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Courtenay, Earls of Devon (Powderham)

Engraving of a castle with towers set in parkland, with sheep in the foreground
Powderham Castle, from J. P. Neale's Views of the Seats of Noblemen and Gentlemen, 1818. British Library, via Wikimedia Commons

The Powderham Courtenays held the Moretonhampstead and North Bovey lands. The title and estates passed in 1835 from the 3rd Viscount Courtenay, who had just proved his right to the old earldom, to a cousin. That cousin is the 'Earl of Devon' of the 1840 tithe lists.

In 1840 the tithe lists them as Earl of Devon. 5,175 acres on the Dartmoor-parish tithe maps: Moretonhampstead 2,808, North Bovey 2,312, Whitchurch 47, Ilsington 9.

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Family tree

Click a name to see everything the sources say about that person, with the exact words quoted, below the chart. Yellow marks the 1840 tithe owner.

Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet

Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet, of Powderham Castle, M.P. for Devon. Married 1704 Lady Anne Bertie, daughter of the 1st Earl of Abingdon. Died 1736. S1

Children shown: Sir William Courtenay, 3rd Baronet, Henry Reginald Courtenay, M.P.

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Sir William Courtenay, 3rd Baronet

Sir William Courtenay, eldest surviving son, 3rd Baronet; created Viscount Courtenay of Powderham Castle on 6 May 1762 and died ten days later, 16 May 1762. Married Frances, daughter of Heneage, 2nd Earl of Aylesford. S1

Child of Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet. Children shown: William, 2nd Viscount

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

William, 2nd Viscount

William, 2nd Viscount, born 30 August 1742. Married 7 May 1762 Frances, daughter of Thomas Clack of Wallingford. Died 14 December 1788. S1

Child of Sir William Courtenay, 3rd Baronet. Children shown: William, 3rd Viscount

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

William, 3rd Viscount

William, 3rd Viscount, born 30 July 1768. Established his right to the earldom of Devon (created 3 September 1553) before the House of Lords on 15 March 1831. Never married; died 26 May 1835, when the viscountcy ended and the earldom and baronetcy passed to his cousin. S1

Child of William, 2nd Viscount

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Henry Reginald Courtenay, M.P.

Henry Reginald Courtenay, M.P., younger son of the 2nd Baronet. Married Catherine, daughter of Allen, 1st Earl Bathurst. S1

Child of Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet. Children shown: Henry Reginald Courtenay, Bishop

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Henry Reginald Courtenay, Bishop

Henry Reginald Courtenay, Bishop of Exeter. Married 26 January 1774 Lady Elizabeth Howard. Died 9 June 1803. S1

Child of Henry Reginald Courtenay, M.P.. Children shown: William Courtenay, 11th Earl

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

William Courtenay, 11th Earl

William Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (as numbered by Burke), born 19 June 1777; inherited the honours in 1835; high steward of the University of Oxford. The owner named in the 1840 tithe lists. Married 1st, 29 November 1804, Lady Harriet Leslie; 2ndly, 30 January 1849, Elizabeth Ruth Scott. Died 19 March 1859. S1

Child of Henry Reginald Courtenay, Bishop. Children shown: William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl, Rev Henry Hugh Courtenay, Rev Charles Leslie Courtenay

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl

William Reginald Courtenay, 12th Earl, born 15 April 1807; M.P. for South Devon 1811-19 (as printed); succeeded 19 March 1859. Married 27 December 1830 Lady Elizabeth Fortescue. S1

Child of William Courtenay, 11th Earl

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Rev Henry Hugh Courtenay

Rev. Henry Hugh Courtenay, rector of Mamhead, born 15 July 1811. S1

Child of William Courtenay, 11th Earl

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Rev Charles Leslie Courtenay

Rev. Charles Leslie Courtenay, canon of Windsor and vicar of Bovey Tracey, born 31 March 1816. S1

Child of William Courtenay, 11th Earl

Where this comes from

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Stories from the record

Each story is backed by at least two independent sources, at least one of them a printed or official record. The sources are listed under it.

Oval miniature portrait of a young man with curled hair in a lace collar
William Courtenay, 3rd Viscount Courtenay, miniature by Richard Cosway. Wikimedia Commons

Reviving the dormant earldom of Devon, 1831

The earldom of Devon had been dormant since 1556, when the Courtenay male line was believed to have died out. In 1831 William Courtenay, 3rd Viscount Courtenay, petitioned the King to recognise his right to the earldom, and the petition was referred to the House of Lords; the Lords Journal of 17 February 1831 records the order to print the evidence taken before the Committee for Privileges on this Devon peerage claim. A university archive catalogue says he had noticed an error in the original patent that allowed the title to pass through collateral descent. The Lords declared him rightful Earl of Devon in 1831, and when he died in May 1835 the title passed to his cousin William Courtenay (1777-1859).

Sources: House of Lords Journal, vol. 63, 17 February 1831 (Devon Peerage, evidence to be printed), British History Online; Borthwick Institute catalogue, Courtenay family, Earls of Devon; Wikipedia, William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon

Places on this family's land

Places on this site that stand on, or beside, the fields this family held in 1840.

On their 1840 fields (8)

Where the sources differ

Burke prints the 12th Earl as 'M.P. for South Devon from 1811 to 1819' although he was born in 1807; the dates are copied as printed.
Reviving the dormant earldom of Devon, 1831. Wikipedia and the Borthwick catalogue number him the 9th Earl; Burke numbers him the 3rd Viscount and his cousin the 11th Earl. His successor is called a cousin (Borthwick) and a second cousin (Wikipedia, the 10th Earl).

Notes

Several 1840 entries give the owner as 'Earl of Devon' with a tenant or another landowner joined to the name. Those joint entries are counted in a separate row and are not in the acreage above.

Sources

S1 Burke, A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage (1869), entry Devon, Earl of

Sir William d. in 1736, and was s. by his 3rd, but eldest surviving son, Sir William, who was created, 6 May, 1762, a peer of Great Britain, by the title of Viscount Courtenay, of Powderham Castle, co. Devon.

Tithe polygons: Devon Tithe Mapping Polygonisation Project (Adnams 2023), © Devon County Council and Devon Heritage Centre, CC BY 4.0. Transcriptions: Devon County Council.