorded at the Battle of Hastings. Nevertheless, WilliamPeveral became the holder of Nottingham Castle, and a further 162 lordships andmanors throughout England and Wales, including the Peak Castle in Derbyshire,all granted by Duke Williamof Normandy. The grant almost blended the distinction of the two counties, Nottingham and Derby and courts of assize were held alternately between the two jurisdictions. The royal relationship of William Peveral was further clouded by Ranulph Peverel, legitmate son of Maud and Ranulph, half brother of William, possibly treated (theoretically) as a stepson? of the Duke, who, surprisingly, wasgranted 64 manors, almost as many as William Peverel(69 manors) in Nottingham. From Ranulph is descended the distinguished baronialfamily of Peverel and its many branches. William Peverel, on the other hand, married Adelina, daughter of Roger de Poitou (see Earl of Lancaster, and Lancashire and the Domesday, on this Web Site) and acquired, through her, many lordships in Lancashire, probably a few years after the Domesday around 1094 or soon after. when Roger died.  William was succeeded by his second son, William Peverel.

This Peverel mystery could all be wrapped up with some small conjecture.Maud could have been a Saxon lady who was in the train of Edward the Confessorin his thirty year exile in Normandy, and, after the liaison with the Duke, Maud later married Ranulph, a Norman noble in Norman