Nigel d'Aubigny (died shortly bef. 1100K. S. B. Keats Rohan, ''Domesday People'', Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1999, p. 301.) was a Norman knight, and supporter of

William I of England William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was ...

. His name is frequently mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 in connection with lands in what is now

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

. He almost certainly built and lived in Cainhoe Castle, a small

motte-and-bailey A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively eas ...

structure to the east of

Ampthill Ampthill () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. It lies between Bedford, Bedfordshire, Bedford and Luton. At the 2021 census it had a population of 8,825. Histor ...

. The traditional placement of Nigel within the Norman Aubigny family is untenable, and Loyd instead suggested that he was son of William, lord of

Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny Saint-Martin-d'Aubigny () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. History The name of ''Aubigny'' is mentioned under diverse forms in Medieval Latin and in Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language s ...

, Normandy, and hence brother both of Richard d'Aubigny, monk of Lessay, abbot of St. Albans (d. 1119), and of Roger d'Aubigny, father of William d'Aubigny ''Pincerna''.L. Loyd, "The origin of the family of Aubigny of Cainhoe", ''Publications of the Bedfordshire Historical Record Society'', vol. xix (1937), pp. 101-109 He married Amicia, daughter of

Henry de Ferrers Henry de Ferrers (died by 1100), magnate and administrator, was a Normans, Norman who after the 1066 Norman conquest of England, Norman conquest was awarded extensive lands in England. Origins He was the eldest son of Vauquelin de Ferrers and i ...

, lord of Longueville, and a major landholder in England. Nigel and Amicia had children: Henry, his father's heir, William, Nigel, and Adeliza, probably wife of Richard Fitz Osborn.

References

1090s deaths Anglo-Normans 11th-century births {{England-bio-stub