And Harold the earl succeeded to the kingdom of England, even as the king had granted it to him, and men also had chosen him thereto; and he was crowned as king on Twelfth-day."

Harold is crowned king on January 6. In the spring, near Easter, a comet appears in the sky. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle describes the event: "Easter was then on the sixteenth day before the calends of May. Then was over all England such a token seen as no man ever saw before. Some men said that it was the comet-star, which others denominate the long-hair'd star. It appeared first on the eve called 'Litania major', that is, on the eighth before the calends of May; and so shone all the week."

William Launches His Invasion

The favorable wind arrives on September 27, and the fleet sets sail, its ships loaded with knights, archers, infantry, horses and the lumber necessary to build two or three forts. This scene shows William's ship as the fleet approaches Pevensy on the English shore. A cross adorns the top of the ship's mast. Below the cross, a lantern guides the way for the rest of the fleet. Shields line the ship's gunwales, reminiscent of the practice of the Norman's Viking ancestors. A dragon's head sits on the ship's prow and a bugler blows his horn at the ship's stern. A ship laden with horses sails along side William's craft. The fleet lands on September 28 and the invasion army makes its way to Hastings.

This is one of many scenes depicting the ferocity of the battle. Wielding his battle-axe, a Saxon deals a death-blow to the horse of a Norman. This was the first time the Normans had encountered an enemy armed with the battle-axe. For the Saxons, this was the first time they had battled an enemy mounted on horseback. This scene probably describes the later stages of the battle when the Norman knights had broken through the Saxon shield wall. At the bottom of the scene lay the dead bodies of both Normans and Saxons.

The Death of Harold

King Harold tries to pull an arrow from his right eye. Several arrows are lodged in his shield showing he was in the thick of the battle.

To the right, a Norman knight cuts down the wounded king assuring his death. At the bottom of the scene the victorious Normans claim the spoils of war as they strip the chain mail from bodies while collecting shields and swords from the dead. Scholars debate the meaning of this scene, some saying that the man slain by the knight is not Harold, others contesting that the man with the arrow wound is not Harold, others claiming that both represent Harold. The Latin inscription reads "Here King Harold was killed." The Tapestry ends its story after the death of Harold.

William ruled England until his death in 1087. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recalls the Norman King in its entry for that year: "But amongst other things is not to be forgotten that good peace that he made in this land; so that a man of any account might go over his kingdom unhurt with his bosom full of gold. No man durst slay another, had he never so much evil done to the other; and if any churl lay with a woman against her will, he soon lost the limb that he played with. He truly reigned over England; and by his capacity so thoroughly surveyed it, that there was not a hide of land in England that he wist not who had it, or what it was worth, and afterwards set it down in his book."

The day was clear with no cloud in the sky as the battle took place between the armies of William and Harold. One man is busy protecting William with all of his might against the Knight in gray armour. The man is Oswald De Stone is the fiendish Vincent Latimer, notorious for brutalizing the local communities. Harold De Stone has just lost is sword (then they had to fight holding the sword with both hands as the sword weighed about 30 pounds). Vincent Latimer begins to swing his sword to the left in attempt to lob off Harold De Stone's head, when Harold De Stone pulls his ax from his belt and with an overhead swing, smashes the ax through the breast plate armour of Vincent Latimer. After William is coronated King he dubs Harold De Stone one of his Royal Knights and grants him land which Harold De Stone had named it Osbaldeston located in Lancashire, England in the Northern Province.

References:

Observation notes of Vincent Bartell, Archbishop, held in Westminister Abbey, London, England.

There are not very good accurate records that follows Harold De Stone on down. The first Balderstone comes into play with Hugo Osbaldeston and some of his descendants. However, those links are also broken from his descendants to our first recorded ancestor: Richard Balderstone.

Below is some information on Hugo Osbaldeston and how the spelling changes occur where it becomes Balderston in some of the old English Records.

1. HUGO² OSBALDESTON (OSBALDESTON¹) was born Abt. 1123 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England, and died Aft. 1205. He married MRS. HUGO OSBALDESTON Abt. 1148 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England.

Notes for HUGO OSBALDESTON:

Earliest recorded Balderston even though the spelling then in England was spelled Osbaldeston. The name went through various spelling changes between England, Scotland and the United States.

What immediately stands out based on English Medieval History is the place. He was born in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England. That immediately states the area was named after the Osbaldeston, which is a sign of Nobility or Knighthood. Lancashire, England is on the border of northern England sitting right next to Scotland. The distance between Lancashire, England and Edinburg, Scotland is 50 miles.

