Walter Devereux (1411–1459)
Following the death of Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, on 18 January 1425, Richard, 3rd Duke of York inherited his estates along the Welsh Marches. This brought Walter Devereux into the retinue of the Duke, and he remained his loyal supporter throughout the War of the Roses. Devereux had been knighted by 22 September 1429 when he first represented Herefordshire in Parliament. He probably was in attendance on the Duke when he travelled with Henry VI to France for his coronation on 16 December 1429. On his return Devereux represented Herefordshire again in Parliament on 16 January 1430. He was listed on the subsidy rolls for Herefordshire of 12 January 1431 as holding his 1/3 of half a fee in Byford.
Walter Devereux (1387–1419)
In 1406 Welsh raiders damaged Lyonshall Castle in the heart of Devereux territory. Walter Devereux shared a claim on the castle with the family of his distant cousin John Devereux, 1st Baron Devereux. These claims could only be inherited through the male line, and would result in the castle finally passing to his son in the 1430s. When the daughter of John Devereux, Joan 3rd Baroness Devereux and Baroness Fitzwalter, died on 11 May 1409 she still possessed Lyonshall. On 24 May 1409 an order was issued to the escheator and sheriff of Herefordshire to take the castle into the king’s hands, and arrest ‘certain of the king’s lieges’ who had entered and held it with a strong hand to the contempt of the king. This is probably a reference to Walter Devereux trying to assert his claim.