Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 42.djvu/319

Osmund Osier's most important work was a 'Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth,' in the preparation of which he was assisted by the family. It came out in 1835, and revised editions appeared in 1841 and 1854. A translation into Russian from the second edition was printed at St. Petersburg in the printing office of the ministry of the marine in 1857. Osier drew up a small treatise on the 'Administration and Improvement of the Poor Laws,' which was printed by the Poor Law Commission as an appendix to its report. 'A Popular Introduction to Medicine, which he announced in 1837 as in course of preparation for the press, does not seem to have come out.

 OSMUND (fl. 758), king of the South-Saxons, is said by Florence of Worcester to have been reigning in 758, at which time the South-Saxons were subject to Wessex, having been subdued by Caedwalla (659?-689) [q. v.] in 686. With the names of other South Saxon kings, under-kings, or ealdormen, the name of Osmund appears in late copies of charters preserved in the register of the church of Chichester. These documents represent him as confirming as king a charter of Nunna [q. v.], in the time of Osa, bishop of Selsey; as granting land at Ferring for a monastery by a charter dated 3 Aug. 765, and witnessed by Osa; and as granting land at Hanfield in 770. Among the witnesses of a charter of Offa of 772, quoted by Bishop Stubbs from Lambeth MS. 1212, an Osmund appears as ' dux,' and his name is followed by that of an Oswald, 'dux Suth. Saxonum.' The bishop suggests that this ealdorman Osmund may be the same as king Osmund of the charters in the Chichester register.

 OSMUND (fl. 803), bishop of London, succeeded bishop Heathobert, who died in 801 (. ii. 66; i. 232), and was probably consecrated by Archbishop Æthelheard on his return from Rome in 802 (Ecclesiastical Documents, iii. 536-9). He attended the council of Clovesho in October 803, witnessing an act with reference to the see of Worcester, the act recognising the restoration of the see of Canterbury to its ancient rights, and the ordinance of Æthelheard against the appointment of laymen as lords of monasteries. He was attended at the council by one abbot, three priests, and another whose status is not given. He was also present at a synod held at Acleah in August 805. His successor, Æthelnoth, appears as bishop in 811.

 OSMUND or OSMER, (d. 1099), bishop of Salisbury, was, according to a fifteenth-century document preserved in the Register B at Salisbury, son of Henry, count of Seez, by Isabella, daughter of Robert, duke of Normandy, and sister of William the Conqueror (Sarum Charters, 373). He accompanied William to England, was one of the royal chaplains, and was eventually made chancellor, probably on the promotion of Osbern or Osbert (d. 1103) [q. v.] to be bishop of Exeter in March 1072. Osmund in his turn may be presumed to have held the chancellorship till he was made bishop of Salisbury. Osmund was consecrated bishop by Lanfranc in 1078. On 3 June 1078 he was present at the translation of Aldhelm's relics at Malmesbury. He had conceived a great reverence for Aidhelm, and procured from Abbot Warin the bone of the saint's left arm (Gesta Pontificum, pp. 424, 428). Osmund is described in late documents as Earl of Dorset, probably with no sufficient authority; in his foundation charter for the cathedral at Old Sarum he describes himself simply as bishop, and not as Earl of Dorset or Count of Seez. He was, however, employed by the Conqueror in a civil capacity, and was engaged in the preparation of Domesday Book. It is not unlikely that the survey of Grantham, comprising the counties of Derby, Nottingham, Huntingdon, Lincoln, York, with parts of Lancashire and Westmoreland, was his work. He was present at the council at Sarum in April 1086 when the result of the inquiry was presented to the king. In December 1088 he was sent to summon William of St. Calais, bishop of Durham, to the king (. i. 193). On 5 April 1092 he consecrated his cathedral at Sarum, the tower of which was struck by lightning four days later. He was present at the consecration of Battle Abbey Church on 11 Feb. 1094 (Chron. de Bello, p. 41, Anglia Christiana Soc.) At the council of Rockingham on 11 March 1095 Osmund was present as one of the bishops on the king's side; but in the following May he came to Anselm privately, and obtained absolution for the part he had taken. Osmund received the 