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 (1411–1459)
On 2 July 1440 the Duke of York was again appointed Lieutenant of France. On 28 January 1441 Walter Devereux was appointed Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire, and on 18 February 1441 entrusted with collection of a tenth and fifteenth to fund an expedition by the Duke to defend English possessions in France. In May 1441 Walter Devereux was granted protection and appointed an attorney while in France in the company of Richard, Duke of York. During 1442 he was captain of the garrison at Arques (Normandy), and on 18 August led a garrison detachment to support the Siege of Conches, which surrendered on 7 September. Henry VI diverted an army promised to York to the Duke of Somerset, and Devereux was back in England on 16 February 1443 when he was appointed again Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire.