Shortly after William the Conqueror captured England he granted most of the lands that had been in the hands of English nobility to his followers, as he had done for William de Noers. 

He also ordered twenty years later, in 1085, that a census be taken of all his newly acquired lands. It was the most extensive census that had ever been taken of any lands and remains to this day one of the most complete records of its kind. The census took about a year to complete.