De preaux History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

The surname De preaux was first found in Essex where they held a family seat as Lords of the Manor. After the Battle of Hastings in 1066, William, Duke of Normandy, having prevailed over King Harold, granted most of Britain to his many victorious Barons. It was not uncommon to find a Baron, or a Bishop, with 60 or more Lordships scattered throughout the country. These he gave to his sons, nephews and other junior lines of his family and they became known as under-tenants. They adopted the Norman system of surnames which identified the under-tenant with his holdings so as to distinguish him from the senior stem of the family. After many rebellious wars between his Barons, Duke William, commissioned a census of all England to determine in 1086, settling once and for all, who held which land. He called the census the Domesday Book, 3 indicating that those holders registered would hold the land until the end of time. Hence, conjecturally, the surname is descended from an ancient Barony, from the Sucre Barons de Preaux.

Pierre de Préaux, (died 1212) was a Norman knight in the service of the Angevin kings of England. He held the tower and ville of Preaux as well as land at Darnétal. He accompanied King Richard on the Third Crusade in 1190 where he was the royal standard-bearer. He was appointed Seigneur des Iles by a Charter of King John on 14 January 1200, renewed on 21 June of the same year.

His brother Jean de Préaux (c. 1145 - after 1206) was a knight banneret, Baron de Préaux, Lord of the fiefdom of Stanton, Oxfordshire. In 1200, he founded the Augustinian Priory of Sainte-Marie de Beaulieu, confirmed by Robert Poulain, Archbishop from Rouen on 06/25/1221.