The prefix "Os" based on English Medieval history meant "son of", and in this case son of Baldeston. The suffix "ton" on the name based on English Medieval history meant "farmer."

This family group traveled back and forth between Lancashire and Scotland and some remained in the lowands of Edinburg, Scotland where the name went through several spelling changes based on how they recorded the name in which the earliest recorded date of Scotland was in 1296.

The "Coat of Arms" and "Crests" was only given to people of "Nobility" and "Royalty". Nobility standing for Knights, and Royalty of course for the Kings and Queens. The common people were not assigned the coat of Arms. Based on trasition, the Coat of Arms was only assigned to one individual, that individual could only pass it down to the oldest living heir of his descendants.

Because the place they were from was recorded as Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England there had to be a "Coat of Arms" assigned to this family. The Coat of Arms can be found in the book titled: "Burke's General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales by Bernard Burke, C.B., LLD" published in 1884. Below is the description of the Coat of Arms assigned to the Osbaldeston based on Burke.

"Osbaldeston: (Osbaldeston, co. Lancaster). Ar. a mascle sa. between three pellets. Crests-- 1st: A stag's head erased per pale ar. and sa. gutee counterchanged attired or; 2nd: A man in armour on horseback all ppr. in the dexter hand a sword ar. hilt or."

"Osbaldeston: (Chadlington, co. Oxford; a family of great antiquity, descended from Oswald De Stone, who came to England with William I.; (King William I ruled as King over England from 1066 - 1087, See the Kings and Queens of England - Area I at Project Happy Child http://www.happychild.org.uk/ifs/00002kqe.htm), John Osbaldeston, of that place, Visit. Oxen, was created a bart. 1664, since which period the family bore the following arms. Ar. a mascle sa. between three pellets. Crest-- A knight in complete armour on a white horse, on his shield the family arms. Motto--- Constance et ferme."

The term "mascle" is not found in the American dictionary as it is an old English term.

Child of HUGO OSBALDESTON and MRS. OSBALDESTON is:

2. AILSIUS³ OSBALDESTON (HUGO², OSBALDESTON¹) was born Abt. 1149 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England, and died Aft. 1202. He married WIMARA Abt. 1174 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England. She was born Abt. 1153 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England.

Children of AILSIUS OSBALDESTON and WIMARA are:

3. WILLIAM⁴ DE BALDESTON (AILSIUS³ OSBALDESTON, HUGO², OSBALDESTON¹) was born Abt. 1177 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England, and died Aft. 1224. He married UNKNOWN.

Children of WILLIAM DE BALDESTON and UNKNOWN are:

4. RICHARD⁵ DE BALDESTON (WILLIAM⁴, AILSIUS³ OSBALDESTON, HUGO², OSBALDESTON¹) was born Abt. 1208 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England. He married UNKNOWN Abt. 1228 in Osbaldeston, Lancashire, England.

Child of RICHARD DE BALDESTON and UNKNOWN is:

Based on the map the area of Edinburg, Scotland was only 50 miles from Lancashire, England and some of Hugo's Descendants, one of Richard Balderstone's ancestors travelled to and stayed for awhile. That portion became accepted as one of the Lowland Scotlanders of Edinburg.

The Balderston name appears in the book titled: AThe Surnames of Scotland which is one of the most accurate records of Scottish History. In it is the following information:

ABALDERSTON, Balderstone, Balderton.

From the lands of Balderston in West Lothian, the tin of a man named Baldhere or Bealdhere. William de Baudrestone of the county of Linlescu rendered homage in 1296 (Bain, II, p. 202). George Balderstone was burgess of Linlithgow in 1599 (Laing), and in 1634 Richard Balderstone was charged as appearing as a witness in the same town (RPC., 2, ser. v, p. 644). William Baderstourne was a barter in Falkirk in 1663 (Stirling), and the wife of James Baderstourn in Nidrie was charged with witchcraft in 1628 (RPC., 2. ser. II, p. 444). George Balderston late burgess of Edinburgh, 1731 (Guildry, p 139). In the seventeenth century the name is also found in Edinburgh records as Balderstourne, Batherstown, and Batherstain. Balderstown 1536, Baldirstown in 1530.

Because they were accepted as Scottish, the descendants can wear the district Tartan, (District Tartan being older than the Clan Tartan due to availability of material, and colored dies). The following tartan is the one accepted by the district of Edinburgh today.