Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new creation. Possibly the most well-known Earls of Essex were Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII, and Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex (1565–1601), a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I who led the Earl of Essex Rebellion in 1601.
Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG, was an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantations of Ireland, most notably the Rathlin Island massacre. He was the father of Elizabeth I's favourite of her later years, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
Viscount Hereford is the oldest and only extant viscountcy in the Peerage of England, making the holder the Premier Viscount of England. The title was created in 1550 for Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley.
Baron Berners is a barony created by writ in the Peerage of England.
The title Baron Ferrers of Chartley was created on 6 February 1299 for John de Ferrers, son of Robert de Ferrers, 6th Earl of Derby. The daughter of the 6th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, Anne, married Walter Devereux who was summoned to parliament as Lord Ferrers in her right. Their descendants became Earls of Essex and the peerage was forfeited in 1601 on the attainder of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, but restored to his son Robert in 1604, on whose death in 1646 the peerage fell into abeyance. The abeyance was terminated in 1677 when Robert Shirley, a grandson of one of the sisters of the 3rd Earl of Essex, was summoned as Lord Ferrers of Chartley with precedence to the original creation. In 1711, Shirley was created the 1st Earl Ferrers, but the Earldom and Barony separated at his death, the barony going to Elizabeth Shirley, the daughter of his eldest son, while the earldom went to his second son. On the 1741 death of Elizabeth Shirley, 15th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley and wife of the Earl of Northampton, the peerage again briefly fell into an abeyance that was resolved in 1749 by the death of two of the three heiresses, leaving the surviving daughter, Charlotte Compton, wife of the Marquess Townshend, as 16th Baroness Ferrers of Chartley. The barony continued, merged with the marquessate, until the death of George Ferrars Townshend, 3rd Marquess Townshend in 1855, when it again fell into abeyance between his two sisters and their heirs. It remains in abeyance.
Isabel of Cambridge, Countess of Essex was the only daughter of Richard, 3rd Earl of Cambridge, and Anne Mortimer. She was the sister of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and like him a great-grandchild of Edward III of England.
The title Baron Bourchier is an abeyant peerage which was created in the Peerage of England in 1342 for Sir Robert Bourchier, who had been Lord High Chancellor of England from 1340–41.
William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, was an English knight created by King Henry V 1st Count of Eu, in Normandy.
Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, KG, was the eldest son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, and Anne of Gloucester. On his mother's side, he was a great-grandson of Edward III of England.
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners, KG was an English peer.
John Bourchier, 1st Earl of Bath was created Earl of Bath in 1536. He was feudal baron of Bampton in Devon.
Edward Bourchier, 4th Earl of Bath.
Walter Devereux, 10th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, created 1st Viscount Hereford, KG was an English courtier and parliamentarian.
John Devereux, 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley was an English peer.
Baron FitzWarin is an abeyant title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Writ of summons for Fulk V FitzWarin in 1295. His family had been magnates for nearly a century, at least since his grandfather Fulk III FitzWarin had recovered Whittington Castle in 1205. This castle near Oswestry was their main residence and the seat of a marcher lordship. It was regarded as situated in the county of Shropshire since 1536 and also in the Domesday Book of 1086, but for much of the intervening period was regarded as part of Wales.
Anne Woodville, Viscountess Bourchier was an English noblewoman. She was a younger sister of Queen Consort Elizabeth Woodville to whom she served as a lady-in-waiting. Anne was married twice; first to William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier, and secondly to George Grey, 2nd Earl of Kent. Anne was the grandmother of the disinherited adulteress Anne Bourchier, 7th Baroness Bourchier, and an ancestress of Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
The feudal barony of Bampton was one of eight feudal baronies in Devonshire which existed during the mediaeval era, and had its caput at Bampton Castle within the manor of Bampton.
William Bourchier (1407–1470) jure uxoris 9th Baron FitzWarin, was an English nobleman. He was summoned to Parliament in 1448 as Baron FitzWarin in right of his wife Thomasine Hankford.
The Bourchier knot is a variety of heraldic knot. It was used as a heraldic badge by the Bourchier family, whose earliest prominent ancestor in England was John de Bourchier, a Judge of the Common Pleas, seated at Stanstead Hall in the parish of Halstead, Essex. He was the father of Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier (d.1349), Lord Chancellor of England. The various branches of his descendants held the titles Baron Bourchier, Count of Eu, Viscount Bourchier, Earl of Essex, Baron Berners, Baron FitzWarin and Earl of Bath. The knot should perhaps have been called the "FitzWarin knot" as according to Boutell (1864) the device was first used by the FitzWarin family, whose heir was the Bourchier family.
The historic manor of Tawstock was situated in North Devon, in the hundred of Fremington, 2 miles south of Barnstaple, England. According to Pole the feudal baron of Barnstaple Henry de Tracy made Tawstock his seat, apparently having abandoned Barnstaple Castle as the chief residence of the barony. Many of the historic lords of the manor are commemorated by monuments in St Peter's Church, the parish church of Tawstock which in the opinion of Pevsner contains "the best collection in the county apart from those in the cathedral", and in the opinion of Hoskins "contains the finest collection of monuments in Devon and one of the most notable in England".
