William Devereux

William Devereux
Spouse(s) Hawise de Lacy

Issue

Walter Devereux, Lord of Lyonshall
Robert Devereux
Noble family House of Normandy
Father William d'Évreux
Died after 1110

William Devereux was an Anglo-Norman nobleman living during the reigns of kings William I, William II, and Henry I of England. The Devereux, along with the Baskervilles and Pichards, were prominent knightly families along the Welsh marches at the beginning of the twelfth century, and linked to the Braose and Lacy lordships of the region.[1] William Devereux's descendants would later give rise to the Devereux family of Hereford, and the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford and Earls of Essex.

Career

William was the son of William d'Évreux by a second unnamed wife.[2][3] There are indications he fought at Hastings as he was rewarded with lands along the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire and Gloucester that he held in 1086.[4] Lyonshall Castle was constructed at the direction of his overlord, Roger de Lacy during the late 11th century. When de Lacy was exiled in 1095 the castle came under more direct control of the Devereux family, and eventually they became its chief lords.[5]

William Devereux was a benefactor of the Abbey at Gloucester (Church of St. Peter in Gloucester). In 1086 William the Conqueror issued a charter to the abbey confirming the land it possessed, and William Devereux was identified as giving 1 hide of land.[6] During the time of King William Rufus in 1096 he was identified as granting a hide in Herefordshire, and two tenths (duas decimas) from 'Leech and Hadrop'.[7] A list of donations to the abbey showed William Devereux giving one hide of land in Jerchenfeld, Westone, and tithes from Haythrop, in the time of Abbot Serlo (1072 to 1104).[8][9] Other sources indicate he confirmed the grant of a hide in Herefordshire to St. Peter’s Abbey at Gloucester in the tenth year of Henry I (1110).[10][11] During the time of Abbot William (1113 to 1130) a woman named Hawise, identified as the widow of William Devereux, appeared on a list of donations as giving the land called Hyde, and that Walter de Lacy had given this to her upon her marriage.[12] The gift of William Devereux of one hide of land to the abbey was confirmed again by King Stephen in 1138,[13] the Archbishop of Canterbury between 1139 to 1148,[14] and King Henry II about 1174.[15]

William Devereux witnessed an undated grant by William de Hussemain of a tenement in the manor of Castle Frome, Herefordshire, to Walter de Longchamp. Another witness to this document, Baldwyn de Boulers, was married by 1102, and signed a charter of Henry I to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1121.[16]

Family

William married Hawise de Lacy,[17] daughter of Walter de Lacy.[18] This marriage occurred after 1066 as her dowry included post-conquest land grants. They had issue:[19][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

Domesday Landholdings

According to the Domesday Book, William Devereux held the following lands valued at about £16 in 1086 under the Tenant-in-chief Roger de Lacy:[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gilbert Devereux probably was a third son, and inherited some of the family estates in Normandy. He was precentor of Rouen Cathedral, chaplain to Henry I, and treasurer of Normandy. He died in the mid-1120's, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William Devereux. William retired from the court to become Prior of Sainte-Barbe in 1128, and was succeeded by his brother, Robert Devereux, as treasurer holding the position into Stephen's reign. Gilbert had 5 sons all of whom were involved with the treasury, and two followed their brother to Saint-Barbe.
  2. ↑ It was common for families to place younger sons in the clergy during this period. The Hereford Cathedral Obituary Book identifies a priest/monk, Richard Devereux, that died on 15 May 1141. He probably is a younger son of William or a grandson. (J.S. Barrow. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 8: Hereford. (Institute of Historical Research, 2002). Fn 170
  3. ↑ The Marches Archeology report describes an annotation on the domesday manuscript indicating that the Walter holding Lyonshall was 'de Ebrois'
  4. ↑ East Leach would pass down to a Walter Devereux of Lyonshall, whose widow Cecilia, contested the ownership of these estates. Although, Cecilia lost her suit (Curia Regis Roll, 13 John, Michaelmas Term, membrane 6), some of East Leach was in the hands of the Devereux family, John Devereux, Lord of Munsley, as late as 1302 (Calender of Patent Rolls. 24 June, 31 Edward I (1302), membrane 20d).
  5. ↑ Hatherop appears to have passed to Stephen Devereux and his wife, Constance de Leigh. Stephen Devereux was the brother of Walter Devereux whose wife, Cecilia, is cited in the multiple litigations involving the Devereux lands around 1200. Following this Stephen's death, his widow would make many grants to the Abbey of Lacock which included lands in Hatherop.
  6. ↑ This small piece of land is the closest of the Devereux grants to the Abbey Dore, and may be the location of the 'Woods of Huggesleg' granted by William Devereux's descendant, Roger Devereux, to the Abbey at the time of his death as referenced in A Descriptive Catalogue of Ancient Deeds in the Public Record Office (London; Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1890) in volume 1, page 277, B.673.
  7. ↑ The Chapel at Putley was granted to the canons of Hereford by William Devereux. Cecilia Devereux, widow of Walter Devereux of Lyonshall, would contest the ownership of this Chapel and lose when the Canons produced the original charter. The final accord was published in: Monasticon Anglicanum. by Sir William Dugdale, knight, Volume the 6th part III. London: Published for the Proprietors by James Bohn, 12, King William Street, Charing Cross. 1846, page 1217. Cecelia Devereux still held Putley in the Testa de Nevil in 1242.
  8. ↑ Street Court (so named from its position on the old Roman road) was held under the Lady Cecily Devereux by Thomas de Street, in the reign of Edward I. Cecily was the widow of Walter Devereux of Lyonshall, great-great-grandson of William Devereux
  9. ↑ These lands remained in Devereux hands as late as 1308 when their ownership was contested between the sons of Hugh Devereux (De Banco Roll, Easter, 2 Edward II, No. 176, r. 51, Hereford).
  10. ↑ Part of the maund grants were held later as Whitechurch Maund by Baron John Devereux (died 1392/3).

