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 (died 1402)
On 10 November 1388 Walter Devereux witnessed John de Cornewaile of Kinlet’s grant of warranty for life to Cornewaile's mother of two thirds of the manor of Ashton, Herefordshire, if she should outlive his father, Sir Brian. On 28 June 1390 he was place on a commission of Oyer and terminer in addition to his role as Justice of the Peace for Herefordshire. On 15 July Devereux was on the commission conducting the inquiry post-mortem of John Hastings, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, who had died before coming of age. He was directed to inquire what lands had been held in dower at the death of the earl's widowed mother, Anne Manny, on 3 April 1384, and the widow of Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, Marie de St Pol, on her death 16 March 1377. On 27 October 1391 there were adjustments to the rent of the lordship of Bergevenny based on his findings.