General Notes

Alice [de Toeni] married William fitz Osbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, of the creation made shortly after the Conquest.  [Burke's Peerage]

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William Fitz Osbern, a Companion of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, 1066, Earl of Hereford.  [Ancestral Roots]

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EARLDOM OF HEREFORD (I)

WILLIAM FITZOSBERN, SEIGNEUR DE BRETEUIL, son and heir of Osbern, steward of Normandy, by Emma, daughter of Ralph, COUNT OF IVRY (g), took a leading part in the events leading up to and in the Battle of Hastings. He was thereafter rewarded with great estates in England, namely, the Isle of Wight arid the County of Hereford, becoming EARL OF HEREFORD. He divided Herefordshire into casteleries, and attracted many knights to his service by liberal pay, even making a special law that none should pay for any offence more than 7 shillings. He was in command of the army during William's absence in 1067, and his representative in the north. In 1068 he was in Normandy with the Duke, and in 1068/9 was governor of York. To him (in 1070) is credited the searching of the monastefies in England for treasure deposited there. In 1070, or early in 1071, he was sent to Normandy to assist Queen Maud in the administration of the Duchy, and so became involved in the troubles in Flanders, where the Queen was supporting her nephew Arnolf's succession to his grandfather, Baldwin, Count of Flanders. The Earl joined Philip of France with 10 knights only and went off to Flanders, where he was killed, 18 February 1070/1.

He married, 1stly, Adelise, daughter of Roger DE TONI, standard-bearer of Normandy. She died 5 October 1070? and was burried in the Abbey of Lire, which her husband had founded. He married, 2ndly shortly before his death, Richilde, widow of Baldwin (VI), COUNT OF FLANDERS, and previously, as is stated, of Herman, COUNT OF HAINAULT, daughter and heir of the Count of Egisheim [Alsace]. The Earl died as aforesaid in 1071, and was buried in the Abbey of Cormeilles, which he had also founded. His widow appears to have died 15 March 1086/7. She was buried with her 2nd husband in the Abbey of Hasnon, which they had founded.  [Complete Peerage VI:447-9, XIV:380, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]

(g) Ralph, Count of Ivry, was (on the mother's side) brother of the half blood to Duke Richard I.

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The following additional information on William FitzOsbern was provided in a post-em by Curt Hofemann:

Companion of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings [Ref: Weis AR7 53:25]
in command of the van of the Norman army at Hastings [Ref: Watney p400]

Fitzosbern, William, earl of Hereford (d. 1071).  Norman lord.  Closely associated, as lord of Breteuil, with William I in Normandy, he was granted earldom of Hereford (1067) after the Norman conquest.  He extended Norman influence westwards and built strong castles at Wigmore, Clifford, Ewyas Harold, Monmouth and Chepstow.  The Hereford charter, the model for numerous charters granted to Welsh boroughs, was based on that of Breteuil. [Ref: Dict of Brit History, pg 139]

FitzOsbern, Earl William. Also Earl of Hereford. Son of Osbern Sieward of Normandy; brother of Osbern, Bishop of Exeter. Married Adeline, sister of Ralph de Tosny. Large estates in west and Isle of Wight, broken up when his son, Roger, rebelled. Regent, with Odo of Bayeux, 1067. [Ref: Domesday Online]

FitzOsbern, William, 1st Earl Of Hereford, Seigneur De BrÈteuil, d. Feb. 20, 1071, Cassel, Flanders, French GUILLAUME D'OBBERN, Norman soldier and lord, one of William the Conqueror's closest supporters.

The son of Osbern (or Obbern) de CrÈpon, seneschal of Normandy, FitzOsbern himself became seneschal of Normandy and in 1060 was given the lordship and castle of BrÈteuil. He took a leading part both in the preparations for the Norman invasion of England and in the Battle of Hastings (1066) and was rewarded with a grant of the Isle of Wight and the earldom of Hereford, both vitally important for the defense of England.

After the Conquest, FitzOsbern held a position of the highest responsibility. In 1067 he commanded the army in King William I's absence, was put in charge of a new castle at Norwich, and was made the king's special representative in the north. In the critical rebellion of 1068-69 he was governor of York. In 1071, having been sent to Normandy to help Queen Matilda, he became involved in the Flemish succession dispute and was killed at the Battle of Cassel in Flanders in 1071.

He founded the abbeys of Cormeilles and Lire in Normandy and introduced the "laws of BrÈteuil" to Hereford, whence they became a model for many western English, Welsh, and Irish boroughs.

On his death, his estates were divided between his two sons--William (or Guillaume), the elder, succeeding to the Norman fiefs, and Roger Fitzwilliam, the younger, succeeding to the earldom of Hereford and the English estates. The latter conspired against King William I and in 1075 forfeited his estates and was imprisoned for the remainder of his life. [Ref: Ency Britannica online]

In addition there is a lengthy article on him: WILLIAM FITZ OSBERN from "The Conqueror and His Companions" by J.R. PlanchÈ, Somerset Herald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874. (to be used with caution, as indicated by the transcriber) at

http://www.patpnyc.com/conq/fitzosb.shtml

Regards,
Curt