Also, the many branches of the Giffard family all claim ancestry from the lords of Bolbec or Bolebec and Longueville in Upper Normandy: Osbern de Bolebec became lord of Longueville in the early 11th century and his sons, Osbern Giffard and Gautier or Walter Giffard of Bolbec, were companions of William the Conqueror.
He became a pastor at the Reformed Church of Bolbec, in Normandy Seine-Maritime, then a professor of theology in Montauban, occupying the chair 'de morale et d'éloquence sacrée' (of morality and holy speech).