Walter Devereux

Parliamentarian MP for Lichfield

Walter Devereux was the illegitimate, eldest son of Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex born in late 1591. His mother was Elizabeth Southwell, daughter of Sir Thomas Southwell of Woodrising, Norfolk and his wife Nazareth (Newton) Southwell, who later became Lady Paget. Elizabeth was the half-sister of the Lord Admiral’s son-in-law, Robert Southwell, and a first cousin of Essex’s enemy Henry Brooke, the future 11th Lord Cobham.

(Devereux was the product of an illicit union between the 2nd earl of Essex and one of the queen’s maids, Elizabeth Southwell, the daughter of a Norfolk squire. Southwell’s pregnancy - coyly referred to as a ‘lameness in her leg’ by one observer - aroused the queen’s anger, whereupon responsibility was pinned on a minor courtier named Thomas Vavasour (probably the gentleman pensioner of that name who had served with Essex in the Netherlands), who was briefly imprisoned.4 In May 1595 an angry queen discovered Devereux’s true paternity, whereupon Essex was forced to make limited financial provision for his son. Devereux should not be confused with the son, also named Walter, who was born to the countess of Essex in January 1592 and died a month later.)

By 1595 the truth of Walter’s parentage had come out, and Essex acknowledged him in a financial rearrangement to his Will dated July of 1595 where he is referred to as “Walter Devereux the base and reputed son of the said Robert Earl of Essex begotten of the body of Elizabeth Southwell.” Walter was given over to the care of Essex’s mother, Lettice (Knollys) (Devereux) Dudley, Countess of Leicester, who raised him at Drayton Bassett in Staffordshire. With the execution of his father, Robert Devereux, on Feb. 25, 1601 he found himself stripped of his main source of support. Essex’s assets had been seized, and now Walter Devereux was an even greater social pariah, the illegitimate son of a traitor.

During this period after the 2nd Earl’s execution, Walter was permitted to continue his studies at Oxford, and matriculated on Nov. 16, 1604. During this time he also apparently drew closer to his half-brother, Robert Devereux, the legal heir of the 2nd Earl and future 3rd Earl who also was suffering from these losses. Throughout the remainder of Walter’s life, he would remain a retainer of Robert, and when the title was restored in July 1603 Walter’s fortunes rose as well.

Walter Devereux’s grandmother, Lettice Dudley Countess of Leicester, wrote to Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, in 1608 to assist in arranging his marriage to “Lady Stallenge’s daughter.” This is most likely the daughter of Lady Florence Stallenge. She had two daughter’s, Margaret and Elizabeth by Sir Christopher Kenn. After he died in 1593, Florence married her second husband, Nicholas Stallenge. The daughter most likely referred to in the letter was Margaret who ended up marrying Sir William Guise in 1608, and died before 1612 after bearing him a single son and heir. Her younger sister, Elizabeth, would marry a few years later to Sir John Paulet. There is evidence that he may have married another woman, though. Years after Walter Devereux‘s death in 1641, a Dorothy Deverix died and was recorded in the Register of St. Peter, Paul’s Wharf as a widow upon her burial in the churchyard on 27 Sep 1649. There is further suggestion that about 1609 they may have had a son, John. This John Devereux was a retainer of Sir John Astley and mentioned in his Will. The Astley family was involved in staging the revels common to the nobility at this time and clearly was interconnected with the Devereux family. Walter Devereux participated in these plays and dramas as well. On February 2, 1618 he performed in “The Fairies’ Farewell: The Masque at Coleorton” at his half-sister, Frances Devereux’s marriage to Sir William Seymour.

In May of 1613 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 August 20 to a duel, and Walter would serve as one of Essex’s seconds. The King would not allow the duel to go forward. On September 25th the verdict of nullity was granted, and the next day the King called a special Court of Honor to stop duel. The Court interviewed the seconds including Walter Devereux, but the testimony was altered. Essex’s refused to sign the report indicating they were false. On October 11th Essex was called before the Privy Council, probably reprimanded and rebuked, but all that is known for certain was his confinement to his London residence. A Warrant was issued for Walter Devereux, and on October 13 he was imprisoned in the Fleet (London Prison) with no cause stated. In early November, Essex and Walter were released from prison, and evidently pressured to accept what had occurred. The final insult happened a few weeks later when the Howard family demanded his wife’s dowry back, and Essex was forced to sell parts of his estate and borrow money from his grandmother, Lettice the Countess of Leicester.