References

  1. ↑ Brock W. Holden. Lords of the Central Marches. (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2008). page 92
  2. ↑ Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Powlett Cleveland, Duchess of Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll, with some account of the Norman Lines, Vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1889), p. 325
  3. ↑ M. Jackson Crispin and Leonce Macary. Falaise Roll. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1985). page 41
  4. 1 2 Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, William Devereux
  5. ↑ Charles Robinson. A History of the Castles of Herefordshire and their Lords. page 125
  6. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monaterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863, Page 334
  7. 1 2 3 4 Charles Johnson and HA Cronne (editors). Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, 1066-1154; Volume II Regesta Henrici Primi, 1100-1135. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1956. Page 410
  8. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863, page 118
  9. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 2. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863, page 40
  10. ↑ Arthur Collins. The Peerage of England. (London: 1779). Volume VI, page 1, Devereux Viscount of Hereford
  11. ↑ Roger Dodsworth. Monasticon Anglicanum by William Dugsdale. (London: 1673). Vol. 3, Cathedrals, page 187
  12. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863. Page 88
  13. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863. Page 223
  14. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863. Page 226
  15. ↑ William Henry Hart (editor). Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucesteriae, Volume 1. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, 1863. Page 350
  16. ↑ Collections Historical & Archeological Relating to Montgomeryshire and its Borders, Vol. XXVII. (London: Charles J. Clark, 1893). page 192
  17. 1 2 Morgan G. Watkins. Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford in continuation of Duncumb’s History, Hundred of Radlow. (High Town [Hereford]: Jakeman & Carver, 1902). Page 42 to 49. Parish of Castle Frome, Genealogy contributed by Lord Hereford
  18. ↑ Robert William Eyton. Antiquities of Shropshire. (London: JR Smith, 1857). Pages 26-29
  19. ↑ Charles Homer Haskins. Norman Institutions. Harvard Historical Studies. Published Under the Direction of the Department of History. Volume XXIV. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1918). Page 88, 108-9
  20. ↑ Richard Stone. Marches Archeology, The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Lyonshall, Herefordshire. (Shropshire: Marches Archeology, 2003). Section 4: Archeological and Historical Background, Lyonshall
  21. 1 2 Brock W. Holden. Lords of the Central Marches. (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2008). page 40
  22. ↑ Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Powlett Cleveland, Duchess of Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll, with some account of the Norman Lines, Vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1889), pp. 325–26 (citing Mont
  23. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18, 2012, Eastleach (Turville)
  24. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Gloucester: Roger de Lacy, fief 39, entry 13.
  25. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Hatherop
  26. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Gloucester: Roger de Lacy, fief 39, entry 14.
  27. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Ewyas (Harold)
  28. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 1.
  29. 1 2 F.W. Maitland (editor). Bracton’s Note Book. A Collection of Cases Decided in the King’s Courts During the Reign of Henry the Third, Annotated by a Lawyer of that Time, Seemingly by Henry of Bratton, Volume II. London: CJ Clay & Sons, 1887. Page 182, Case 227
  30. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Putley
  31. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 4.
  32. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Street
  33. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 41.
  34. ↑ Charles Robinson. A History of the Mansions and Manors of Herefordshire. (London: Longmans and Company, 1872). page 159
  35. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Grendon
  36. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 72.
  37. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Elnodestune
  38. ↑ John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 17.
  39. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, Maund (bryan)
  40. 1 2 John Morris (editor). Domesday Books (Phillimore Editions). (Chichester: 1975-1992). Hereford: Roger de Lacy, fief 10, entry 6.
  41. ↑ Morgan G. Watkins. Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford in continuation of Duncumb’s History, Hundred of Radlow. (High Town [Hereford]: Jakeman & Carver, 1902). Page 42 to 49. Parish of Castle Frome, Genealogy contributed by Lord Hereford
  42. ↑ Anna Powell-Smith, Open Domesday, accessed March 18 2012, (Rose)maund
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