Henry de Ferrers

Henry de Ferrers (also known as Henri de Ferrières) was a Norman soldier from a noble family who took part in the conquest of England and is believed to have fought at the Battle of Hastings of 1066 and, in consequence, was rewarded with much land in the subdued nation.

His elder brother William (French: Guillaume) fell in the battle. William and Henri were both sons of Vauquelin de Ferrers (d. ca. 1040) Seigneur of Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire, Eure in Upper Normandy. The Ferrers family holding at Ferrières-Saint-Hilaire was the caput of their large Norman barony.

Henry became a major land holder and was granted 210 manors throughout England and Wales, but notably in Derbyshire and Leicestershire, by King William for his conspicuous bravery and support at Hastings.

He first served William I as castellan of Stafford, and in about 1066 or 1067 he was granted the lands in Berkshire and Wiltshire of Goderic, former sheriff of Berkshire, and, by the end of 1068 he also held the lands of Bondi the Staller in present-day Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, and Essex. He is thought to have been appointed the first Anglo-Norman High Sheriff of Berkshire.

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