 Urse arrived in England after Hastings , but it is unknown if his brother Robert arrived with him or separately . Urse was appointed Sheriff of Worcestershire some time after the Norman Conquest of England , probably in about 1069 , part of the wholesale replacement of English royal officials with Norman and other immigrants that took place in the early part of William 's reign . As sheriff , Urse was responsible for collecting taxes and forwarding them to the treasury , and was empowered to raise armies if rebellion or invasion threatened . The sheriff presided over the shire court , and was accountable for the shire 's annual payments to the king . During the reigns of William the Conqueror and his sons , the office of sheriff was a powerful one , as it did not share power with any other official in the shire , unless there was an earl in overall control . Because of their control of the courts for the hundreds – which were subdivisions of the shire – sheriffs had opportunities for patronage and also had a large say in who became members of the hundred and shire court juries . The death of Edwin , Earl of Mercia , who held power in Worcestershire until his death in 1071 during a rebellion against William , allowed Urse to accumulate more authority in Worcestershire , as Edwin was the last Earl of Mercia . 
