De Trafford baronets

The de Trafford Baronetcy, of Trafford Park in the County Palatine of Lancaster is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom.

The creation of Trafford: In April 1016, King Cnut Sweynson of Norway and his army swept North-West across Wessex. Cnut's Viking army was composed of mercenary soldiers from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Poland. They were led by a warrior named Rafe' or Ranulph. They fought and defeated the army of "Wolvernote", (likely Wolfnoth Cild, father of the future Earl Godwin), at the fortified village of Whickleswick, near the old Roman river crossing of trey-ford on the river Erwell.

In the spring of 1017 Cnut was crowned King of England. One of his early acts as king was to award the lands formerly controlled by "Wolvernote" to Ranulph and made him a lord. Ranulph established his demesne at tray-ford in a modest moated manor. He also took the name of the place, and became Ranulph, Lord of Tray-ford, later amended to Trafford. This begun the ancient family of Trafford. That manor would later be called "Trafford Hall" or "Moat House", seat of the Trafford family for the next 683 years. That manor at "Old Trafford” was finally torn down after 909 years, in 1926. The de Trafford family can trace their ancestry back to the 12th century. The family took their name from their manor of Trafford, now part of Greater Manchester.

Following the 1066 conquest by King William the 1st, the surviving Anglo-Saxon earls and lord barons continued to raise arms against the Norman Invaders, in what would be known as the rebellion of the earles. In the winter of 1070, Lord Radulphus of Trafford, led his combined armies against the Normans and defeated Sir Hamo de Massey's army at Tay Bridge, near Moberly in Chester. Between 1066 and 1070, the struggles resulted in the death of approximately 150,000 people, or one-fifth the total population of England. In 1129, Trafford's grandson married de Massey's granddaughter merging the two manors and their extensive land holdings.

Sir Hamo de Massey was a Norman knight/lord baron and nephew of King William I "the Conqueror". "Hamo de Mascy was the youngest son of William de La Ferte-Mace, viscount of the powerful Belleme (Bellamy) family of Normandy. William's oldest son was Baron Mathieu de La Ferte Mace. His middle son was Sir Hugue de Macey. All three sons were present at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and as a result were awarded land grants in England. At Hastings, Mathieu's rank was Baron, Hugue's rank was knight, and Hamo served as Mathieu's squire and commanded a force of 70 archers. Mathieu who commanded a force of 80 knights was killed in battle shortly after Hastings, in Shropshire. Hamo received Mathieu's grants in Cheshire and founded the Mascy (Massey) family. The seat of his holdings was the village of Dunham and his family lived at Dunham-Massey Hall. His title was Baron de Dunham. Massey was made one of the eight Barons of Chester, closest to Sir Hugh d’Avranches, Earl of Chester (also known as Hugh Lupus, Hugh de Gross). Hamo had been named the Baron of Dunham, seated at Dunham-Massey Hall in 1066, located about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Trafford Manor.

Following the defeat of Sir Hamo de Masse, the Earl of Chester, Sir Hugh d’Avranches, gathered his armies and began to lay waste to the lands of those who fought against Masse. Sir Hugh d’Avranches, the 1st Norman Earl of Cheshire was the maternal-nephew of King William and cousin of Hamo.

"In the bitter cold winter of 1069-70, north-east of Stockport, d’Avranch destroyed Chester, the second major city of the north, with its ancient trade links to Dublin. His army destroyed communities, dispossessed the people and laid waste to the countryside so that there was no support for the people fighting against him. Those Saxons of the eastern plain of Cheshire who were not killed fled westward for safety, leaving most of the east of Cheshire desolate for many years. The Domesday Book of 1086 recorded the wasted 'manors' along his route from York to Chester and Shrewsbury".

It is estimated that 75% of the population of Anglo-Scandinavians were killed or dispossessed in the harrying of the North. In 1086, Yorkshire and the North Riding still had large areas of waste territory. The Domesday Book entries indicate waste as est or hoc est vast (it is wasted) for estate after estate; in all a total of 60% of all holdings were waste. It states that 66% of all villages contained wasted manors. Even the prosperous areas of the county had lost 60% of its value compared to 1066. Only 25% of the population and plough teams remained with a reported loss of 80,000 oxen and 150,000 people.