William Paynel was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and baron.
Early life
Paynel was the son of Ralph Paynel, who was a tenant-in-chief listed in Domesday Book with lands in Yorkshire. Ralph also held Middle Rasen in Lincolnshire as well as lands in Normandy – Les Moutiers-Hubert in the Calvados region and Hambye in the Manche region. Besides William, Ralph was the father of Jordan and Alexander. Jordan died before their father and without heirs. Ralph died by 1124, at which time William Paynel, the eldest surviving son, inherited his father's lands including those at Drax in Yorkshire. Other lands held by Ralph and William were Hooton Pagnell also in Yorkshire. The lands at Drax, combined with those at Hooton Pagnell, are considered a barony under the name of Hooton Pagnell, and passed to William from his father.
Service to Matilda
In September 1136, Paynel's castle at Les Moutiers-Hubert was attacked by Count Geoffrey of Anjou, husband of Empress Matilda. Matilda was the only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I of England, but at Henry's death in 1135, her cousin Stephen of Blois had seized the throne of England and secured Normandy as well. In 1136 Matilda and her husband contested Stephen's seizure of both England and Normandy, starting a civil war usually known as The Anarchy that lasted most of Stephen's reign from 1135 to 1154. By 1140, Paynel was a supporter of the Empress Matilda's efforts to gain the throne of England. In late 1140 he was named Matilda's castellan for Nottingham Castle, which had just been captured by Matilda's half-brother Robert of Gloucester. At the end of Lent in 1142 William Peverel seized the castle for the king's forces while Paynel was absent visiting the Empress. After Paynel's death, his sons were also supporters of the Empress, and lost control of Drax for this support, but by 1154 Hugh and Fulk split some of the English and Norman lands between themselves.
Paynel married twice. His first wife was a daughter of William fitzWimund. His second wife was Avice, the widow of William de Courcy and daughter of William Meschin. By his first wife, Paynel had four sons – Hugh, Fulk, Thomas and John. A daughter named Gertrude may possibly also be from this first marriage. The second marriage produced a daughter, Alice, who was Paynel's principal heiress. Hugh and Fulk received small portions of lands in England and also Paynel's lands in Normandy. Hambye in the Cotenin went to Fulk and Les Moutiers-Hubert went to Hugh. Alice received the lands at Drax and Hooton Pagnell, and married twice, first to Richard de Courcy and second to Robert de Gant.
