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.
Walter Devereux, 7th Baron Ferrers of Chartley
On 13 September 1470 after Edward IV had been lured north to deal with rebels, Warwick landed at Plymouth raising a Lancastrian rebellion in his rear. Edward was forced to flee to Flanders, and Henry VI was readapted to the throne of England on 3 October. When Edward IV returned, landing at Ravenspur, Yorkshire, on 14 March 1471, Devereux joined him for the victory at the Battle of Barnet on 14 April 1471, which deposed Henry VI once again. Walter Devereux was assigned to raise more troops in Shropshire, and Herefordshire, and fought at the Battle of Tewkesbury on 4 May 1471 where Edward IV finally secured his throne. Devereux was at the king's side when he entered London in triumph, and was one of the Lords who swore in the Parliament Chamber at Westminster on 3 July 1471 to accept Edward, Prince of Wales, as heir to the crown. On 27 August he was granted the power to receive the submission of all rebels in South Wales and the marshes, and to raise an army in South Wales, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, and the marches to resist Jasper Tudor.