Alan la Zouche (1205–1270) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and soldier of Breton descent. He built the Zouches Manor in Cambridgeshire. He was High Sheriff of Northamptonshire from 1261 to 1266.
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Background
The surname "la Zouche" may have derived from souch or zuche in Norman French, indicating someone of stocky build.
Zouche was the son of Roger de la Zouche and Margaret and the grandson of Alan la Zouche, who arrived in England around 1172. Alan, the first of the family to come to England, was a younger son of Geoffrey, viscount of Porhoet in Brittany.
Early service
On 15 June 1242 Zouche was summoned to attend the king, Henry III, with horses and arms in Gascony. He was at La Sauve in October, at Bordeaux in March and April 1243, and at La Réole in November. In 1250 Zouche was appointed justice of Chester and of the four cantreds in North Wales. Matthew Paris says that he got this office by outbidding his predecessor, John de Grey. He offered to pay twelve hundred marks for the post instead of five hundred. La Zouche boasted that Wales was nearly all reduced to obedience to the English laws,, but his high-handed acts provoked royal interference and censure. He continued in office as Prince Edward's deputy.