" William returned to Normandy in 1067, taking the three English Earls with him as hostages and leaving Odo of Bayeux and William fitzOsbern in charge of England. "

William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford, Lord of Breteuil (c. 1011 – 22 February 1071), was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. FitzOsbern was created Earl of Hereford in 1067,[a] one of the first peerage titles in the English peerage. He is one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. His chief residence was Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, one of many castles he built in England.

William FitzOsbern was the son of Osbern the Steward, a nephew of Duchess Gunnor, the wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy. Osbern was the steward of his cousin Duke Robert I of Normandy. When Robert left the Duchy to his young son William, Osbern became one of Duke William's guardians. Osbern married Emma, a daughter of Count Rodulf of Ivry, who was a half-brother of Duke Richard I of Normandy.[2] Through her he inherited a large property in central Normandy, including the honours of Pacy and Breteuil.

Earl Roger was the son of a powerful Norman magnate, William FitzOsbern, a councillor and relative of William I who held lands in both England and Normandy. Upon FitzOsbern’s death, his lands were shared out between his sons. Roger claimed lands along the Welsh Border, becoming the 2nd Earl of Hereford. However, Roger felt he deserved more prominence, as his father had done before him.