Having been given the manor of Wymondham possibly in the 1190s, William d’Aubigny (d. 1139) founded a priory on this site in 1107, giving over manorial lands and buildings to that end as well as money. Little is known about him and it is not known when or why he first came to England. However, his wealth had grown to such an extent by the early 1100s that he could not only afford to undertake such a project but would have felt it his duty as a member of the knightly class having benefited from God’s Grace. Such works, which were many during this period, chosen according to the founders’ means, also gave the hope of continuing in God’s Grace after death.
J.F.A. Mason, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford, 2004), electronic edition.