The surname "la Zouche" may have derived from souch or zuche in Norman French indicating someone of stocky build.
Under Henry II Alain de Porhoet, or Alan la Zouche, established himself in England, and married Adeline de Belmais, sole heiress of the house of Belmais, her inheritance including Tong Castle in Shropshire, Ashby (afterwards called Ashby-de-la-Zouch) in Leicestershire, North Molton in Devonshire, and other lands in Cambridgeshire and elsewhere.
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 was on 9 July 1261 appointed High Sheriff of Northamptonshire, receiving in October a letter from the king urging him to keep his office despite any baronial interlopers.
He remained sheriff until 1264, and sometimes ignored the provisions of Magna Carta by acting as justice itinerant in his own shire and also in Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.
On 23 June 1267, after the peace between Henry III and Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester, he was appointed warden of London and constable of the Tower.
He was still surviving when, on 4 August, Warenne made his peace with the crown and agreed to pay substantial compensation to the injured Zouches.
Alan la Zouche was a benefactor of the Knights Templars, to whom he gave lands at Sibford, and to the Belmeis family foundation of Buildwas Abbey, after having carried on protracted lawsuits with that house.
Alan la Zouche married Helen (d. 20 August 1296), one of the daughters and coheirs of Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, and Helen of Galloway, and in 1267 succeeded to her share of the Quincy estates, and had issue: This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Zouche, Alan la".