William de Warenne 1st Earl of Surrey
d. 1088
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Family
About
The first William de Warenne is one of the very few men who can be proved to have fought beside the Conqueror at Hastings; he was rewarded with lands in thirteen counties and died an earl, mortally wounded besieging Pevensey. He is the documented head of the house.
Research notes
*** UPDATE - READ FIRST (15 Sep 2026): the ascent described below as a floor / end of line / note-only HAS SINCE BEEN WIRED - parents (or father) are now in the tree; see the dated layer at the END of this note for the sources, grades and any loops closed. The opening text is kept as audit trail. *** WILLIAM DE WARENNE, 1st Earl of SURREY (d.1088), proven companion of William the Conqueror at Hastings, Domesday magnate; m. Gundred; father of the 2nd Earl (our line). DOCUMENTED FLOOR: his Norman ancestry (Rodulf de Warenne) is left note-only, not wired. Standard well-documented Anglo-Norman comital genealogy per the cited authorities; contested rungs marked note-only, not hardened. || EXTENDED 14 Sep 2026, EYC VERIFIED FIRST-HAND (Early Yorkshire Charters vol.8, Clay 1949, archive.org YASES6, pp.1-3 + pedigree chart, resting on L.C. Loyd, 'The Origin of the Family of Warenne', YAJ xxxi (1934) 97-113): father RODULF DE WARENNE, charter-attested Holy Trinity Rouen / St-Amand / Preaux c.1030-1074 - GRADE ✓. Mother = BEATRICE, Rodulf's FIRST wife - GRADE ~ with an honest wrinkle: one Holy Trinity record styles Rodulf's sons Rodulf and William as appearing with the SECOND wife Emma, but Beatrice was living 1053 and William fought at Hastings, so he cannot be Emma's son (Loyd's argument, accepted by Clay and CP IX App. A). Beatrice as '[?] niece of duchess Gunnor' is queried even in Clay's own chart - the duchess-kin claim stays ~.