Member of the Parliament of England
Sir William Courtenay (June 1553 – 24 June 1630) of Powderham in Devon was a prominent member of the Devonshire gentry. He was Sheriff of Devon in 1579–80 and received the rare honour of having been three times elected MP for the prestigious county seat (Devon) in 1584, 1589 and 1601.
Origins.
He was the only son and heir of Sir William Courtenay (c. 1529 – 1557) of Powderham, MP for Plympton Erle in 1555, by Elizabeth, daughter of John Paulet, 2nd Marquess of Winchester. His sister Jane married Sir Nicholas Parker. After his father's death, his mother subsequently married Sir Henry Ughtred, son of Sir Anthony Ughtred and his second wife, Elizabeth Seymour, sister to Jane, third consort of Henry VIII.
Career.
In 1557 at the age of 4, he succeeded his father. He trained as a lawyer in the Middle Temple. He was knighted on 25 March 1576, and in 1577 was commissioned as one of two Colonels of the East Division of the Devon Trained Bands. He served as Sheriff of Devon for 1579–80 and was also involved in the Munster Plantation in Ireland in the 1580s, being granted Desmond Hall and Castle in Newcastle West. Sir William was elected as a Member of Parliament for Devon in 1584, 1589 and 1601. In 1831 he was recognised by a retrospective decision of the House of Lords as having been "de jure" 3rd Earl of Devon.
Marriages and issue.
He married three times:
First marriage.
He married firstly, around 18 January 1573, Elizabeth Manners, a daughter of Henry Manners, 2nd Earl of Rutland, and by her had seven sons and three daughters:
* Sir William Courtenay (born c. 1616), 2nd Baronet
* Francis Courtenay (born c. 1617)
* Morris Courtenay 
Second marriage.
He married secondly Elizabeth (d. 1598), a daughter of Sir George Sydenham of Combe Sydenham in Somerset and widow of Sir Francis Drake (d. 1596).
Third marriage.
Thirdly he married Jane Hill, a daughter of Robert Hill of Taunton, Somerset.
Death.
He died in London on 24 June 1630 and was buried in Powderham Church, Devon. He was succeeded by his son, Francis.
References.
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