Walter Devereux was an Anglo-Norman nobleman living during the reign of king Henry II of England and Richard I of England. The Devereux, along with the Baskervilles and Pichards, were prominent knightly families along the Welsh marches during the twelfth century, and linked to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and the Braose and Lacy lordships of the region. William Devereux's descendants would later give rise to the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford and Earls of Essex.
Ancestry
Walter Devereux is descended from William Devereux who held land in Hereford and Gloucester at Domesday in 1086.
William's son, Walter Devereux of Lyonshall, gained control of Lyonshall Castle as the caput of the Devereux marcher lordship. With the exile of Roger de Lacy in 1085, Walter of Lyonshall joined the retinue of Bernard de Neufmarché, Lord of Brecon.
On the death of Bernard about 1125; another Walter Devereux, son of Walter of Lyonshall, joined the retinue of Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford. Taking advantage of the civil war between King Stephen and the Empress Matilda, this Walter Devereux increased his autonomy. Walter probably was present at the Battle of Lincoln, and the Rout of Winchester with the Earl of Hereford. A supporter of the Empress Maud, he was rewarded when her son, Henry II, finally took the throne. With the end of the earldom of Hereford in 1155 and the death of the last of Miles de Gloucester's sons in 1165; Walter Devereux and his son, John, joined the retinue of William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber.
When William de Braose, 3rd Lord of Bramber, died; John Devereux joined the retinue of his son, William de Braose, 4th Lord of Bramber. John Devereux would campaign in Wales, France, and Ireland under the younger de Braose.
As one of the prominent knightly families of the Welsh Marches, the Devereux became closely entwined with the de Braose, de Lacy, de Longchamp, and Marshal families. Through these connections, and following the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1071, the Devereux family established holdings in Ireland over the next three generations.
Biography
Walter Devereux was born in 1173, the son of John Devereux and a woman named Constance. His father died in 1187 possibly from involvement in the de Braose campaigns in Wales and France. The Pipe Rolls of 1190 show 8 pounds and 13 pence of oblations due the king's court were pardoned for the lands of John Devereux in Herefordshire. As Walter was under-age his lands and 2 castles (including Lyonshall) were taken into the hands of the king and placed in the possession of the sheriff of Hereford, William de Braose. Devereux participated in the expansion of the Norman holdings in Ireland, and in 1210 Walter Devereux was listed as having been responsible to John (fitzJohn) Marshal for 20 shillings of fees for the maintenance of soldiers ‘beyond the water that is called Stiuthe,' and 2 marks for those at Carrickfergus in Ireland
Walter Devereux came of age in 1194. His father had granted a church on his lands in Oxenhall, Gloucester, to the Knights Hospitaller in 1186, and on 27 October 1194 Walter Devereux filed an Assize of mort d'ancestor against the Order over 2 marks rent in Oxenhall.
About 1186 Walter had witnessed with his father the land grant of Maud de Hagarnel to the priory of Brecon. About 1190 Devereux granted 12 acres of land near Berrington (Worcestershire) to the same priory ‘for the love he bore his lord, William de Braose the younger.’ This identifies Walter Devereux as a member of the military retinue of the Braose family. Devereux also witnessed the grant of land by William de Bradfelde of lands in Bradfield, Petercroft, Laneglege, lands near Mara, Estlege, and in Weteroft near the chapel to the priory of Brecon. In 1211, Walter Devereux was listed as having held 1/2 knight's fee of the honor of Brecon.
Marriage
Walter Devereux married Cecilia de Longchamp, daughter of Hugh de Longchamp.
They had children: Stephen Devereux, his heir and a retainer of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. John Devereux, Knight of Bodenham and Decies (Ireland). He was enfeoffed by Thomas fitzAnthony, the loyal retainer of William Marshal. Nicholas Devereux, Lord of Chanston (Hereford), and Steward of Meath (Ireland) for Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath