1130 Acaris's father Bardolf/Bardulf acquired an interest in the Ravensworth fee of the Honour of Richmond which, in 1086, was held by Bodin. Acaris was an important tenant of Count Stephen of Richmond and performed castle guard at Richmond in June and July in 1130. [1]
1136-1145 "In the time of King Stephen,[Stephen succeeded Henry I who died in December 1135] who suceeded Henry I in the kingdom of England, there was a certain knight of noble family named Acaris son of Bardolf, a great landowner in the county of Yorkshire. Inspired by divine grace, this man gave to a monk serving God, Peter de Quinciaco, who was well experienced and ver knowledgeable in the skills of medicine, and to other monks of Savigny, a certain portion of his land in Wensleydale, that is, land in Fors and Wroton. There the said Brother Peter and his companions began, as best they could, to establish a new abbey and to construct simple buildings. At first this dwelling place was called the abbey of Fors, then the abbey of Wensleydale, later still the abbey of Charity, and finally, because the place was close to the flowing water, it was called the abbey of Jervaulx. It is uncertain how or for waht reason Brother Peter and his other companions came from Savigny to England. Some believe that Peter was staying at the court of Alan, count of Brittany and Richmond, for the purpose of treating the sick and wounded or to collect alms in the hall and distribute them to the needy. Count Alan confirmed the grants that the said Lord Acaris and others made to the monks by his charteres, in this way. Alan, a count of Brittany and England, to all the prelates of holy church and to all his barons and his men of England, both French and English, greeting I wish you to know that I have conceded and confirmed those alms that Acaris son of Bardolf granted to the monks of Savigny for the soul of his father and that of his mother and for the souls of his ancestors, that is, all the land that he held in Fors and in Worton and in Brough, free and quit from all the service that belongs to it and that the aforesaid Acaris renders fully to me. Acaris granted the said land to them when I was there to see and hear, with all its belongings and appurtenances, in plain and wood, in meadows, in watercourses, in fields and in pastures. Moreover, I grant to them the honour of our Lord Jesus Christ and for the souls of all the faithful, common of my pastures wherever they have animals, and I order that they hold the said alms well, peacefully and honourably, and that no-one should oppose them or cause them harm. And I pray all men to support them. With this witness: Conan the archdeacon." [2]
[1] Janet Burton, The Foundation History of the Abbeys of Byland and Jervaulx (York: University of York, 2006), 10, footnote, citing Early Yorkshire Charters, 12 vols., vol. 1-3, ed. W. Farrer (Edinburgh: Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., 1914-16), vol. 4-12, ed. C.T. Clay (Yorkshire Archaeological Society Record Series, extra series, 1935-6), 5:316-7. Burton states in a footnote that Bardolf was an illegitimate son of Count Eudo of Pentièvre, [GoogleBooks].
[2] Janet Burton, The Foundation History of the Abbeys of Byland and Jervaulx (York: University of York, 2006), 36-39, [GoogleBooks].