The Vavasour family are an

English Catholic The Catholic Church in England and Wales (; ) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See. Its origins date from the 6th century, when Pope Gregory I through a Roman missionary and Benedictine monk, Augustine, ...

family whose history dates back to

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

times. There are several branches of the family, some of whom have intermarried with other notable Catholic families, and are descended from William le Vavasour.

History

They are featured on the

Battle Abbey Roll The Battle Abbey Roll is a commemorative list, lost since at least the 16th century, of the companions of William the Conqueror, which had been erected or affixed as a memorial within Battle Abbey, Battle of Hastings, Hastings, founded ''ex-voto' ...

and lived at

Hazlewood Castle Hazlewood Castle is a country residence, now a hotel, in North Yorkshire, England, by the A1 and A64 between Aberford and Tadcaster. It is one of the oldest fortified houses to survive in the whole of Yorkshire. The site overlooked the batt ...

from the time of the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

until 1908. The Vavasours are of Anglo-Norman descent and the various branches of the family are said to have descended from William le Vavasour, paternal grandfather of

Maud le Vavasour, Baroness Butler Maud 'Matilda' le Vavasour, Baroness Butler (c. 24 June 1176 – 1225) was an Anglo-Norman heiress and the wife of Fulk FitzWarin, a medieval landed gentleman who was forced to become an outlaw in the early 13th century, who is allegedly linke ...

. During the years between the

English Reformation The English Reformation began in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away first from the authority of the pope and bishops Oath_of_Supremacy, over the King and then from some doctrines and practices of the Catholic Church ...

up until the Catholic Emancipation, the Vavasours were noted as a

recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

family for remaining staunchly Catholic despite being fined numerous times. By showing up at services several times a year and pretending to conform to Anglicanism, they largely escaped persecution and managed to retain their property and wealth. In 1985, the Vavasour family established Vavasour Wines, a

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

in the Awatere Valley of

Marlborough Marlborough or the Marlborough may refer to: Places Australia * Marlborough, Queensland * Principality of Marlborough, a short-lived micronation in 1993 * Marlborough Highway, Tasmania; Malborough was an historic name for the place at the sou ...

, New Zealand.

Notable members of the family

Thomas Vavasour Thomas Vavasour (born about 1536–7 – died at Kingston upon Hull, 2 May 1585) was an English Roman Catholic physician, and pensioner of St John's College, Cambridge. Life On 25 June 1549, at the disputations held before the king's commission ...

(about 1536-7–2 May 1585) was a physician and

of the reign of

Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

. *

Anne Vavasour Anne Vavasour ( – ) was a maid of honour (1580–81) to Queen Elizabeth I of England, a member of the Vavasour family and the mistress of two aristocratic men. Her first lover was Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, by whom she had an illegit ...

(c.1560 – c.1650) was a Maid of Honour to

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, and the mistress of two aristocratic men. One was

Edward de Vere Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron o ...

, with whom she had a child, and for which she was locked in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

. *

(1560 - 1620) was

Knight Marshal The Knight Marshal is a former office in the British Royal Household established by Henry III in 1236. The position later became a Deputy to the Earl Marshal from the reign of Henry VIII until the office was abolished in 1846. The Knight Marsha ...

James I James I may refer to: People *James I of Aragon (1208–1276) * James I of Sicily or James II of Aragon (1267–1327) * James I, Count of La Marche (1319–1362), Count of Ponthieu * James I, Count of Urgell (1321–1347) *James I of Cyprus (1334� ...

Baronets (1628 Baronetcy of Hazlewood, Yorkshire)

The first (and now extinct) Vavasour

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

cy. *Thomas Vavasour, 1st Bt. (24 October 1628 - before 1636) *Walter Vavasour, 2nd Bt. (before 1636 - after 1666) *Walter Vavasour, 3rd Bt. (after 1666 - 16 February 1713) *Walter Vavasour, 4th Bt. (1713 - May 1740) *Walter Vavasour, 5th Bt. (1740 - 13 April 1766) *Walter Vavasour, 6th Bt. (1766 - 3 November 1802) *Thomas Vavasour, 7th Bt. (1802 - 20 January 1826) The baronetcy became extinct upon the death of the 7th baronet.

Baronets (1828 Baronetcy of Hazlewood, Yorkshire)

The fifth creation of the Vavasour baronetcy and the only one still extant. * Hon. Sir Edward Marmaduke Joseph Stourton, 1st Bt. (1786-1847) (created Baronet in 1828) * Sir Edward Marmaduke Joseph Vavasour, 2nd Bt. (1815-1885) * Sir William Edward Joseph Vavasour, 3rd Bt. (1845-1915) * Sir Leonard Pius Vavasour, 4th Bt. (1881-1961) * Sir Geoffrey William Vavasour, 5th Bt. (1914-1997) * Sir Eric Michel Joseph Marmaduke Vavasour, 6th Bt. (born 3 January 1953)

References

External links

Vavasour Wines
Stourton family English families Anglo-Norman families {{England-bio-stub