Sir Walter Devereux (1411 – 22 April 1459) of Bodenham and Weobley was a loyal supporter of

Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Plantage ...

during the

Wars of the Roses The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487), known at the time and for more than a century after as the Civil Wars, were a series of civil wars fought over control of the throne of England, English throne in the mid-to-late fifteenth century. These w ...

. He was

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland (commonly known as Lord Chancellor of Ireland) was the highest judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 to 1801, it was also the highest political office of ...

from 1449 to 1451.

Family

Walter Devereux was born in 1411 in

Bodenham Bodenham is a village and civil parish in Herefordshire, England, and on a bend in the River Lugg, about seven miles south of Leominster. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 1,024, reducing to 998 at the 2011 census. The vil ...

, Herefordshire to a senior Walter Devereux and his wife Elizabeth Bromwich,Charles Mosley (editor). ''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition.'' Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999. Volume 1, pages1378-80Evelyn Philip Shirley. Stemmata Shirleiana. (Westminster: Nichols and Sons, 1873). page 103 to 104 daughter of the

Lord Justice of Ireland The Lords Justices (more formally the Lords Justices General and General Governors of Ireland) were deputies who acted collectively in the absence of the chief governor of Ireland (latterly the Lord Lieutenant) as head of the executive branch o ...

, Thomas Bromwich. By his grandmother, Agnes Crophull, he was a nephew of

Sir Thomas Parr Sir Thomas Parr (c. 1483 – 11 November 1517) of Kendal in Westmorland (now Cumbria), England, was a courtier and is best known as the father of Queen Catherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of King Henry VIII. Life Thomas was the son of ...

(d.1464), great-grandfather of

Catherine Parr Catherine Parr (sometimes alternatively spelled Katherine, Katheryn, Kateryn, or Katharine; 1512 – 5 September 1548) was Queen of England and Ireland as the last of the six wives of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 12 July 1543 until ...

, queen consort to King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

.Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. Walter Devereux married Elizabeth Merbury in 1427. She was a daughter of Sir John Merbury,
Retrieved 4 December 2013, The History of Parliament Online; John Merbury (d. 1438), of Lyonshall and Weobley, Herefs. Judge, Chief Justice of

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and his wife Alice Pembridge. They had the following children: *

Walter Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

(c. 1431 – 22 August 1485). *

Anne Devereux Anne Devereux, Countess of Pembroke (c. 1430 – after 25 June 1486), was an English noblewoman, who was Countess of Pembroke during the 15th century by virtue of marriage to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. She was born in Bodenham, t ...

(c. 1433 – after 1486)Ian Dawson. Anne Herbert, a life in the Wars of the Roses. The Historian. Spring 2014 *Sybil Devereux (c. 1435 - before 1499) *Sir John Devereux (c. 1437 - 1511). *Katherine Devereux (1438)

Wars of the Roses and Career

His first residence was Bodenham and the core of his Devereux family estates. With the death in 1436 of his grandmother Agnes Crophull, followed by that of her widower John Merbury in 1438, Walter inherited the remainder of his Devereux lands and the Merbury estates. Walter Devereux was a knight by 1429 when he first represented Hereford in Parliament.John Duncumb. ''Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford, volume 1.'' (Hereford: E.G. Wright. 1804). Page 139, 152 He would represent Hereford again in 1434, 1450, and 1459. He served as

sheriff of Herefordshire This is a list of Sheriffs and, since 1998, High Sheriffs of Herefordshire The position of Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in each county, but over the centurie ...

in 1447. Walter DevereuxRobin Neillands. ''The Wars of the Roses.'' (London: Cassell, 1992). Pages 58-59, 70-86 served with the Duke of York in France, and remained his supporter throughout the War of the Roses. After York made a declaration at Ludlow in February 1452 declaring his loyalty to the King, but wish to free the Court from bad advisors. The King did not respond, and York took to the field calling in his supporters including Walter Devereux, and marched on London. The King marched out to meet them, and eventually found York entrenched at Dartford Heath. The confrontation was resolved peacefully, but skirmishing followed leading to Devereux being attainted for treason by Parliament in 1452. At this time Devereux began holding

Wigmore Castle Wigmore Castle is a ruined castle about from the village of Wigmore in the northwest region of Herefordshire, England. History Wigmore Castle was founded after the Norman Conquest, probably c.1070, by William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Herefo ...

for the Yorkists. On 22 May 1455 the first Battle of St. Albans was fought north of London traditionally marking the opening of the War of the Roses. A Yorkist victory that included the capture of the King, restored the Duke of York to complete power. Shortly after the victory Parliament pardoned Walter Devereux. As the King and the Lancaster party manoeuvred to reverse their losses, outbursts of lawlessness grew on the Welsh Marches. Walter Devereux, Constable of Wigmore Castle, was up in arms. In the summer of 1456, he descended on Hereford with the castle’s garrison and captured the mayor and justices. Devereux then brought before the justices several local men whom the justices were obliged to condemn to death, and then he had them hanged. Devereux followed this by mustering a force of 2000 archers from Gwent, and marched on the castles at

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

and

Aberystwyth Aberystwyth () is a university and seaside town as well as a community in Ceredigion, Wales. Located in the historic county of Cardiganshire, means "the mouth of the Ystwyth". Aberystwyth University has been a major educational location i ...

, which he took by assault. Afterwards, he declared a commission of ‘oyer and terminer’ to judge and condemn more people whom he believed hostile to York. Among his prisoners were Edmund Tudor, the king’s half-brother, and Robert Rees, Keeper of the Welsh Seal. Devereux was granted land in

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

in Ireland in 1459.

Lord Chancellor

He was appointed Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1449: by coincidence, his wife's uncle Sir Laurence Merbury had been Deputy Lord Chancellor in the early years of the century. His term as Chancellor was brief and likely uneventful. In 1451,

Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York (21 September 1411 – 30 December 1460), also named Richard Plantagenet, was a leading English magnate and claimant to the throne during the Wars of the Roses. He was a member of the ruling House of Planta ...

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (), or more formally Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland, was the title of the chief governor of Ireland from the Williamite Wars of 1690 until the Partition of Ireland in 1922. This spanned the King ...

appointed his son, the 8-year-old

Edmund, Earl of Rutland Edmund, Earl of Rutland (17 May 1443 – 30 December 1460) was the fourth child and second surviving son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville. He was a younger brother of Edward IV of England, Edward, Earl of March, the ...

, as the new Lord Chancellor. Since Rutland was under age, his duties were taken over by Deputy Chancellor

Edmund Oldhall Edmund Oldhall (after 1390 – 1459) was an English-born cleric and judge in fifteenth-century Ireland. He was Bishop of Meath and acting Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He was a brother of the leading Yorkist statesman Sir William Oldhall. He wa ...

Death

Walter Devereux died on the 22 or 23 of April in 1459.

General Reference

* Cokayne, G.E. ''Complete Peerage.'' (New York; St. Martin's Press, 1984). Volume V, page 321 to 333, Ferrers *Duncumb, John. ''Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford, Volume 2, Issue 1.'' (Hereford: EG Wright, 1812). Page 37, Broxash Hundred *Mosley, Charles (editor). ''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 106th Edition.'' Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999. Page 1378

Specific References

External links

A short profile of his wife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Devereux, Walter 1411 births 1459 deaths Lord chancellors of Ireland People from Herefordshire Walter High Sheriffs of Herefordshire High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire