Richard De Vernon

Leftwich Hall, Davenham, Cheshire

The lords of Vernon were of the house of Reviers or Redvers, and their castle of Vernon was located in the arrondissement of Evreux, which was very strong and celebrated in the l1th and 12th centuries. Roger was baron of Vernon c. 1030, at which time his daughter, Blithildis, was married, who, in 1082, granted to Holy Trinity at Caen the lands at Vernon, which had been given to her by her father. This grant was made with the consent of her nephew, William, then lord of Vernon. This William had recovered Vernon, formerly granted by duke William c. 1040, to count Guy of Burgundy, of which he was the seignior between 1050 and 1052, and from whom descended the barons of Vernon, who held sixty-one knights' fees. M. le Prevost says it was Richard, William's eldest son and heir, to whom duke William gave Vernon in 1050, and that he accompanied the duke to the conquest of England. However this may be, Richard certainly possessed it later when he was head of the family. He and Walter, sons of William, appear in Cheshire in 1086 (Domesday), where the former held sixteen lordships. Walter was a tenant-in-chief in Buckinghamshire and is supposed to have left no heirs, while the third and less known brother Huard or Alured de Vernon was a mesne-lord in Suffolk in 1086 (Domesday). These three members of the family are recorded to have been at the conquest of England, and Richard in 1074 confirmed at Vernon a charter of his uncle Hugh, to the abbey of Jumieges. He was one of the palatine barons of Hugh Lupus and "had a castle at Shipbrook on the Wever, which commanded its passes." Richard is not referred to by Wace, unless the "sire de Neauhou" (1. 13556) is intended for him. Nehou passed from the viscounts of St-Sauveur to the Vernons and a Richard de Vernon in the Red book of the Exchequer is returned as holding the honour of Nehou by the service of ten knights' fees and having the custody of the castle of Vernon, who was beyond doubt this Richard. --(This name appears on the Falaise Roll)

Before the Conquest the Lords of Leftwich held lands at Shipbroke. After the Conquest the Barony of Shipbroke passed to Richard De Vernon. Through marriage into the Winnington family the Leftwich’s recovered their Barony and ancestral home of Leftwich Hall. Richard De Leftwich, the son of Robert De Winnington and his second wife Matilda, a daughter of the Vernons inherited the manor.