William fitzBaderon

William fitzBaderon (c. 1060/65? – before 1138) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman of Breton descent, who was lord of Monmouth between about 1082 and 1125. He was mentioned in the Domesday Book as being responsible for Monmouth Castle and ten other manors in the surrounding region, and was responsible in 1101 for the consecration of the town's Priory which had been established in 1075 by his uncle Withenoc.

Life He was the son of Baderon, a nobleman of La Boussac, near Dol in Brittany. Baderon was the son of Caradoc de la Boussac, a nobleman with estates near Dol in Brittany. Baderon's brother Withenoc (or Gwithenoc) was appointed lord of Monmouth by King William after the disgrace of Roger de Breteuil in 1075, and founded the Priory at Monmouth. The pious Withenoc then gave up his secular responsibilities in about 1082 to become a monk at Saumur, and, because his own son Raterius and his brother Baderon were also monks, the responsibilities fell on Baderon's son, William. Withenoc's responsibilities initially passed for a short time to Ranulf de Colville, perhaps because William had not yet reached adulthood.

In any event, by the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, William had become a major landowner. At Monmouth, he may have been responsible for completing the rebuilding of the original wooden motte and bailey castle in stone. William was of sufficient eminence to attract to the ceremony such notables as King Henry's chaplain, Bernard.

William married Hawise (or Hadwise), and was succeeded as lord of Monmouth by his eldest son, Baderon fitzWilliam of Monmouth, in about 1125. It is not known whether he died at that time, or retreated to a monastic life.