Gautier Giffard (Walter Giffard) 1053
Gunnora, second wife of Richard the Fearless, became Duchess
Dowager of Normandy upon her husband's death, and was great-grandmother of William, Duke
of Normandy. Gunnora had two sisters, Wevie and Aveline, one of whom-- authorities
disagree as to which one-- married Osborn Giffard, "Sieur de Bolebec." History
indicates that Osborn had three sons by this union before his death in 960 A.D.: Gautier
(Gautier) Giffard, Hugue (Hugh) de Bolebec, and Geoffrey (George) de Bolebec. Apparently,
the elder son was known by the father's surname while the younger sons were designated by
their father's holdings.
The genealogy of the Giffard family becomes obscure until another
Gautier, Sieur de Bolebec, probably a grandson of the first Gautier, became a staunch
follower of his kinsman, William, Duke of Normandy. William rewarded Gautier for his
support around the year 1053 with the title and lands of Conte de Longueville. Gautier
Giffard accepted this as his chief honor, and established his family in Longueville,
apparently leaving his subfeudary honor of Bolebec to his brother Hugue, since Hugue de
Bolebec joined Gautier Giffard , Conte de Longueville, in the donation of the church of
Bolebec to the abbey of Berney in 1061. Gautier gave a horse that he had received from the
King of Spain to the Duke of Normandy-- William is said to have ridden the horse in the
Battle of Hastings-- and furnished 30 vessels and 100 men for the invasion fleet. Gautier
was at Hastings, though he was considered an old man, and mention was made of his rescue
by William. He was later said to have been a participant in the unsavory execution of King
Harold. He was richly rewarded for his efforts after the battle with 107 lordships and
manors, 48 of which were in Buckinghamshire. He is said to have been the founder of the
oldest, most distinguished families in the history of English peerage.
The church in St Germain l'Auxerrois (Manéglise: from the Latin
magna ecclesia which signifies the big church) serves the parish of Manéglise which
belonged to the fiefdom around Montivilliers granted to Gautier Giffard circa 1032-1034.
After 1054, when the Giffard became conte de Longueville, the church was placed under the
dependence of a prior in Longueville by Gautier II Giffard (1092) and entrusted to the
monks at Cluny.
Hugh de Bolebec, son of Sieur Hugue de Bolebec, accompanied
William the Conqueror to England. He is referred to as a cousin, sometimes as a brother of
Gautier Giffard, the first Earl of Buckingham. Hugh held the manor of Whitchurch in
Buckinghamshire under his kinsman, Gautier Giffard, to whom King William had granted it at
the time of the survey. Hugo de Bolebec, or Hugo de Bolebech, is listed in DOOMSDAY as
"tenent in capite" -- a tenant holding land immediately from the King -- fourth
burger in the county of Buckingham. He held the manors of Messenden, Agmondesham, Chesham,
Medmenham, Brock, Citedone (Cheddington), Claveston, Linford, Hardmead, and Vavendon. He
also held the manors of Rycote, or Ricot, in Oxfordshire, and Walton in Huntingdonshire;
he is also said to have been the Baron of Headon in Northumberland. According to a
manuscript in the Ashmolean Collection in Oxford, Hugh de Bolebec was an attesting witness
to the charter of endowment when Gautier Giffard, second Earl of Buckingham, founded
Notley Abbey for a reformed order of Augustine monks in 1112, and to another charter
giving to the abbey the church of Hillesden. The Bolebec family were traditionally the
owners of Bullbanks Castles at Danesfield. Hugh de Bolebec had two sons, Hugh and Gautier,
and was succeeded by both in turn.
Hugh, the first son, was probably the builder of Bolebec Castle at
Whitchurch. He also built Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire for the Cistercian monks in 1145,
assigning to the monks the great titles of the parish, and later adding the honor of
Medmenham as a cell to the abbey. In 1164, Gautier Giffard, the second Earl of Buckingham,
died without issue, and Hugh de Bolebec, his subfeudatory, obtained the seigniory of the
manor of Whitchurch.
Gautier de Bolebec, second son of Hugh de Bolebec, succeeded his
brother, Hugh, in the barony and died before 1185, leaving a daughter, Isabel, and
possibly a second daughter, Constance. In 1165, Gautier de Bolebec gave 100 marks to the
King for the wardship of his nephew, whose name was unstated, and when assessed the
following year for the marriage of Maud, daughter of Henry II, he certified of the King
eight knight's fees. His name also appeared in an original charter assigning lands to the
church of Winchester.
Isabel de Bolebec, daughter of Gautier, was nine years old
at the death of her father, and became the ward of Alberic de Vere, Earl of Oxford, who
paid the King 500 marks in 1191 in order that his son might marry her.
NOTA: The text is an excerpt from Raymond Edwin Bowlby's essay on the Origins of the
Bowlby Surname. The complete essay is available at: http://www.bowlbyfamily.org/origin.htm