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The Earl of Devon | |
---|---|
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster | |
In office 10 July 1866 –26 June 1867 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby |
Preceded by | George Goschen |
Succeeded by | John Wilson-Patten |
President of the Poor Law Board | |
In office 21 May 1867 –1 December 1868 | |
Monarch | Victoria |
Prime Minister | The Earl of Derby Benjamin Disraeli |
Preceded by | Gathorne Hardy |
Succeeded by | George Goschen |
Personal details | |
Born | London,England | 14 April 1807
Died | 18 November 1888 81) Powderham Castle,Devon,England | (aged
Political party | Conservative |
Spouse | Lady Elizabeth Fortescue |
Children | 4,including Edward Courtenay,12th Earl of Devon |
Parent(s) | William Courtenay,10th Earl of Devon Harriet Leslie Pepys |
Alma mater | Christ Church,Oxford |
Occupation | Politician |
William Reginald Courtenay,11th Earl of Devon PC (14 April 1807 –18 November 1888),styled Lord Courtenay between 1835 and 1859,was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1866 to 1867 and as President of the Poor Law Board from 1867 to 1868.
Devon was the eldest son of William Courtenay,10th Earl of Devon and his first wife Harriet Leslie Pepys,daughter of Sir Lucas Pepys,1st Baronet. He was educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church,Oxford,and was called to the Bar,Lincoln's Inn,in 1832.
In 1841 Devon was elected to Parliament for South Devon as a Tory. However,when the Tories split over the Corn Laws in 1846,he joined the Peelites. In 1849 Devon was appointed poor-law inspector and retired from the House of Commons. He then served as secretary to the Poor Law Board from 1850 to 1859. The latter year he succeeded his father and took his seat in the House of Lords.
He had returned to the Conservative Party (the official name of the Tory Party since the 1850s) before his succession,and when the party came to power in 1866 under the Earl of Derby,Devon was appointed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (although without a seat in the cabinet) and admitted to the Privy Council. He remained in this post until May the following year,when he became President of the Poor Law Board. However,in contrast to his predecessor in the post,Gathorne Hardy,he was not included in the cabinet this time either. Devon continued as President of the Poor Law Board until the Conservatives lost power in December 1868. After this he stopped taking an active part in politics.
Apart from his participation in national politics,Devon was heavily involved in local affairs and charitable causes in his home county of Devon. Regarded as the most influential man in the county,he notably served as a director and later as chairman of the Bristol and Exeter Railway. Known as "the good earl",a statue of him was erected in Exeter,paid for by public subscription. Lord Courtenay was a member of the Canterbury Association from 27 March 1848 until 21 April 1852,when he resigned. [1] He was appointed Honorary Colonel of the 1st (Exeter and South Devon) Devonshire Rifle Volunteer Corps on 2 June 1877. [2]
In 1830 Lord Devon married Lady Elizabeth Fortescue (d. 27 January 1867),daughter of Hugh Fortescue,1st Earl Fortescue. Her tomb chest with a full-length recumbent alabaster effigy by Edward Bowring Stephens is situated in St Clement's Church,Powderham,against the east wall of the south transept,with a plaster cast in the chapel attached to Powderham Castle,in an ogee arched alcove in the north wall of the chancel. They had three sons and one daughter. He was succeeded in the earldom by his youngest but only surviving son Edward:
He owned 53,000 acres including 33,000 in County Limerick. [3]
He died at his seat of Powderham Castle in November 1888,at 81.
An oil painting of the 11th Earl hangs at Powderham Castle,high on the south wall of the Dining Hall.
