Lord of the Manor of Buckenham, with the embassy to Saxony, commander of the Royal Army against Normandy, was proclaimed with "swiftness and velocity", and fought at the Battle of St Edmunds 1173 to defeat the Earl of Leicester.

Son of William d'Albini Pincerna, the Master Butler for the Royal Household and Maud Bigod. Grandson of Roger d' Aubigny and Adeliza Grantmesnil, Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk and Berengeve de Bayeaux. Born about 1099.

William was the husband of Queen Adeliza of Louvain, widow and second wife of King Henry I. They were married in 1138 and had seven children:
* Reynor d'Aubigney
* Henry d'Aubigney
* Geoffrey d'Aubigney
* Alice d'Aubigney, wife of John d'Eu
* Olivia d'Aubigney, died young
* Agatha d'Aubigney, died young
* William d'Aubigney, 2nd Earl of Arundel

Sir William gave shelter to Empress Maud at Arundel but was loyal to King Stephen, who made him the first Earl of Lincoln and then Earl of Arundel, or rather, properly, the Earl of Sussex. William helped to arrange the truce between Stephen and Henry Plantagenet, the future Henry Curtmantle, creating the Wallingford Treaty. William built Castle Rising in Norfolk, and died at Waverly.

The legend of his name, "William with the Strong Hand" came from the following story: The widowed Queen of France wanted to have a new husband and held a tournament in Paris to select one. William competed and won but refused to marry the Queen of France since he was already betrothed to Adeliza, the widowed Queen of England. The Queen of France lured William into a lion's cage but he subdued the lion by tearing out its tongue with his hand. When he returned to England he was made Earl of Arundel and the Lion was allowed on his coat of arms.