He was an illegitimate son of Geoffrey of Anjou, and thus a half-brother of Henry II, and an uncle of Richard I and John. Henry married him, in 1163/4, to Isabella de Warenne, in her own right Countess of Surrey. After the marriage he was recognized as Earl of Warenne, that being the customary designation for what more technically should be Earl of Surrey. In consequence of the marriage Hamelin took the de Warenne toponymic, as did his descendents.
Hamelin joined in the denunciations of Thomas Becket in 1164, although after Becket's death he became a great believer in Becket's sainthood, having, the story goes, been cured of blindness by the saint's help.
He remained loyal to Henry through all the problems of the later part of the king's reign when many nobles deserted him, and continued as a close supporter of his nephew Richard I. During Richard's absence on the Third Crusade he took the side of the regent William Longchamp.
Earl Hamelin was one of those who at the council of Northampton denounced Becket as a traitor; he remained faithful to his half-brother, Henry II., during the trouble with the king's sons, and in Richard I.'s absence on the crusade he supported the government against the intrigues of Prince John.
JohndeWarenne (1286-1347) succeeded his grandfather in 1304, and was knighted along with the prince of Wales in 1306, two days after his marriage with the prince's niece, Joanna, daughter of Eleanor of England, countess of Bar.
The Warrens of Poynton, barons of Stockport, descended from one of Earl Warenne's illegitimate sons by Isabella de Holland.