Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex
Walter Devereux was the eldest son of Sir Richard Devereux, who was created a Knight of the Bath on 20 February 1547 and died that same year, in the lifetime of his father, The 1st Viscount Hereford. Walter Devereux's mother was Lady Dorothy Hastings, daughter of The 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, said to have been a mistress of Henry VIII. Through his paternal ancestry he was related to the Bourchier family, to which previous Earls of Essex had belonged: John Devereux, son of Walter Devereux who died at the Battle of Bosworth, married Cecily Bourchier, sister of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex.
William Devereux (1219–1265)
About 1240 William was mentioned in Walter de Lacy's charter describing the grant of L30 rent in Holme Lacy (Herefordshire) and the village of Hay (Ireland) to Simon de Clifford for the manor of Yarkhill (Herefordshire). Devereux also witnessed the grant of Katherine, daughter of Walter Lacy of Land in Cofham to Acornbury Priory. During Easter 1244 Margery, widow of Walter de Lacy, sued William Devereux for one third of 2 mills in Hereford, which she claimed as part of her dower.