'William de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey' (
1166 –
1240), otherwise known as 'William Plantagenet', was the son of
Hamelin de Warenne (Plantagenet) and Isabel, daughter of
William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey. His father Hamelin granted him the manor of
Appleby, North Lincolnshire.
De Warenne was present at the coronation of King
John of England on
May 27,
1199. When Normandy was lost to the French in 1204 he lost his Norman holdings, (in 1202 he was lieutenant of
Gascony), but John recompensed him with
Grantham and
Stamford.
His first tenure of office as
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports began in 1204, and lasted until 1206. He was also a Warden of Welch marches between 1208-1213.
William was one of the few barons who remained loyal to King John (who was his cousin) during the king's difficulties with the barons, when they sought for the French prince to assume the English throne, and is listed as one of those who advised John to accede to the
Magna Carta. His allegiance only faltered a few times when the king's cause looked hopeless.
In March, 1217 he again demonstrated his loyalty to England by supporting the young King Henry III, he was also responsible for the establishment of the cathedral at
Salisbury.
Between the years 1200-1208, and during 1213-1226 he was to serve as the Sheriff of Wiltshire. In 1214 he was again appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.
Family
He married Maud, eldest daughter and later co-heiress of
William Marshal, and widow of
Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, thus becoming by marriage the Earl of Salisbury. They had a son and a daughter. The son
John succeeded his father as earl, while the daughter, Isabel, married
Hugh d'Aubigny, 5th Earl of Arundel.
William may also have had an earlier, childless marriage to another Matilda, daughter of
William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel.
Source
★ ''Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700'' by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines: 69-28, 76-28, 83-27.