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 25 October 1382 Walter Devereux, his father (Sir Walter Devereux), Sir John Devereux, and Sir John de Burley were placed under a recognizance of 400L to Sir John Crophul. On 4 November 1282 John Crophul was granted license following the payment of 20 marks to enfoeff Walter and Agnes Devereux in the manor of Newbold Verdon in Leicestershire. Following John Crophul's death on 3 July 1383, Agnes (age 12) was identified as Walter Devereux's wife. Wardship of Agnes had been assigned to Roger Crophul. On 21 August 1383 Roger Crophul and Thomas Melton granted to Walter Devereux the keeping of all the lands of the late John Crophul except the manors of Hemington, Braunstone, and Bonington until the lawful age of his wife. Joan, widow of John Crophul's son Thomas, was assigned Market Rasen as her dower on 20 September 1383. After the widow's death and Agnes’ coming of age on 27 September 1385, Walter Devereux took possession of the remaining Crophul lands by right of marriage. These included Weobley manor (Herefordshire); Sutton Bonington manor and lands at Arnold (Nottinghamshire); the manors of Navenby, Cotesbach, Braunstone, and Hemington (Leicestershire); and an estate at Market Rasen (Lincolnshire). Weobley would become his principal residence.