has been said (as the name might imply) to
have been really a natural son of William the Conqueror himself, {28f}
but the more generally accepted version is that Fitz-Goderic was his
father. Sir William Fitz-William accompanied the Duke of Normandy to
England as Marshal of his army, and for his bravery at the battle of
Hastings the Conqueror gave him a scarf from his own arm. A descendant,
in the reign of Elizabeth, was thrice Lord Lieutenant of Ireland; he was
also Governor of Fotheringhay Castle when the unfortunate Queen Mary of
Scotland was imprisoned there, and before she was beheaded she gave him a
portrait of herself, which is still preserved at Milton House, near
Peterborough, one of the seats of the Earls Fitz-William, who now
represent the family, Baron of Milton being their second title. A Patent
of Edward IV. (A.D. 1461) {28g} shows that Richard Fitz-William had the
privilege granted to him by that King of "free warren" at Ulceby, near
Alford.

An Inquisition in the reign of Henry VII. {29a} (A.D. 1502) shows that
Thomas Fitz-William held the manors of Mavis Enderby, Maidenwell and
Mablethorpe. The list of magistrates for the county in the reign of
Henry VIII. {29b} contains the name of George Fitz-William along with
Lionel Dymoke, Lord Willoughby, and others; while an Inquisition held
five years later {29c} shews that Thomas Fitz-William held the
aforementioned manor of Ulceby, by the "service of 1 falcon annually to
the King." Sir William Fitz-William in the same reign {29d} was Lord
High Admiral. John Fitz-William is named in the Herald's list of county
gentry in the 16th century as residing at Skidbrook, a hamlet of
Saltfleet Haven, {29e} and William Fitz-William, Esq., supplied "one
lance and two light horse" when the Spanish Armada was expected to invade
England, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. {29f} William Fitz-William of
Mablethorpe {29g} married, in 1536, Elizabeth daughter of Sir Robert
Tyrwhitt, of Kettlethorpe, a member of a very old Lincolnshire family,
still owning property in this neighbourhood; and in 1644 Sir William
Wentworth, {29h} a scion of a younger branch, married Elizabeth, daughter
and co-heir of Thomas Savile, of Wakefield, whose family we have already
mentioned as connected with Horncastle.

In 1620 the head of the Fitz-William family was created an Irish Peer; in
1742 the 3rd Baron was made Baron Milton in the peerage of Great Britain;
and, 4 years later, Earl Fitz-Willi