BOLEBEC Osbern

Male - Bef 1096

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  • Name BOLEBEC Osbern 
    Birth Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death Bef 1096  Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • 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
      Osberne Gyffarde
      Helias m. Ala
      Elias m. Berta
      Helias
      Gilbert
      Walter Gyffarde[5]
      Known children
      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
      ↑ Keats-Rohan, Domesday People, p.317.
      ↑ Burke, p. 206, added 2014-08-01, amb
      ↑ 3.0 3.1 G.A. Moriarty (1921) "Gifford-Sargent", in: The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol 75 pp.60-61.
      ↑ , Alfred Ellis (1879-1880) "Domesday Tenants of Gloucestershire", in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, Vol.4, pp.158-159
      ↑ Burke, p. 206-207
      ↑ 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
    Person ID I60223  Freeman-Smith
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2026 

    Father BOLEBEC Osbert,   b. Abt 0952, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1035, Longueville-Sur-Scie, Seine Inferieure, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 83 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Mother CRÉPON Wevia,   b. Abt 0954, Longueville, Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 07 Mar 1037, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 83 years) 
    Relationship natural 
    Marriage 0976 
    Family ID F26314  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family   
    Children 
     1. GYFFARD Helias,   b. Abt 1060, Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1130, Brimpsfield, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 70 years)  [Father: natural]
    Family ID F347645  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 27 Jan 2026 


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