Genealogy Story – William the Conqueror (part 2)

In an earlier story (*1), I tried to trace a connection from the earliest de Pierrepont to the family line of William the Conqueror. This was unsuccessful, although I did establish a connection for the French line of the family (*2). This latter one was through an illegitimate great-grandson. I have now established a connection for the English line of the de Pierrepont family, interestingly although through an illegitimate son.

First, let’s trace the family line of the first American Pierpont, John, back about a dozen generations, but not all the way back to the first de Pierrepont. Note that these dates are taken from a tree in Wikitree and have slight variations from the ones in the official Pierpont family tree (*3). The names however are consistent on both places.

-       John (1617-1682) (see *4 and follow backwards from there)

-       James (1597-1634)

-       William (1547-1648)

-       George (1510-1564)

-       Sir William (1486-1533)

-       Frances (1455-1495)

-       Henry 1422-1457)

-       Sir Henry (1388-1452)

-       Sir Edmund (1346-1425)

-       Sir Edmund (1325-1370)

-       Sir Henry (1310-1334)

It’s here that we leave the paternal de Pierrepont line and branch off.

Sir Henry’s wife was Margaret Fitz William. The term Fitz is a French/Norman term meaning “son of” (*5), so Margaret’s father was named William. Here are the next few generations of that family line, through Margaret’s paternal side:

-       Margaret Fitz William (1302-) (*6)

-       Sir William Fitz William (1250-1338)

-       Sir William Fitz Thomas (1230-1298)

-       Sir Thomas Fitz William (1200-1266)

Here again, we leave the paternal line and follow the mother of Sir Thomas:

-       Ela (Adela) de Newburgh [Warenne] (1166-1240)

-       Hamelin (Plantagenet) de Warenne (1130-1202)

If you are student of English history, then you recognize that the Plantagenet name is the family name of the early English Kings. Hamelin was the son of Geoffrey (Plantagenet), Count d’Anjou (1113-1151) through an illegitimate, but well documented affair. Hamelin’s half-brother was Henry Plantagenet, also known as King Henry II!

However, the royal line came not through Henry’s father, Geoffrey, but through his mother, Matilda (Normandy) de Anjou. Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, and the granddaughter of William I, also known as William the Conqueror!

Thus, while the New England Pierponts have no bloodline connection (unless there is yet an undiscovered connection) to William the Conqueror, William is the great-grandfather of Henry II, and Henry is the half-brother of Hamelin, the great*13 grandfather of John Pierpont, the progenitor of all the New England Pierponts.

Notes

*1 - http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/03/genealogy-story-william-conqueror.html

*2 - http://ramblinrussells.blogspot.com/2017/03/genealogy-story-william-conqueror-and.html

*3 - http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rak//gen/pier/piergen.htm

*4 - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pierrepont-36

*5 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitz, this term was only used from about 1066 until the late 1200s

*6 - https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fitzwilliam-65