The name is Anglo-Saxon, probably deriving from ‘hawe’s ege’ referring to the Old English ‘hawe’ and the boundary (edge) of the Southaw wood. It was first recorded in 1176,[citation needed] in a charter from Henry II to the Abbot of St Albans referring to the abbot’s woodland property there, adjacent to the land later known as Enfield Chase. The area was variously named as Huzeog, Hossegge, Huzeseg, Hwzeseg, Ousage, Ouzage, Owsage and Ussage. The land was sold after the Dissolution of the Monasteries and a large house was built and parkland laid out. A condition of tenure was that the woods should supply faggots for the burning of heretics.[citation needed] In 1614 the estate passed by marriage to Robert Berkeley, and in 1652 the house became the residence of four generations of the Hadley family. Following the death of John Hadley in 1744 the house was demolished and the estate sold. A new Osidge House was built by 1808 and later occupied by the Lambert and Bosanquet families, being purchased by David Bevan for his eldest child Louisa Bosanquet. After her death the estate was rented and later purchased by Thomas Lipton.

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