Osbern (Bolebec) Giffard

Born [date unknown] in Normandy, France

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 1096 in Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire, England

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Biography

He was an Anglo-Norman tenant-in-chief holding land under William the conqueror in 1086. For a map and listing of his lands then, see his Open Domesday profile: https://opendomesday.org/name/osbern-giffard/

Keats-Rohan calls him Osbern Giffard in his entry in Domesday People p. 317 and summarizes what is known:^[1]

Norman, member of the family of Giffard of Longueville, Seine-Maritime.

The abbot of Saint-Etienne de Caen had a plea against Osbern Giffard and his wife Adeguisa (Hadvise) in September 1077 (Deville, Analyse, 20-1).

He died before 1096 and left Elias, probably his son, to succeed him at Elston in Orcheston St George, Wiltshire (Sanders, 115-16).

There is a genealogy of this family in BM [British Museum] Add. 37124.

Research notes

As mentioned above, it is believed that Osbern was a relative of the Giffard family of Longueville, which was said to have descended, at least in its main line, from another Osbern de Bolebec. There appear to be two main speculative attempts to define the exact relationship, both of which give chronological concerns, and both of which seem to be based upon no specific medieval evidence:

• Some older works say that he was simply the son of Osbern de Bolebec, without citing any medieval evidence.^[2][3] NOTE: A descent from Osbern de Bolebec seems quite likely, but being his son would mean Osbern Giffard was very old when he helped invade England, to say the least.
• Other works, say he was a son (and not a younger brother) of his contemporary, of the Longueville family, Walter Giffard.^[4] Note that there was a sequence of several Walters, and probably at least one of them really was significantly older than Osbern.

On the other hand, it seems just as likely that Osbern was a more distant cousin to Walter, as no records have survived to define the exact connection.

Tree

1. 1. Osberne Gyffarde
      1. Helias m. Ala
         1. Elias m. Berta
            1. Helias
            2. Gilbert
   2. Walter Gyffarde^[5]

Known children

1. Elias (Helias) Giffard, (married Ala) dead in 1130 when his son, Elias, paid relief.^[3]

Death

He was alive in 1086 for Domesday Book, and he died before 1096.^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, p.317.
2. ↑ Burke, p. 206, added 2014-08-01, amb
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} G.A. Moriarty (1921) "Gifford-Sargent", in: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 75 pp.60-61.
4. ↑ , Alfred Ellis (1879-1880) "Domesday Tenants of Gloucestershire", in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol.4, pp.158-159
5. ↑ Burke, p. 206-207
6. ↑ Sanders, English Baronies, p.115.

• John Burke, A genealogical and heraldic history of the commoners of Great Britain and Ireland. Published 1833. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Sep 17, 2008
• G.A. Moriarty (1921) "Gifford-Sargent", in: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 75 pp.60-61.
• Edward Foss, Biographia juridica. A biographical dictionary of the judges of England from the Conquest. Published 1870. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Jun 20, 2006
• The Reliquary, Volume 18. Publisher John Russell Smith, 1878. Original from Oxford University. Digitized Oct 16, 2006
• PASE page (Domesday): http://domesday.pase.ac.uk/Domesday?op=5&personkey=40687