Little is known for certain of the Redvers family before Richard. In his Baronage of England (1675–6), William Dugdale wrongly identified Richard de Redvers with Richard the son of Baldwin FitzGilbert (also known as Baldwin de Meules) who was sheriff of Devon under William the Conqueror. This error was still being repeated in the late 19th century.See, for instance: In around 1890 The Complete Peerage advanced the alternative theory that Richard de Redvers was the son of William de Vernon, but later research has cast doubt on this too, suggesting that all that can be said is that his father may have been Baldwin, one of three brothers named Redvers in Normandy in 1060; the other brothers being William, and Richard, who died in that year.Bearman 1994, p.1–2. Similarly nothing is known of Richard's early life. The Norman poet Wace, writing c. 1170, mentions a "sire de Reviers" as one of those who accompanied William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings,"He who was then sire de Reviers, brought with him many knights who were foremost in the assault, bearing the enemy down with their warhorses." Translation by Edgar Taylor, London, William Pickering, 1837. In but it is not known if this was Richard de Reviers.
