Vernon Family Origins in the Peak District
The earliest known Vernon to reside in the Peak District was Sir Richard de Vernon (d. c1214), lineal descendant of the first Richard de Vernon who arrived in England in 1066. Though a lack of contemporary evidence makes determining their exact relationship problematic, he was most likely the first Richard's great-great-grandson - see the Vernon Family Tree pages for a fuller account of the descendancy.
Sir Richard de Vernon first appears in a charter of 1167-1169 in Lincolnshire, where he was fined for taking possession of lands without assize - probably lands that he had inherited from his mother, elsewhere named as Matilda. He married Avice Avenel, co-heiress of William Avenel of Haddon in Derbyshire, before 1181, and possibly as early as 1171, and thereafter Haddon became the principal seat of the Vernon family for around 400 years. Indeed, a branch of the family has continued to reside at Haddon ever since, the property passing to the Dukes of Rutland through the marriage of the heiress Dorothy Vernon to Sir John Manners, second Earl of Rutland, in 1563. Haddon Hall has thus been in the possession of the same family (first the Avenels, then Vernons and now Manners), for over 900 years.
During the 400-year tenure of the Vernons at Haddon, junior branches of the family spread into neighbouring parts of the county, and indeed across all England. Sir William de Vernon IV of Haddon settled the manor of Hazlebadge near Bradwell in the Peak District on his younger son Richard, who resided there at least from 1467 until his death in 1523.
This Richard Vernon, esquire of Hazlebadge thus became the progenitor of the Vernons of Tideswell and the neighbouring parishes. His son, Richard Vernon esquire the younger, inherited his father's land in Derbyshire, including at Ford in Chapel-en-le-Frith, where his great-grandson Francis Vernon was known to be living in 1626. Francis Vernon later moved to neighbouring Sparrowpit, becoming the progenitor of the Vernon family of Sparrowpit in the parish of Peak Forest, who were one of the principal families in that area in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Sir Richard de Vernon first appears in a charter of 1167-1169 in Lincolnshire, where he was fined for taking possession of lands without assize - probably lands that he had inherited from his mother, elsewhere named as Matilda. He married Avice Avenel, co-heiress of William Avenel of Haddon in Derbyshire, before 1181, and possibly as early as 1171, and thereafter Haddon became the principal seat of the Vernon family for around 400 years. Indeed, a branch of the family has continued to reside at Haddon ever since, the property passing to the Dukes of Rutland through the marriage of the heiress Dorothy Vernon to Sir John Manners, second Earl of Rutland, in 1563. Haddon Hall has thus been in the possession of the same family (first the Avenels, then Vernons and now Manners), for over 900 years.
During the 400-year tenure of the Vernons at Haddon, junior branches of the family spread into neighbouring parts of the county, and indeed across all England. Sir William de Vernon IV of Haddon settled the manor of Hazlebadge near Bradwell in the Peak District on his younger son Richard, who resided there at least from 1467 until his death in 1523.
This Richard Vernon, esquire of Hazlebadge thus became the progenitor of the Vernons of Tideswell and the neighbouring parishes. His son, Richard Vernon esquire the younger, inherited his father's land in Derbyshire, including at Ford in Chapel-en-le-Frith, where his great-grandson Francis Vernon was known to be living in 1626. Francis Vernon later moved to neighbouring Sparrowpit, becoming the progenitor of the Vernon family of Sparrowpit in the parish of Peak Forest, who were one of the principal families in that area in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.