 The castle's founder, William Peveril, was a follower of William the Conqueror and was rewarded for supporting him during the Norman Conquest.The first mention of him in England records that in 1068 he was granted the new castle at Nottingham by William the Conqueror, who was in the process of subduing the Midlands and northern England.An unsubstantiated legend states that Peveril was William's illegitimate son.