Pierrpont is an ancient Norman name that arrived in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Pierrpont family lived in Sussex. Their name, however, is a reference to Pierrepont, near St. Sauveur in the Cotentin, Normandy, the family's place of residence prior to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. [1]
The surname Pierrpont was first found in Sussex where they were granted lands by William the Conqueror for their assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.
They were from Pierrepont near St. Sauveur in the Cotentin in Normandy. Reginald, Geoffrey and Robert Pierpont accompanied William into England and were granted lands in Suffolk and 9,000 acres in Sussex under the Earl Warren. [2]
The family it seemed had extensive property and holdings from an early date as seen by this account: "Robert de Pierrepoint was a person of such extensive property that being made a prisoner fighting on the side of King Henry III at the Battle of Lewes [1264], he was forced to give security for the payment of then great sum of seven hundred marks for his ransom." [3]
In England, the mark never appeared as a coin but was a unit of account and was worth about 160 pence shortly after the Conquest. Based on a value of two-thirds of a pound, and converting to the price of silver, the ransom was about 267 dollars x 700 = Pierrpont186,900 USD in today's value.
This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Pierrpont research. Another 90 words (6 lines of text) covering the years 1452, 1546, 1615, 1662, 1690, 1655, 1726, 1607, 1680, 1607, 1678, 1640, 1660, 1659, 1640, 1645, 1652, 1638, 1681, 1660, 1685, 1659, 1714, 1649, 1715, 1698 and 1705 are included under the topic Early Pierrpont History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.
Endless spelling variations are a prevailing characteristic of Norman surnames. Old and Middle English lacked any definite spelling rules, and the introduction of Norman French added an unfamiliar ingredient to the English linguistic stew. French and Latin, the languages of the court, also influenced spellings. Finally, Medieval scribes generally spelled words according to how they sounded, so one person was often referred to by different spellings in different documents. The name has been spelled Pierrponte, Pierrepont, Pierrpont, Pierrponte, Pierreponte, Pierpont, Pierponte, Pierrpoint, Pierrpointe, Pierpoint, Pierpointe, Pearpont, Pearpoint, Pearpointe, Perpoint, Perpointe and many more.
Outstanding amongst the family at this time was Henry Pierrepont (died 1452), MP for Nottinghamshire; Henry Pierrepont (1546-1615), English MP for Nottinghamshire; William Pierrepont, 4th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull (c. 1662-1690), British peer and Member of Parliament; Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull (c. 1655-1726), Member of Parliament for East Retford; Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester (1607-1680), English peer; William Pierrepont (c. 1607-1678), an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1640 and...
Another 79 words (6 lines of text) are included under the topic Early Pierrpont Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.