Hello Karl,
William (Guillaume) "le charpentier" De Melun was a historical figure who was
nicknamed William the Carpenter.
Most of his descendents would carry De Melun and other surnames as they became known by
them.
His youngest son was a bit of a thorn to the French crown having been raised mostly in
Normandy as a "hostage" or a form of bond. It was this son, also named William,
who took the surname Carpenter. When the son died of an arrow wound, the French rang the
church bells in Paris in celebration.
Most people fail to read the notes of my earlier work, the CE CD 2001. Those who don't
assume that there is only one line of Carpenters who wind up in England from France. There
is many well documented Carpenter families for a few generations here and there before
1400, but most are not connected properly or with valid proof. We assume, due to locale
and time they are related, but again - no documentation is there linking them all
together. Some even claim descent from WTC, but again, most without proof.
Information on the update of my CE CD 2001 can be found here:
The Carpenters' Encyclopedia of Carpenters 2009 (CE 2009)
http://members.cox.net/johnrcarpenter/CE%202009.htm
A current article on William the Carpenter is on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Carpenter
I have some reservations about this version, especially about modern interpretations of
reasons regarding names and actions. Please see my comments regarding this on the
discussion page at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:William_the_Carpenter
For an earlier version of William the Carpenter on Wikipedia, please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_the_Carpenter&oldid...
You will notice a big difference (focus and view) between the two Wiki versions.
On Wikipedia, there is a Carpenter surname page and I encourage those with notable
ancestors to write an article on them for Wikipedia. Please see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carpenter_(surname)
There is a series of articles of Carpenters who claim a descent from WTC. Most not proven,
but claimed. I wrote many of them, and some others still need to be cleaned up.
John Carpenter, the younger, (abt. 1372 - 1442), was the noted Town Clerk of London.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter,_town_clerk_of_London
John Carpenter (c. 1399-1476) was an English Bishop, Provost and Chancellor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carpenter_(bishop)
Lord George Carpenter, (10 February 1657 - 10 February 1731)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carpenter,_1st_Baron_Carpenter
Lord George Carpenter, 2nd (abt 26 August 1702 - 12 July 1749)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carpenter,_2nd_Baron_Carpenter
Lord George Carpenter (26 August 1723 - 9 March 1762)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carpenter,_1st_Earl_of_Tyrconnell
Lord George Carpenter (1750 - 15 April 1805)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carpenter,_2nd_Earl_of_Tyrconnell
Lord George Carpenter (1788 - 20 December 1812)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Carpenter,_3rd_Earl_of_Tyrconnell
Lord John Delaval Carpenter (16 December 1790 - 25 June 1853)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Delaval_Carpenter,_4th_Earl_of_Tyrconnell
Sir William Boyd Carpenter KCVO (26 March 1841, Liverpool - 26 October 1918, Westminster)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Boyd_Carpenter
Sir Archibald Boyd Boyd-Carpenter (26 March 1873 - 27 May 1937)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archibald_Boyd-Carpenter
John Archibald Boyd-Carpenter, Baron Boyd-Carpenter (2 June 1908 - 11 July 1998)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd-Carpenter,_Baron_Boyd-Carpenter
You may also be interested in the following;
Rehoboth Carpenter family
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rehoboth_Carpenter_family
William Carpenter (Rhode Island)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Carpenter_(Rhode_Island)
These last two articles are based on the following detailed reporting by Gene Zubrinksy on
the two families. It is a must read by those who are of those two Carpenter families.
Carpenter Sketches of the Rehoboth & Providence Carpenters
http://members.cox.net/jrcrin001/carplink.htm
This may be all over kill for what you want to know. Feel free to ask questions!
Enjoy.
John R. Carpenter
La Mesa, CA
Carpenter Cousins Y-DNA Project
http://members.cox.net/johnrcarpenter/
----- Original Message -----
From: Karl Carpenter
To: jrcrin001(a)cox.net
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 4:05 PM
Subject: william de melun
Hi I have recently read an article whilst trying to research the origin of the surname
carpenter and found william de melun.
This is how I found your email address and I hope you don't mind my note to you
the link to william de melun is an exciting one and I wonder how much is actually known
and how much is speculation,
is the suggestion that all carpenter's descend from this knight or as i previously
was led to believe and that it was an occupational surname that many people were gievn.
With that, there would be numerous lines that have no links together.
I hope you would be able to help me further with my queries. i have only just started
researching but would be grateful for any information if you have time
many thanks
karl carpenter