HADDON : THE HALL, THE MANOR. AND ITS LORDS. 3 



It appears that some of these possessions came to the family 

 of Ferrers, Earls of Derby, by the marriage of Robert de Ferrers 

 with Margaret Peverel, eldest daughter and co-heiress of William 

 Peverel the third, and on the forfeiture of William Peverel, 

 these lands were held direct from the Crown. -Haddon 

 and other po.ssessions in Derbyshire had been granted by one 

 of the Pe\erels — apparently the second William — to one Avenel- 

 lus, one of his knights, who was one of the witnesses to the 

 foundation charter of Lenton Priory, in 1102. The records of 

 the Avenels of Haddon are somewhat .scanty, but they appear in 

 local charters until the reign of Edward I., more particularly in 

 the records of Middleton and Youlgreave, in which they occur 

 as residents and owners of lands in those places. 



In the reign of Henry III. William Avenel granted Meadow 

 Place and Conkesbury, with land in Over Haddon, to the Abbey 

 of Leicester. The Avenels were one of the great Xorman 

 families and hereditary seneschals of the Counts of IMortaine. 

 William the Seneschal was one of the Conqueror's companions, 

 and fought at Hastings, but he does not appear to have been 

 ver}' amply rewarded for his services, though afterwards this 

 family became possessors of considerable property in various 

 parts of the kingdom. They are found at an early date in the 

 counties of Bedford, Gloucester, Cambridge, Devon, Leicester, 



etc The earliest record in the possession of the 



Duke of Rutland, and very probably the earliest existing at the 

 present time, relating to Haddon, is a charter in the form of 

 an agreement, or fine, between William Avenel of Haddon, and 

 his two sons-in-law', Richard de Vernon and Simon Basset, w^ho 

 had married his two daughters and co-heirs, Avice and 

 Elizabeth; this deed measures 6 3^ in. liy 5 in., but it has un- 

 fortunately suffered from time and exposure, in consequence of 

 which it is somewhat difficult to decipher. As this is a most 

 interesting and important record, a translation of it is given 

 as follows : — 



" Be it known to all, as well present as to come, that I, 

 William Avenel. have entered into an agreement with Richard 



