General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> 1st Earl Of Buckingham
Walter Giffard, Earl of Longueville in Normandy, was granted for his gallant services at the battle of Hastings the title of Earl of Buckingham. At the time of the General Survey, this nobleman was sent with Remigius, bishop of London, and others, into Worcestershire and some other counties to value the lands belonging to the crown, as well as to private individuals in those parts. He himself possessed at that time two lordships in Berkshire, one in Wilts, one in Somersetshire, one in Huntingdon, give in Cambridgeshire, nine in Oxfordshire, nine in the county of Bedford, three in Suffolk, twenty-eight in Norfolk, and forty-eight in Buckinghamshire -- in all one hundred and seven. In 1089, his lordship adhering to William Rufus, fortified his mansions in Normandy for that king and became chief general of his army there, yet in some years afterwards (1102), he sided with Robert Curthose against King Henry I. The earl m. Agnes, dau. of Gerard Flaitell, and sister of William, bishop of Evreux, and had, with other issue, Walter, Rohais and Isabel. His lordship d. in 1102 and was s. by his son, Walter Giffard. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited and Extinct Peerages, Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, England, 1883, p. 230, Giffard, Earls of Buckingham]
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Walter (Gaultier of the Norman Chronicles) Compte de Longueville, assumed, for what reason has not been ascertained, the surname of Gyffarde. This gallant person acquired great renown in the armies of William, achieving several signal victories for Normandy in the war between that country and France. When the duke, upon the accession of Harold to the English throne, desired to invade this island, many, indeed most of the Norman nobles held cautiously back from proffering aid; being wearied and impoverished by the continued struggles in which William had been engaged since his father's death. But a few staunch friends, amongst the foremost of which was this Walter and his brother, coming nobly forward with offers of men, ships, &c. the laggards were thereby warmed to the undertaking, and the expedition was accordingly set on foot. In the subsequent success of his chief, the Compte de Longueville largely participated; he obtained no less than one hundred and seven lordships in the conquered country and was constituted Earl of the county of Buckingham. [John Burke, History of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. I, R. Bentley, London, 1834-1838, p. 206-7, Giffard, of Chillington]
Companion of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, say
Moriarty, Roots and Norr.
K: Second Earl of Buckingham.
Norr cites a source that says Walter died in 1066, implying he fought at the
Battle of Hastings.
Moriarty: "At the time of the Battle of Hastings we know that Walter
Giffard was old and bald-headed and short of breath." "The word Giffard means
'fat face' and was one of those rude nicknames in which the Normans greatly
delighted."
Roots: Walter Giffard, died 1084, Lord of Longueville, a companion of
William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, 1066.
Norr: Died before 1085.
Roll, page 21: Gautier Giffard, Comte de Longueville. Walter Giffard I was
lord of Longueville in Caux, whom Jumieges tells us was the son of
Osberne de Bolbeck and Wevie, a sister of Gonnor, the wife of Richard I, but as
the duchess Gonnnor was the great-grandmother of the Conqueror, this seems
impossible; consequently it is necessary to be contented with the conclusion
that he was descended from this union. [This seems to be the case.] Received
the Earldom of Buckingham in 1070. More detail on page 22.
NEHGR: Walter, Count of Longueville, who assumed the surname of Gyffarde.
Married a daughter of Girard Flatel (or Fleitel). Called Walter the Elder in
the histories of Vitalis and William of Jumieges. In 1035 he was a companion of
his brother-in-law, Hugh de Gournay, in the abortive attempt of Edward, son of
King Ethelre