A bronze statue was made of the Earl by the Exeter sculptor Edward Bowring Stephens [4] and in October 1880 [5] was erected at the front of the central garden in Bedford Circus,Exeter,on the spot where Stephens' "The Deer Stalker" had formerly stood. (The latter statue now stands near the Earl's statue,both having been re-located in Northernhay Gardens). The unveiling ceremony was attended by Sir Stafford Northcote (1818–1887),later Lord Lieutenant of Devon 1886–7,(whose own statue in Northernhay Gardens now stands nearby) with the Mayor and Corporation,other dignitaries and the Earl himself. The statue was paid for by public subscription to the Devon Statue Fund,which had attracted 1,300 signatories for this work. A banquet was held following the unveiling ceremony. The plinth is of Cornish granite from the Cheesewring Quarries,on the rear of which a bronze plaque is affixed inscribed with verse from Wordsworth's Happy Warrior:
"Who not content that former worth stand fast,
Looks forward persevering to the last,
From well to better daily self-surpast."
Although the Circus was destroyed by German bombing in May 1942,the statue survived intact. It was thereafter hidden from view in storage at Tan Lane until the 1950s,when it was re-erected in Bedford Street. A bronze plaque on the front of the plinth is inscribed:
"This statue stood in Bedford Circus prior to World War II. The statue was erected on this site (i.e. Bedford Street) by Exeter City Council and Devon County Council as part of a joint landscaping scheme".
Following the re-development of Princesshay in 2005 which involved the partial demolition of Bedford Street,the statue was again removed to storage in the Belle Isles council yard. It underwent restoration by Ian Clarke Restoration,including cleansing of graffiti,and was re-erected in Northernhay Gardens. The unveiling ceremony occurred on 9 February 2010,attended this time by only a small handful of interested parties,including the then Earl of Devon and the Lord Mayor,John Winterbottom. [6] Its last move is recorded by an inscription on a granite slab on the ground at the front of the plinth:"Lord Devon was moved in 2010 to Northernhay Gardens from Bedford St".
The 11th Earl installed a heraldic chimneypiece in the Dining Hall at Powderham Castle in memory of his grandfather Reginald Courtenay (1741–1803),Bishop of Exeter from 1797 to 1803,and of his parents. The Dining Hall was built by his father the 10th Earl between 1847 and his death in 1859 and the 11th Earl completed the internal decorations in 1860 including the linen-fold panelling containing several dozen ancestral heraldic shields. [7] It is copied from the mediaeval chimneypiece in the Bishop's Palace,Exeter,installed c. 1485 by Peter Courtenay (d.1492) Bishop of Exeter,a younger son of Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463) of Powderham. [8] The armorials on the lowest row are from left to right:
Earl of Devon is a title that has been created several times in the Peerage of England. It was possessed first by the Redvers family,and later by the Courtenay family. It is not to be confused with the title of Earl of Devonshire,which is held by the Duke of Devonshire,although the letters patent for the creation of the latter peerages used the same Latin words,Comes Devon(iae). It was a re-invention,if not an actual continuation,of the pre-Conquest office of Ealdorman of Devon.
Powderham Castle is a fortified manor house in Exminster,Devon,6 miles (9.7 km) south of Exeter and 1⁄4 mile (0.4 km) north-east of the village of Kenton,where the main public entrance gates are located. It is a Grade I listed building. The park and gardens are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Boconnoc is a civil parish in Cornwall,England,United Kingdom,approximately four miles (6 km) east of the town of Lostwithiel. According to the 2011 census the parish had a population of 96.
Hugh Rupert Courtenay,18th Earl of Devon,DL,styled as Lord Courtenay until 1998,of Powderham Castle in Devon,was a British peer,landowner,and surveyor.
William Courtenay,1st Earl of Devon,feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton,was a member of the leading noble family of Devon. His principal seat was Tiverton Castle,Devon with further residences at Okehampton Castle and Colcombe Castle,also in that county.
Dittisham is a village and civil parish in the South Hams district of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the west bank of the tidal River Dart,some 2 miles (3.2 km) upstream of Dartmouth.
William Courtenay,1st Viscount Courtenay,also de jure 7th Earl of Devon,was a British peer. He was the son of William Courtenay,6th Earl of Devon and 2nd Baronet Courtenay,and Lady Anne Bertie.
Edward Baldwin Courtenay,12th Earl of Devon,styled Lord Courtenay between 1859 and 1888,was a British peer and Conservative politician.
Henry Reginald Courtenay (1741–1803) was an English Bishop of Bristol (1794–1797) and Bishop of Exeter 1797–1803.
Sir William Courtenay,2nd Baronet of Powderham Castle,Powderham,Devon,was an English landowner,a leading member of the Devonshire gentry and Tory politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1701 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons almost continually from 1707 to 1735.
Francis Courtenay,de jure 4th Earl of Devon,of Powderham,Devon,was an English Member of Parliament. In 1831 he was recognised retrospectively as having been de jure 4th Earl of Devon,having succeeded his father in 1630.
Sir John Chichester of Raleigh in the parish of Pilton,near Barnstaple in North Devon,was a leading member of the Devonshire gentry,a naval captain,and ardent Protestant who served as Sheriff of Devon in 1550-1551,and as Knight of the Shire for Devon in 1547,April 1554,and 1563,and as Member of Parliament for Barnstaple in 1559,over which borough his lordship of the manor of Raleigh,Pilton had considerable influence.
William Courtenay,10th Earl of Devon was a 19th-century British aristocrat and politician,who sat in the Commons before entering the House of Lords after succeeding to the title of Earl of Devon in 1835.
Sir Hugh Courtenay of Boconnoc in Cornwall,was twice a Member of Parliament for Cornwall in 1446–47 and 1449–50. He was beheaded after the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471,together with John Courtenay,7th Earl of Devon,the grandson of his first cousin the 4th Earl,and last in the senior line,whose titles were forfeited. His son Edward Courtenay,1st Earl of Devon,was created Earl of Devon in 1485 by King Henry VII,following the Battle of Bosworth and the closure of the Wars of the Roses.
Edward Bowring Stephens,was a British sculptor from Devon. He was honorary secretary of the Institute of Sculptors circa 1861.
The Manor of Molland was a medieval manor in North Devon,England. It was largely co-terminous with the existing parish of Molland,in which is situated the village of Molland. More accurately it consisted from the earliest times of two separate manors,held from separate overlords,later known as Molland-Bottreaux and Molland-Champson.
The Devon and Exeter Institution is a subscription library in the City of Exeter,in Devon,United Kingdom,founded in 1813 for "The general diffusion of science,literature and the arts". It is situated at 7,Cathedral Close,Exeter,in a building facing the north side of Exeter Cathedral which was formerly the Exeter townhouse of the Courtenay family of Powderham Castle.
Great Fulford is an historic estate in the parish of Dunsford,Devon. The grade I listed manor house,known as Great Fulford House,is about 9 miles west of Exeter. Its site was said in 1810 to be "probably the most ancient in the county". The present mansion house is Tudor with refurbishment from the late 17th century and further remodelling from about 1800. The prefix "Great" dates from the late 17th century and served to distinguish it from the mansion house known as "Little Fulford" in the parish of Shobrooke,Devon,about 8 miles to the north-east,also owned briefly by Col. Francis Fulford (1666–1700),as a result of his marriage to the heiress of the Tuckfield family. Great Fulford has been the residence of the Fulford family,which took its name from the estate,from the reign of King Richard I (1189–1199) to the present day. There are thus few,if any,families in Devonshire of more ancient recorded origin still resident at their original seat. In 2004 the estate comprised 3,000 acres.
The feudal barony of Dunster was an English feudal barony with its caput at Dunster Castle in Somerset. During the reign of King Henry I (1100–1135) the barony comprised forty knight's fees and was later enlarged. In about 1150 the manors retained in demesne were Dunster,Minehead,Cutcombe,Kilton and Carhampton in Somerset,and Ham in Dorset.
Elizabeth Courtenay,Countess of Devon,formerly Lady Elizabeth Fortescue,was the wife of William Courtenay,11th Earl of Devon,and the mother of the 12th Earl.