Research Notes:
Eyton states, [1]
Among the fourteen lay witnesses who attended [the Archdiaconal Chapter which, about A.D. 1115, sat at Castle Holgate under presidency of Richard Bishop of London] … [ftn. 5] were … Hamo Peverel and Warinus. The subject which engaged the Chapter's attention should also be remembered.--
It was the Parochial jurisdiction of Wenlock Priory, and the frequent attestations of subsequent Lords of Burwardsley, which appear in deeds concerning that House, will render it possible that the Warin, who attested about A.D. 1115, so attested with reference to some similar connection. At the same time we must mark the concurrent appearance of this Warin with Hamo Peverel and with the Viceroy of Henry I.
For the sake of showing my hypothesis to be free from chronological objections I must now notice the first occurrence of the sons of Warin de Metz. [ftn. 6]
Of these, Roger appears to have been the eldest, Fulk the second, and eventually chief of the family; and William, if rightly assumed to have been son of Warin, will have been younger than either.
The documents which suggest this view are as follows--A charter whereby Walcheline Maminoht (one of Hamo Peverel's coheirs) between the years 1136 and 1141 exchanged lands with the Abbot of Shrewsbury is attested by Roger Fitz Warin. [ftn. 7]--
A charter by which the same Walcheline, about the year 1145 granted Bradford Mill to Haughmond Abbey is attested by Roger Fitz Warin and Fulk his Brother. [ftn. 8]
Of the presumed third Brother, William, we do not hear so early, but when he at length occurs it is chiefly in connection with the coheirs of the Peverels.--
An act of restitution to Salop Abbey by Hugh de Dover and Matilda his wife (one of the said coheirs), and which passed between the years 1161 and 1172, is attested by William Fitz Warin of Burewasley. [ftn. 9]A similar and probably contemporaneous act by Ascelina de Walterville, another of the said coheirs, is also attested by William Fitz Warin of Burewardesley. [ftn. 10]
It was doubtless the individual under notice, in whose favour the following precept of Henry II issued early in that King's reign:--
"Henry King of England and Duke of Normandy to the Sheriff and his Ministers of Salopesire. I concede that William Fitz Warin may hold and have his assarts in Salopesire and may turn them to his profit at his own pleasure. Witness—The Chancellor at Faleise." [ftn. 11]
It was about this time (but specifically in 1170 or 1171) that Fulk Fitz-Warin I, the presumed elder brother of William, died. We are also fortunate in having proof that William was ere long succeeded at Broseley by another Warin. We thus complete a parallel between the two presumed brothers.
This Warin, the successor and almost surely the son of William, was a person of note in his day. The earliest mention I find of him is in a deed which passed while Peter was Prior of Wenlock, i.e. between the years 1169 and 1176. This deed is attested by Warin de Burwardesl' and Philip his brother. [ftn. 12]
ftn. 5. [Robert William Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire] Vol. I, pp. 217, 223.
ftn. 6. With the same view of preserving a clear chronology, I should also notice two mis-statements of the Fitz-Warin Chronicles. The first is, that Warin de Metz married as late as the accession of Owen Gwyned to the sceptre of North Wales, i. e. after 1137: the second is, that it was his son, Fulk Fitz-Warin I, who married Hawise de Dynan. It was Warin's grandson (Fulk II) who espoused that coheiress.
ftn. 7. Salop Chartulary, No. 28.
ftn. 8. Haughmond Chartulary, fo. 39; and Harl. MSS., 2188, fo. 123.
ftn. 9. Salop Chartulary, No. 30. is doubtless Thomas a Beeket, and so the
ftn. 10. Ibidem, No. 31. date of the precept probably May 1162.
ftn. 11. Dugdale's MSS. in Bibl. Ashmol., 12 Wenlock Register at Willey, fo. 7. vol. xvii, fo. 54, quoting evidences of Sir a Hot. Ftp. 22 Hen. II, Salop.C. Smyth, Knt. The attesting Chancellor is doubtless Thomas a Becket, and so the date of the precept probably May 1162.
ftn. 12. Wenlock Register at Willey, fo. 7.
[1] Robert William Eyton, Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 2 (London: 1855), 4-5, [GoogleBooks].