The two brothers were now joined more closely, and as a retainer of the 3rd Earl of Essex, Walter found himself strongly in opposition to the Stuart monarchy, and a staunch supporter of Parliament in the evolving Civil War. Through Essex’s influence, he became a courtier at the Court of James I in 1613, and was knighted at Ashby-de-la-Zouche on September 2, 1617.

He was first summoned to Parliament as a representative of Pembroke in 1614. The ‘Addled’ Parliament sat for only 8 weeks from April 5 to June 7 and then was dissolved by James I for failing to pass any legislation. Specifically, they refused to grant him any money. He would represent Pembroke again in Parliament from 1624 to 1625 participating in the “Prince’s” Parliament.

When Essex set out with the English Expeditionary Force to the Low Countries in August of 1624, Walter accompanied him. He remained with Essex through the Winter at the Siege of Breda and shared the hardships and hand-to-hand combat occurring at the close of this action. In May of 1625 he opted to remain in the Low Countries due to disease in London, and requested payment for this extended service from the Dutch government in May of 1626. He was not present at the “Useless” Parliament in 1625 due to his overseas service.

Returning to England in July 1625, Walter was elected to Parliament for Tamworth in Staffordshire on January 20, 1626. He would hold this seat in the Commons for the rest of his life. He was appointed to the Warwickshire Committee for Peace that same year. In 1628 he is present in Parliament to support the ‘Petition of Rights’ forced on Charles I acknowledging a statement of civil rights in return for support of his finances.

On Dec. 25, 1634 Walter lost one of his main benefactors when his grandmother, Lettice, died. His family ties were further strained when in mid-1636 his half-brother, Robert Earl of Essex, became suspicious his wife was having an affair. He had left her at his sister’s house in Hertford in March of 1636 to return to his estates at Chartley where he was needed to manage his affairs. It is not clear whether Walter took it upon himself, or Robert set him the task, but by July Walter had acquired evidence of Essex’s wife’s affair with Sir William Uvedale. The Earl began to plan for a divorce, but Lady Essex then announced she was pregnant. Essex was divided on the proper course to take, but came to the conclusion that if the child was born by November 5 it was possible that he was the father. A stressful few months passed, and the child was born on November 5. A son and heir, who Essex accepted as his own. Within a few months the child died of plague and Essex’s marriage was over in all but name.

The outcome of these events appears to have also left its mark on Robert’s relationship with his brother, Walter, and they would never be as close again. It seems Walter took the public blame for involving himself in his brother's personal affairs. In 1638, the London City Directory showed a Mr. Walter Devereux living at 38 Triggs Stairs in St. Peter, Paul’s Wharf Parish. This may indicate Walter was establishing his own residence. Of additional interest is the listing of a Mr. Devorax living on Trigg’s Lane and paying rent of 6L. This Mr. Devorax was listed as John Devorax when one of his servants was buried. This suggests a possible link between Walter and a John Devereux possibly a son.

In 1639 the First Bishops' War breaks out between Charles I and the Scottish Church. Essex participates, but unlike the previous conflict there is no record that Walter accompanied him. When Parliament is summoned by Charles I on February 20, 1940, Walter Devereux is elected to Commons for Lichfield in East Staffordshire. On April 13 the ‘Short Parliament’ begins, but is dissolved May 5 after refusing to grant the King money.

As the Second Bishops War ends in disaster, Charles I summons parliament again on September 24, and Walter Devereux is a member for Lichfield in East Staffordshire once more. The ‘Long Parliament’ begins on November 3, and Walter Devereux serves on the Ship-money Committee and is named one of the Commissioners for Staffordshire in the Scandalous Ministers Act. He continues to be active in Parliament’s cause throughout 1641 when he died unexpectedly on July 26.

As the Parliament began to prepare for military action against the King, Essex’s relationships with his family deteriorated. His mother’s second husband, the Earl of Clanricade, and his sister’s husband, Earl of Hertford, were Royalists. He was barely speaking to his wife who would soon go over to the Royalist camp. Essex was alienated from all those he had held dear only five years previously, but sensing imminent death he set his affairs in order. On August 5, 1642, Essex would revise his Will including reassigning the estates he had deeded to Walter Devereux to his sister, the Marchioness of Hereford, and his favorite nephew, Sir Charles Shirley.

As Walter Devereux had died unexpectedly intestate at Essex House, London, there was no will. His half-brother, Robert Devereux, made no allowance for surviving family, but this was typical of nobility at the time. In the Herbert family, that were also from the same Welsh border region, there is a clear example where the legitimate brother completely excluded the illegitimate brother’s family from all inheritance of any family wealth. The possible wife of Walter, Dorothy Deverix, died as described above on 27 Sep 1649.

The main part of Essex House was demolished some time between 1674 and 1679. Essex Street was built on part of the site. One of those buildings was used in the mid-1770s as a Dissenters' meeting house known as the Essex Street Chapel, where Unitarianism was first preached in England. The denominational headquarters are still on the site, now called Essex Hall. Their building footprint is believed to include the Tudor chapel of Essex House.

Sources:

British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp92-95

"The two members in the Short Parliament of 1640 were Richard Dyott of Freeford, a royalist, and Sir Walter Devereux, the natural son of the earl of Essex (d. 1601) and a parliamentarian. Devereux was chosen for the Long Parliament later in 1640, with the puritan town clerk, Michael Noble, as his colleague. Devereux died in 1641 and was succeeded by a royalist, Sir Richard Cave, who was chosen apparently at the wish of Prince Rupert. Cave was removed by resolution of the House of Commons in 1642 and replaced by Michael Biddulph of Elmhurst, a supporter of parliament. (fn. 16) From 1654 to 1660 Lichfield was represented by a Presbyterian mercer, Thomas Minors. He was joined in the parliament elected in 1659 by Daniel Watson of Burton upon Trent. In 1660 Watson was elected with Michael Biddulph's son, also Michael, but was unseated later the same year on petition and replaced by Minors. (fn. 17)"

'Lichfield: Parliamentary representation', in A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14, Lichfield, ed. M W Greenslade (London, 1990), pp. 92-95. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol14/pp92-95 [accessed 21 March 2018].

Family connections to Wales:

ROBERT DEVEREUX ( 1567 - 1601 ), 2nd earl of Essex and 3rd viscount Hereford , son of the 1st earl , was born in Herefordshire but at 15 went to live at Lamphey , then in the occupation of his uncle Sir George (above), from whose household he took Rhys Prichard , as his chaplain and Gelly Meyrick (see Meyrick family ) as his steward , factotum , and ‘in Wales …almost a viceroy ’ ( D . Mathew , The Celtic Peoples , 1933 , 341). In 1594 he sealed the Pembrokeshire Bond of Association for the defence of the queen ; after that, despite his appointment as ‘ custos rotulorum ’ for the county, he had little direct contact with Wales ; but Meyrick organized for him a following there among Devereux tenants, connections, and neighbours and those of the Meyricks in west Wales and Radnorshire , and among freelances and soldiers of fortune from North Wales , attracted by Essex 's personal prowess (for lists, see Mathew , op. cit., chapters xviii-xxii; E.H.R. , lix, 348-70). Many of these were picked for key posts in his expeditions to Rouen ( 1591-2 ), Cadiz ( 1596 ) — where Essex lost his brother Walter , who was brought home to Carmarthen for burial — Azores ( 1597 ), and Ireland ( 1599-1600 ); and some supported him to the death in his final bid for power ( 1601 ).

ROBERT DEVEREUX ( 1591 - 1646 ), 3rd earl of Essex and 4th viscount Hereford , son of the 2nd earl , is not known to have resided on the Welsh estates of the family (despite their restoration in 1604 , when the penalties of his father's attainder were wiped out), save for a brief spell in 1613 , when he retired to Lamphey during negotiations for his divorce from the first lady Essex ; but the connection with west Wales was maintained by his appointment as steward and keeper of the royal manors in Carmarthenshire , Pembrokeshire , and Cardiganshire ( 1606 ), his membership of the Council of Wales ( 1617 ), and his nomination by Parliament as lord-lieutenant of Montgomeryshire ( Feb. 1642 ). Many old followers of his father remained loyal to the family: e.g. when he joined Sir Horace Vere 's volunteer force to the Palatinate ( 1620 ) he had with him see John Meyrick (see Meyrick family ) and Rowland Laugharne , both of whom rallied to him in the Civil War , but the North Wales families who had been in the 2nd earl 's service mostly took the other side in his son's day.

