 Henry de Ferrers, son of Walchelin de Ferrieres and Mahaut de Durbury.BORN_SHORT 1036, DIED_SHORT 1101, 64 or 65 years Sir Henry de Ferrers Accompanied William the Conqueror during his invasion of England. The family was rewarded with a grant of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire and 114 manors in Derbyshire. Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrières) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation. His elder brother William fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Walkeline de Ferrers (d. ca. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in Upper Normandy. The Ferrers family holding at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings. He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire. Following this, in 1070 was the Wapentake of Appletree, which covered a large part of south Derbyshire, granted to Henry on the promotion of Hugh d'Avranches to become Earl of Chester. At the centre of this was Tutbury Castle where he rebuilt and founded the priory in 1080. His major landholdings, however, were those of the Anglo-Saxon Siward Barn, following a revolt in 1071, including more land in Berkshire and Essex and also Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. These included part of the wapentakes of Litchurch and Morleyston, which contained an area later to be known as Duffield Frith. To command an important crossing over the Derwent he built Duffield Castle. In the wapentake of Hamston was the west bank of the River Dove, where he built Pilsbury Castle. Both these were of typical Norman timber motte and bailey construction. The latter history of Pilsbury is unknown, but Duffield was rebuilt as a stone fortress sometime in the Twelfth century. He was a key administrator in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and among the most powerful Anglo‑Norman magnates. In 1086 he was a legatus ('commissioner’) on the West Midland circuit of the Domesday survey. Henry had by his wife, Bertha, three sons - Enguenulf, William and Robert. A daughter, Amicia, married Nigel d'Aubigny, probably the brother of Henry I's butler. Henry had built Duffield Castle to protect and administer the Frith, and he placed it in the charge of Enguenulf.[9] Meanwhile William inherited the family's Norman estates. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai. The date of Henry de Ferrers' death is uncertain, but it would seem to be between 1093 and 1100. He was buried in Tutbury Priory. Enguenulf died shortly afterwards and the English estate passed to Robert, who King Stephen later made the first Earl of Derby. His family tree is well researched and various people are said to be descended from this line. These include George the First, Lady Diana, George Washington, and Winston Churchill, and likely the actress Mia Farrow, a daughter of the Australian film director John Farrow, a descendant of the Farrows of Norfolk, England. Marriage/ Related to:  Bertha de l’AigleBORN_SHORT 1040 Children: | |||
1) Amice de FerrersBORN_SHORT 1063 Ferrieres-St-Hilaire, Eure, Normandy, France Alternate Birth; Abt 1068, Darley, Derbyshire, England | |||
2) Robert de FerrersBORN_SHORT ± 1062 Derbyshire, England, DIED_SHORT 1139, approximately 77 years Robert I de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby (c. 1062 – 1139) was born in Derbyshire, England, a younger son of Henry de Ferrières and his wife Bertha Roberts (I'Aigle). His father, born in Ferrières, Normandy, France accompanied William the Conqueror during his invasion of England. The family was rewarded with a grant of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire and 114 manors in Derbyshire. Robert's elder brother William's main interests were in France. He joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai. His other brother Engenulf died shortly after his father and so Robert succeeded to the estates in 1088. From the beginning, he gave great support to Henry I. As part of his tenure of Duffield Frith in 1129–30, he is on record as having interests in lead mines at Wirksworth. At about this time he granted the church of Potterspury, Northamptonshire, to Bernard the Scribe. It is, however, during his last years that he is most in evidence as a leading supporter of King Stephen He took a large body of Derbyshire men northwards to assist in repelling an invasion of the Scots under King David I of Scotland, nominally on the behalf of Matilda. Little actual fighting took place, but Thurstan, Archbishop of York, won the Battle of the Standard on Stephen's behalf, fought near Northallerton, on 22, August, 1138. Robert was mainly instrumental in securing the victory for his Sovereign, who for this and other important services created him Earl of Derby, although charters and chronicles during this period refer to him interchangeably as Earl Ferrers, earl of Nottingham or earl of Derby. He died in the following year (1139) and was succeeded in his earldom by his second but eldest surviving son Robert de Ferrers, 2nd Earl of Derby often known as Robert de Ferrars the Younger. As with most Norman lords, the Ferrers brought their Norman underlords to England with them – in this case, the Curzon (of Kedleston), Livet (Levett) and Boscherville (Baskerville) families, who held their fiefs in Normandy from the Ferrers, and who subsequently held their English lands from Ferrers as well. (The undertenant family names derive from Notre-Dame-de-Courson, Livet-en-Ouche and Boscherville, all part of the Ferrers barony in Normandy.) These undertenant retained their ties to the Ferrers after the families had moved to England following the Norman Conquest | |||
3) William de FerrersHe joined Robert Curthose and was captured at Tinchebrai. | |||
4) Engenulf de FerrersDied shortly after his father and so Robert succeeded to the estates in 1088 | |||
N.N. Marriage/ Related to: N.N. | |||