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Ralph Bainard came from Saint-Leger-des-Rôtes, Eure, in Upper Normandy.
Sometime after 1072 he became sheriff of Essex and London, giving his name to
Baynard’s Castle where he was castellan. Most of his lands were in Essex forming
the later barony of Little Dunmow. In Corbett’s categorization he was a Class B
landholder (£400-£650). His antecessor in Norfolk was a woman called Aethelgyth.
He had married someone from the Beorhtnoth family. 110 Like Geoffrey de
Mandeville, he probably did not join the Battle of Hastings. He received his lands in
Essex around 1067. Bainard also held some important estates in some strategically
important places.
The needs of coastal defence seem to have played a part in
shaping the settlement, for the major local landholders held
important manors in demesne near the Thames estuary or the
coast: West Ham (Robert Gernon and Ranulf Peverel), East
Ham (Robert Gernon), West Thurrock (William Peverel), West
Tilbury (Suein), Fobbing (Count Eustace), then a group of
estates held by Suein; Burnham (Ralph Bainard), Dawn Hall
(Ranulf Peverel). 111
At this point it must be kept in mind that royal castellans did not have to hold castles
in their honours. Similarly, although Ralph Bainard was royal castellan in London,
his honour was centred in Essex, where probably he held no castle. 112
Hugh II de Montfort was lord of Montfort-sur-Risle in Normandy. 113 He
joined the 1066 expedition. He had a close relationship with the Conqueror and was
one of his constables. In 1067, when the king went to Normandy for a victory tour,
Hugh de Montfort, like William FitzOsbern, Odo Bishop of Bayeux, William de
Warenne, and Hugh de Grandmesnil, was given an administrative role in the
110
Green, Aristocracy, p. 37-8, 82-3; Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, p. 327; Sanders, English
Baronies, p. 129.
111
Green, Aristocracy, p. 82.
112
Ibid., p. 181. He is addressed in some of William I’s charters concerning Essex and London,
probably as sheriff: Regesta (Bates), nos. 128, 182, 313. His violence as sheriff of Essex is
mentioned: ibid., no. 324. He also appears as a witness: ibid., nos. 82, 150.
113
Douglas, William, p. 88.
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