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 1641)
Walter Devereux was sent in 1608 to a riding academy in Angers, France. He had returned by May 1613 when the divorce suit of his half-brother, Robert Devereux, began, and over the next several months was manipulated by the King and his powerful allies at the expense of Essex and the Devereux family's reputation. Essex's wife, Frances Howard, and the King's faction forced the divorce to be granted as nullity requiring impotence to permit her remarriage to the King's favorite. The ongoing slurs and insults drove Essex to challenge his brother-in-law, Henry Howard, on 20 August to a duel, and Walter would serve as one of Essex's seconds. The King would not allow the duel to go forward. On 25 September the verdict of nullity was granted, and the next day the King called a special Court of Honor to stop the duel. The Court interviewed the seconds including Walter Devereux, but the testimony was altered. Essex refused to sign the report indicating they were false. Walter signed with Richard Oubeley the following "Declaration of Essex’s Seconds":