SIR WILLIAM ESPILEMAN, KNIGHT, the first certainly identified ancestor of this ancient house, was Lord of Brokenhurst in Hampshire, and of Cowsfield, Wiltshire, in the Twelfth Century. He was the head of the first known generation of the Spelman family of England and America—a long line of Knights and Esquires, described in 1723 as "an ancient Family of that Name, who, about Henry Ill's time, were seated in Hampshire, but afterwards remov'd into Suffolk, and from thence into Norfolk." This appears in the "Life of the Author," in "The English Works of Sir Henry Spelman, Kl." This Sir Henry Spelman, although not in the direct line of ascent from the first American Spelman, should be regarded as a benefactor by all of the name or blood, for a genealogical chart, made by him, has been the basis and point of departure for all that has been learned of the Spelman lineage in England. A portion of this chart, and an account of this illustrious member of the family, will appear further on in this book.

In Hoare's History of Wiltshire it is stated that, at the time of the Norman Conquest, Cowsfield was held by Brictric, a Saxon; that the Conqueror bestowed the Manor upon one of his Norman followers; and that it passed next to Sir William Spileman.

In Domesday Book Aluric is recorded as owner of Brokenhurst, and the next known Lord of this Manor was Sir William Espileman. The Domesday chronicle says: "The same Aluric holds one hide in Broceste (Brokenhurst) which was held in parcenary by his father and his uncle, and was then assessed at one hide and now at one-half a hide. There is one ploughland in demesne, six borderers, and four servants, with a half ploughland. There is a church there and wood for XX hogs. It was worth in Edward's time XXXX shillings; afterward iiii pounds."

This old church, which beheld the coming of the Normans still stands in Brokenhurst, as when Sir William Espileman was Lord of the Manor. Its interior, long ago stripped of its ancient furnishing, does not speak so vividly of the past—a past of nearly a thousand years, at least—as does the outside. But it has, fortunately, kept some relics of the former days of its glory, one the square Norman font of black marble which stands at one end of the nave. This has old curious carvings, and must possess an intense interest for all of the Spelman blood, for here many of the family received baptism. It is probable that ten Spelmans were buried within this church, but no effigies or monuments remain to tell their resting-places.

...Whether or not Sir William Espileman was a Crusader is unknown, but he was living during the Second Crusade—1147  1149. The plates, as they are called, upon the Spelman Coat-of Arms, give some color to the belief that he—with the thousands of others, nobles and commoners, who rallied to the standard of the Cross—went forth on that gallant quest of Christian soldiers to rescue the Holy Sepulchre from the infidels. The necessity of ensigns, that each lord's followers might recognize their special rally-point in battle, became of great importance in the Crusades, when the men who fought side by side were of many nations and under thousands of leaders; and the origin of European heraldry, or, at least, its rapid development, is believed to have been due to this practical need of the Crusaders for distinguishing emblems. Heraldists state that the use of bezants or plates on Coat-Armor was derived from the Byzantine coins which the Crusaders, after passing through Constantinople on their way to the Holy Land, took with them from the gorgeous Capital of the Eastern Empire, and actually fixed upon their shields in battle, as distinguishing devices.