HADDON : THE HALL, Tllli MANOR, AND ITS LORDS. 5 



but in or before the reign of Henry VI. it became \ested by 

 purchase in the Vernons. 



In consequence of this agreement, or settlement, a portion 

 of Haddon and other property became vested, after the death 



of William Avenel, in the family of Vernon This 



family derived its name from the castle of Vernon, now a Com- 

 mune in the Department of E\reux. A Roger was Baron of 

 Vernon about 1030, whose grandson, William, recovered Vernon 

 (which had been granted to Count Guy of Burgundy), and from 

 him descended the Barons of Vernon. Two of his sons, Richard 

 and Walter, appear in Domesday, both holding lands in Cheshire. 

 Richard was one of the Barons of Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, 

 and had a castle at Shipbrook. He is said by Ormerod to have 

 been succeeded, in the fourth or fifth generation, by a second 

 Richard, from whose son William [Chief Justice of Chester 

 (1230-32),] all the legitimate lines of this family derive their 

 descent; and on the assumption of this connection, this attempt 

 to trace the succession of the Vernons of Haddon in the male 

 line will commence with 



Walter de Vernon, already referred to, who held, in 1086, 

 four manors of the Earl of Chester, and three manors of the 

 King in capite in Bucks. (Domesday.) This Walter was suc- 

 ceeded by another 



Walter, probably a grandson of the last-mentioned, who was 

 living. II Henry n. (Pipe Roll, Oxfordshire.) A deed in Shaw 

 shows that Walter de Vernon, a grandson of a former Walter, 

 was enfeoffed at Harlaston, by Matilda, Countess of Chester, 

 during her widowhood. Eyton says this took place between 

 1154 and 1 15 7. (Salt Collections.) The next in descent is 



Richard de Vernon, who married Avice, daughter and co-heiress 

 of William Avenel, of Haddon, to whom John, Earl of Moreton, 

 during his brother Richard's absence — probably in the Holy 

 Land — issued a license to strengthen, but not to fortify, his 

 house or mansion at Haddon, with a wall twelve feet high, of 

 which the following is a translation : — 



