11 Facts About Osbert fitzHervey

Osbert fitzHervey was one of a group of men who are considered the first signs of a professional judiciary in England.

Osbert fitzHervey was a younger brother of Hubert Walter, later Archbishop of Canterbury, and thus the son of Hervey Walter and his wife Maud de Valoignes, one of the daughters of Theobald de Valoignes, lord of Parham in Suffolk.

Osbert fitzHervey's lands were chiefly in Norfolk and Suffolk, but he had some lands in Essex and some from the Count of Perche.

Osbert fitzHervey served as a royal judge under three English kings: Henry II, Richard I, and John.

Osbert fitzHervey was often sent as an itinerant justice to East Anglia; the historian Barbara Dodwell said of him that "of all the justices his knowledge of East Anglian disputes was probably the greatest".

Osbert fitzHervey was one of a group of royal justices that included Simon of Pattishall, Ralph Foliot, Richard Barre, William de Warenne, and Richard Herriard, used by Hubert Walter, the Justiciar of England during Richard's reign, and chosen for their ability rather than any familial ties.

In 1194 Osbert fitzHervey was one of the collectors of the carucage in eastern England, along with Barre and de Warrene.

In 1198 Osbert fitzHervey married Margaret of Rye, with whom he had at least one son.

Osbert fitzHervey paid the king 20 pounds for the right to marry Margaret.

Ralph of Coggeshall mentions Osbert fitzHervey, without using his name, as a royal judge who would go to Hell in his "Vision of Thurkill".

Coggeshall did state that Osbert fitzHervey was "most expert in worldly law" and was famous for "his overflowing eloquence and experience in the law".