Henry of Huntingdon names "Ralph Basset and his son Richard, justices of all England". Orderic Vitalis records that "Ricardus…Basset" held "parvo feudo" in "Mosterolo" {Montreuil-au-Houlme, Orne, arr. Argentan, canton Briouze} which his father had obtained in Normandy, which suggests that Richard was his father´s oldest son. "Radulfus Basset et uxor eius A." donated land "in villa…Chinalton" by charter dated 1120 witnessed by "…Willelmus Basset et Ricardus Basset". Henry I King of England confirmed that he had granted "filiam Galfridi Ridel in uxorem" to "Ricardo Basset", together with the wardship of "terre predicti G. Ridel" until "Robertus Ridel" became a knight and married "neptem Radulfi Basset, scilicet filiam cuiusdam filie sue de muliere", by charter dated to [1120/23] witnessed by "…Roberti Basset et Osmundi Basset et Turstini Basset…". Henry I King of England recorded that "Nicholaus Basset" had quitclaimed him lands held of him "in capite…Mixeb et Wilaviston et…in Neuiton et Vivilcote", and that he had granted the lands to "Ricardo Basset", by charter dated to [1129/30]. The 1130 Pipe Roll records "Ric bass" (two entries) in Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire, in Surrey/Cambridge/Huntingdonshire, in Essex/Hertfordshire, and exempt in Staffordshire. 1
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English royal judge and sheriff during the reign of King Henry I of England....
Richard inherited Ralph's estates in Normandy, which were near Montreuil-au-Houlme. He also inherited his father's English estates at Colston Basset, Kingston Winslow, and Peatling Parva. Basset's brother Nicholas signed over his own inheritance to Richard...
Basset served as Sheriff of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire and Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire, together with Aubrey de Vere, in 1129 and 1130. He was also sheriff with de Vere in the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, and Surrey. The number of shrievalties was unusual, and is known from the Pipe Roll of 1130. According to the entries in the Pipe Roll, de Vere and Basset did not function as traditional sheriffs in their counties, farming the revenues, but were instead responsible for the entire royal revenue in those counties.
As well as his service as a sheriff, Basset also served as a royal justice, hearing pleas in Leicestershire in 1129 and 1130. Other royal service included being sent to Peterborough Abbey in 1125 to oversee the abbey's lands after the death of the abbot. The revenues of a vacant abbey went to the king, and Basset's job was to secure Peterborough's income for King Henry. Between 1131 and 1133 Basset appears to have been a frequent attendee at the royal court, as he witnessed a number of documents. Included among these attestations are some originating at the councils held at Northampton in 1131 and another at Westminster in 1132. Basset witnessed no royal documents after 1133, when King Henry left for Normandy for the final time.
After King Henry's death in 1135, Basset was not employed as a royal official, either as a justice or as a sheriff. He appears once as a witness to a charter of Stephen's in 1136, but the authenticity of this document has been questioned. He had built a castle in Normandy at Montreuil-au-Houlme, but it was not held by him in 1136, when it was held against Stephen's opponents by William de Montpincon. 2
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