Ancient DeVere Family

Ancient DeVere Family

The de Veres were an ancient dynastic family seated at their ancestral village of Ver (from which they took their name), near Bayeaux and the River Vire, in Manche on the Normandy coast of present-day northern France. The name of the town itself came from the "ver," a Norse word meaning "fishdam" that the Vikings had introduced into Normandy, and etymologically akin to the Old English word "weir" meaning a " fish dam," and originally spelled both "Wier" and "Wear" also, hence the diverse spellings of the FAMILY name. The early power and influence of this large family is evidenced by the extent to which they spread out from Normandy to the British Isles and the Netherlands (Van Wieren, Van deVere, Vandiver, etc...); but, despite their wealth and noble blood, historians today have lost track of many branches.

In the "Doomsday Book" of A.D. 1086, 3 deVere contemporaries are listed in England: Alberic de Vere Sr. ("Aubrey") of County Cambridge and Essex; Baldwin de Ver of County Oxford ("Baltredus" ?) and Henry deVer of County Suffolk. How were Baldwin and Henry related to Alberic?

Alberic ("Aubrey") de Vere (died 1088), from Ver, Normandy, married Beatrix, the Countess of Ghisnes, was in the Battle of Hastings and owned Castle Hedingham. They had 5 sons: Alberic II ("Aubrey", who died 1141); Geoffrey (died by 1088); Roger; Robert, Lord of Twiwell in Northampton; and William de Vere. Aubrey de Vere II (died 1141) married Adeliza de Clare (traced to Charlemagne) and had: Lord Aubrey III (1100-94), Earl of Oxford in 1142; Reverend William (Chancellor of England), Geoffery, Robert, and three daughters. Aubrey III fathered: Aubrey IV, Robert, William (died 1199), Henry, Adeliza, and Sarah. This line produced Earls of Oxford, Marquesses of Dublin, and Dukes of Ireland, etc...