The origins of the Osborne dynasty are as old as civilisation itself. Although the name is likely of Norman origin, it is known that the family was established in England at the time of the Domesday Survey in 1086, twenty years after the Norman conquest. It is suggested that the Norman line may in fact be derived from Danish origin. [i] The Norman source gives rise to alternative spelling of the name including Fitzosborne.

It is recorded that Osbern, brother of the Earl of Hereford, had been one of King Edward the Confessor's secretaries. Edward reigned from 1042 - 1066. By 1086 Osbern had become Bishop of Exeter and having previously acquired Bosham Church in Sussex, had to surrender lands in Lewes Rape to William de Warenne, Lord of Lewes, while retaining the balance himself. By the Domesday Survey there was in fact an established spread of lands held by Osbern, son of Geoffrey, in both East and West Sussex. [ii]

Such occurrences of the name Osborne, in its many variations of spellings, only hint at ancient ancestry. It is not until medieval times that we see heraldry providing definite ancestral tables. These in turn enable lineages to be traced to the present. There emerged in England a number of noble families of Osborne and from the common armorial displays we can deduce that they emanated from the same ancestors. In the case of the Osbornes of Tadworth, the bearings are as illustrated - "Quarterly ermine and azure, a cross or five annulets sable."

[i] Omicron (1853) Notes and Queries, p.448 (Vol. viii., p.270).

[ii] Morris J (1976) Domesday Book Sussex, Phillimore, Chichester, section 6 and notes p.3.