Hardulph of Osgathorpe, Leicestershire ¹

  General Notes:

The generally received tradition, (following an old French MS. belonging to the Gresley's) would recognise this ancestor in Ardulph (Hardolph) who held the manor of Osgarthorp, in Leicestershire, under Henry de Ferrers, a.d. 1086, and some pedigrees, including Erdeswick's, do not hesitate to give him the surname of "de Wastineys." But there is no authority for so doing; for whilst the close connection between Colton and Osgarthorp, together with the fact that Sir Edmund de Wastineys, about 1290 a.d., gave the name of Hardolph to his eldest son, are sound arguments in favour of some kind of relationship, yet his claim to be the founder of the Wastineys family would need to be established on much better proof, even if it were not directly contrary, as it happens, to the reliable evidence of an early charter, which clears up this important point by supplying the missing links in the pedigree.

Besides the Osgarthorp Manor already mentioned, King Henry the First conferred on Hardolph and his heirs certain other Leicestershire lands at Ashfordby and Wartnaby; the date of the grant is not mentioned, but may be pretty accurately determined by the witnesses' names - the Count de Meulan, or Mellent, Henry's minister and favourite, being one of them; and another, Geoffrey de Riddel, the justiciary, who was drowned in the wreck of the White Ship (Nov. 25, 1120 a.d). Hardolph is said to have been twice married, ( 1 ) to Bertha, and (2) Ravenilda. ¹

  Events

• Manorial Estate, 1086, Osgathorpe Manor, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12, GB. ¹

Hardulph married.