Hamelin de Ballon, 1st Baron Abergavenny

He was a son of Drogo (or Dru) de Ballon and was accompanied to England by his brothers, Wynebald de Ballon (or Winebald de Ballon), and Wynoc.

"Three of the name, the sons of Drogo de Baladon, Hamelin, Wynoc, and Wynebald (the Guinebaud de Balon of the Dives Roll) came to England with the Conqueror. Hamelin received vast grants in Wales and Cornwall, and built a strong castle at Abergavenny, now".[4] It is not known if he was present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, but he and his brothers certainly came to England with the Conqueror.

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Biography

Wikipedia contributors, 'Hamelin de Ballon', Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 23 June 2023, 18:13 UTC, < link > [accessed 3 April 2024]

Hamelin de Ballon (or Baalun, Baalan, Balun, Balodun, Balon, etc.)[1] (born ca. 1060,[2] died 5 March 1105/6) was an early Norman Baron and the first Baron Abergavenny and Lord of Over Gwent and Abergavenny; he also served William Rufus.[3]

Hamelin de Ballon and his brother Wynebald de Ballon appear first to have come to England during the reign of William II. Wynebald was granted lands in Gloucestershire and Somerset out of those forfeited by Turstin FitzRolf, and was made seneschal of Caerleon, referring to himself as one of Henry I's most important noblemen. Hamelin was given lands in southeast Wales, in what was to become the Welsh Marches, and in Wiltshire, where he held Castle Eaton, Cheverel and Sutton. He sited the early motte and bailey version of Abergavenny Castle and organised the early Norman protection of the settlement of what became the town of Abergavenny. Together with his brother Wynebald, he also founded the Benedictine Priory in the town as an alien cell of St Vincent, Le Mans, ca. 1100. He was already a benefactor of the latter foundation.[3][4]

Hamelin had two sons, William de Ballon and Matthew de Ballon, both of whom predeceased him without issue.[5] His heirs were thus his two daughters. Emmeline de Ballon married Reginald, son of Roger, Earl of Hereford. His other daughter's name is unknown, but she was the mother of Hugh de Gundeville, administrator and justiciar of king Henry II.[6]

Hamelin was succeeded in some of the lands and the de facto title Baron Abergavenny by a favourite of king Henry I of England, Brian Fitz Count, who held it, like his other lands, in right of his wife.[7]

Family

Chapter 8. LORDS of ABERGAVENNY

http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/WALES.htm#_Toc389126145

• 1. DREUX de Baladon . Seigneur de Baladon (in Maine). m ---. The name of Dreux´s wife is not known. Dreux & his wife had [seven] children:
  • a) HAMELIN de Ballon [Baladon] (-5 Mar after 1101, bur Abergavenny Priory). … Hamelin & his wife had four children:
    • i) GUILLAUME . “Hamelinus de Baladone” donated property “ad castrum…meum…Bergevenis” to Saint-Vincent du Mans by charter dated to after 1100, subscribed by “…Hamelini de Baladone, Agnetis uxoris eius, Wilhelmi filii Hamelini, Mathei filii eiusdem Hamelini”[819].
    • ii) MATHIEU . “Hamelinus de Baladone” donated property “ad castrum…meum…Bergevenis” to Saint-Vincent du Mans by charter dated to after 1100, subscribed by “…Hamelini de Baladone, Agnetis uxoris eius, Wilhelmi filii Hamelini, Mathei filii eiusdem Hamelini”[820].
    • iii) EMMELINE . Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the military fee certifications in the Red Book of the Exchequer, in 1166, which record the knights´ fees held from "Willelmus filius Reginaldi" in Herefordshire and name "Hamelinus de Balun avus suus"[821]. The cartulary of Godstow includes an undated charter under which “Reginaldus filius Rogeri comitis Herefordiæ et Emelina uxor sua” and “filios et filias meas Wilelmum…Reginaldum et Hamelinum necnon Agnetem et Julianam” donated property “Eatonam” to Godstow[822]. A charter of Richard I King of England confirmed donations to Godstow nunnery, Oxfordshire including the donation by “Reginaldi filii comitis et Emelinæ uxoris eius…hæredum suorum Eatonam”, by undated charter[823]. m RENAUD, son of ROGER Earl of Hereford & his wife - (-after [1130]).
    • iv) daughter . The parentage, alternative possible husbands, and descendants of this second daughter of Hamelin de Ballon well into the 14th century were identified by Rosie Bevan[824]. The descent leads through the Gundeville and Murdac families, who jointly held property rights with the descendants of Emmeline, Hamelin´s daughter, to Limesey, Cromhall/Walton, and London/Tinsley/Eyre/Bolingbroke/le Bret.

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References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamelin_de_Ballon cites
   1. The name is usually modernised to conform with the modern French cartographic spelling of Ballon, Sarthe
   2. Hamelin de Barham; Hamelin de Ballon (Balun / Baeluns), lord of Much Marcle, Herefordshire; lord of Abergavenny , on site Monastice Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
   3. J. Horace Round, "The Family of Ballon and the Conquest of South Wales", Studies in Peerage and Family History (1901), pp. 181-215.
   4. Event detail for site: Abergavenny c. 1100: Foundation, on site Monastice Wales. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
   5. Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.66, feudal barony of Much Marcle, note 2
   6. "Lost in Time: the other daughter of Hamelin de Ballon". Foundations v.3, no.3 (2010) 179-215 https://www.academia.edu/1818131/Lost_in_Time_the_other_daughter_of...
   7. Round, J. Horace (1885). "Fitzcount, Brian" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 1. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. a penny of King William I struck at Rhuddlan or maybe Abergavenny
3. < “ The Battle Abbey Roll. Vol. I.” > by The Duchess of Cleveland. Prepared by Michael A. Linton. “ Baloun : Baalun, or Baladon—Leland mis-spells it Bealum—from the castle of Balaon or Baladon in Normandy, which as Orderic informs us, was garrisoned in 1088 by William Rufus. Three of the name, the sons of Drogo de Baladon, Hamelin, Wynoc, and Wynebald (the Guinebaud de Balon of the Dives Roll) came to England with the Conqueror. Hamelin received vast grants in Wales and Cornwall, and built a strong castle at Abergavenny, now “The rent Norman tower that overhangs The lucid Esk:—“ as a shapeless and shattered ruin. Being one of the strongholds of the ruthless Lords Marcher, it was the scene of many a deed of blood and violence, and Giraldus avers "that it was dishonoured by treason oftener than any other castle in Wales." …
4. “The children of Dru (Ballon) de Ballon” (7 Mar 2022) < Wikitree GTG >