With the 3rd earl 's death in 1646 the earldom became extinct, but the Welsh connection persisted through the viscounty, which devolved on WALTER DEVEREUX ( 1578 - c. 1657 ), 5th viscount Hereford , a younger grandson of the 1st viscount and cousin to the 1st earl of Essex , who was named by the Lords as lord-lieutenant of Monmouthshire in 1646 and a member of the Radnorshire militia committee in 1648 . His grandson EDWARD DEVEREUX ( 1675 - 1700 ), 8th viscount Hereford , held the stewardship of courts baron in Cardiganshire and Carmarthenshire ; but after him the title passed to a Montgomeryshire branch, through a nephew of the 5th viscount , Sir GEORGE DEVEREUX (d. 1665 ), who was ‘ recruiter ’ M.P. for Montgomery in the Long Parliament ( 6 April 1647 ), was suspended as a ‘ delinquent ’ the following May, but signed the Montgomeryshire declaration for Parliament on 20 May 1648 . After the king's execution he remained in retirement till he began to sit on county committees in 1657 and accepted office as sheriff in 1648 . He m. Bridget , daughter and heiress of Arthur Price of Vaynor, Mont. Their grandson PRICE DEVEREUX ( 1664 - 1740 ), 9th viscount Hereford , was Tory M.P. for Montgomery from 1691 till his succession to the title in 1700 , and lord-lieutenant of the shire, 1711-14 . His son PRICE DEVEREUX ( 1694 - 1748 ), 10th viscount Hereford , was M.P. for the shire till his succession in 1740 , when he ranked as premier viscount of England . He voted against Walpole 's Hessian mercenaries ( 1730 ), and his Excise Bill ( 1733 ), and for the repeal of the Septennial Act ( 1734 ). In 1719 he was sheriff of Brecknock , where he inherited the estate of the Morgans of Pencoyd near Hay . He m. as his second wife ( 1740 ) a daughter of William Price of Rhiwlas, Mer. On his death the title passed to EDWARD DEVEREUX ( c. 1710 - 1760 ), 11th viscount Hereford , descended from a younger son of George Devereux (d. 1665 ) (above), and on the female side from the Vaughans of Nantariba and the Glyns of Maesmawr (both in Mont. ), whose estates he inherited. He was b., m., and buried within the county, which remained the chief centre of the family's interests till the succession of GEORGE DEVEREUX ( 1744 - 1804 ), 13th viscount Hereford , who transferred them to Brecknock by marrying into a branch of the family settled there and making Pencoyd his chief Welsh seat. His successors have continued to take a prominent part in Brecknock politics. Sources: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ; The Complete Peerage (1910–40) , vi, 478-83; Doyle , The Official Baronage of England, showing the succession, dignities, and offices of every peer from 1066 to 1885 (London, 1885) , i, 693-5, ii, 167-8; Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII , xii; Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series , Elizabeth, James I and Charles I; E. Laws , History of Little England beyond Wales (1888) , 1888 ; D. Mathew , The Celtic Peoples and Renaissance Europe. A study of the Celtic and Spanish influences on Elizabethan history (1933) , 1933 ; W. R. Williams , The History of the Parliamentary Representation of Wales (1895) , 145, 149-50; A History of Carmarthenshire , ii; The Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion , 1942 (9), 1945 (30); The Carmarthen Antiquary , xxvi, 50, xxvii, 2, xxix, 80-1; Collections Historical and Archaeological relating to Montgomeryshire , xiv, 323, xxvii, 191-200; Firth and Rait , Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642–1660 (1911) , i, 2-4, 1247, ii, 1087, 1384. Author:Emeritus Professor Arthur Herbert Dodd, M.A., (1891-1975), Bangor

Published date: 1959

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1604-1629/member/de...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Devereux_(died_1641)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essex_House_(London)

http://devereaux.50megs.com/rich_text_18.html

Andrew Thrush. Devereux, Walter (c.1591-1641), of Lamphey, Pemb., Essex House, The Strand, Westminster and Chartley, Staffs. The History of Parliament, British Political, Social & Local History (Website). [2]. Accessed 20 July 2014.