Son of Hugues I 'cum barba' de Montfort-sur-Risle, Hugues II was present at the battle of Mortemer in 1054 and at the battle of Hastings in 1066. He was appointed Warden of Dover Castle and Constable of England in 1067. In 1088 he became a monk.
He was an early ally of William the Conqueror. In support of the invasion Hugh provided 50 ships and 60 knights. In return Hugh received lands in Essex, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk.
William was born about 1119, the son of William de Warenne, 2nd earl of Surrey, 2nd earl of Warenne, and Elisabeth de Vermandois. He married Ela de Ponthieu, daughter of Guillaume I Talvas, comte de Ponthieu et Alençon, and Hélie de Bourgogne. They had one child, their daughter Isabel, who was William's heir and would have progeny with her second husband, Hameline bâtard d'Anjou, earl of Surrey, vicomte de Touraine. He took the Warenne surname, and their descendants would carry on the earldom.
William was generally loyal to King Stephen. He fought at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, and was one of the leaders of the army that pursued Empress Matilda in her flight from Winchester, and he captured Robert de Caen, 1st earl of Gloucester.
He was one of the nobles who, along with Louis VII of France, took crusading vows at Vezelay in 1146, and he accompanied the initial army of the Second Crusade the next year. He was killed in January 1148 by a Turkish attack at Laodicea while the army was marching across Anatolia (modern day Turkey) on its way to the Holy Land.
The battle was recorded by Odo de Deuil, personal chaplain to Louis VII, in his book _De Profectione:_ In December 1147 the French-Norman force reached the Biblical town of Ephesus on the west coast of Turkey. They were joined by remnants of the German army which had previously taken heavy losses at Dorylaeum. Marching across Southwest Turkey they fought an unsuccessful battle at Laodicea against the Turks on the border between the Byzantine empire and the Seljuks of Rum on 3-4 January 1148. On 8 January they battled again in the area of Mount Cadmus, where the Turks ambushed the main train of infantry and non-combatants because the main force was too far forward. King Louis and his bodyguard of Templar Knights and noblemen sallied forth in a classic example of chivalry to protect the poor and valiantly charged the Turks. Most of the knights were killed, including William de Warenne, and Louis barely escaped with his life. His army arrived later at the coastal city of Adalia.
Ranulph was the son of Ranulph de Meschines, vicomte de Bayeux, and Margaret Le Goz d'Avranches. He became the largest landholder in Lindsey through his marriage to Lucia of Alkborough, the probable daughter of Turold of Bucknall, sheriff of Lincoln. They had a son and daughter who would have progeny.
On 28 September 1106 at the battle of Tinchebray against Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy, Ranulph was commander of the first wing fighting for King Henry I.
He succeeded his first cousin, Richard d'Avranches, in the earldom of Chester in 1121. He held extensive lands in Cumberland, which he surrendered to Henry I upon receiving the earldom of Chester.
Ranulph died in 1128 or 1129, and was succeeded by his son of the same name.