of Warenne · ◉ direct ancestor
♂Hamelin of Warenne
Dates not yet known.
Hamelin of Warenne (born before 1151 – died April 1202) was an English earl, an illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou and half-brother of King Henry II, who became Earl Warenne, or Earl of Surrey, by his marriage to the heiress Isabel de Warenne and took her family’s name as his own. He was the twenty-fourth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006), through his daughter Maud de Warenne.
Earl Warenne
Hamelin was born before 1151, a son of Geoffrey of AnjouW; his mother’s name is not known. In 1164 he married Isabel de Warenne, the childless widow of William de Blois. Isabel was the heiress of the Warenne earls of SurreyW, and through her Hamelin was recognized as Earl Warenne. He took up the Warenne name, so that the king’s brother is remembered as Hamelin de Warenne rather than Hamelin Plantagenet.
In the king’s service
Hamelin was a captain of the king’s forces in 1173–1174, the years of the great revolt against Henry IIW. He served Henry’s son as well: in 1193 he was one of the commissioners for the release of King Richard I from captivity, and at Richard’s second coronation, on 17 April 1194, he carried the second sword.
Family and death
Their daughter Maud de Warenne married Henry, Count of Eu. Isabel died on 13 July 1199 and was buried at Lewes PrioryW. Hamelin died in April 1202.
Notes
Sources
Hamelin’s parentage, his birth before 1151, his marriage, his recognition as Earl Warenne, his taking of his wife’s family name, his offices and his death, and Isabel’s death and burial, are given in the first edition of the Complete Peerage (vol. 7, 1896, under Surrey, p. 326), which styles him “Hamelin Plantagenet, afterwards de Warenne”. Douglas Richardson’s Plantagenet Ancestry (p. 3) places him among Geoffrey’s illegitimate children “by an unknown mistress”. The marriage of their daughter Maud to Henry, Count of Eu, is in the second edition of the Complete Peerage (vol. 5, 1926, under Eu, p. 159).
The descent through John Washburn
The line from Hamelin to Nancy Jane Blanchard runs through his daughter Maud and her descendants to John Washburn of Bengeworth, who died in 1547. That the John Washburn of the pedigrees was this man is the identification of the Washbournes’ historian, James Davenport, not a record’s, so the descent through him is probable.
Family time line
Recorded events
| Event | When | Where | Evidence ?on record - the record itself, its image, or a transcript or printed copy of it has been read from a compiled source - an index, a printed genealogy or a memorial page says so not yet documented - in the family record, no source attached yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title (Nobility) Earl of Warenne (Complete Peerage, vol. v (1926) ESSEX pp.113, 121-122; EU pp.156-160 - parentage clauses) |
from a compiled source |
Sources
- Cokayne, G. E., The Complete Peerage, new ed., ed. Vicary Gibbs et al., vol. 5 (London: St Catherine Press, 1926) — Title (Nobility), about this person, family with Isabel de Warenne
- Cokayne, G. E., Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, 1st ed., vol. 7 (London: George Bell & Sons, 1896) — about this person
Line of descent
- Geoffrey of Anjou 1113–1151
- not yet known