Devonshire February March 17

Powderham Castle, home to the current Earl and Countess of Devon
Edward was released from prison and,
in a brief blaze of glory, he was recreated
Earl of Devon, carried Mary’s
sword of state at her coronation, and
was touted as her English consort.
No sooner had Mary’s interests, and
affections, turned to Catholic king
Phillip II of Spain then Edward was
disgraced and exiled. He died soon
after, unmarried and childless in
Italy, and so the Tiverton Courtenay
family expired in ignominy and with
it the Courtenay family ceased to call
themselves the Earls of Devon.
The cadet cousins at Powderham,
however, kept themselves apart from
the traumas of Tudor court, living a
gentler life beside the Exe. During
the reign of Elizabeth I, they provided
service by the provision of ships to
fight the Armada. The family was
active in local politics and Sir William
of Powderham married the widow of
Devon's seafaring hero, Sir Francis
Drake, who lived her last days at
the Castle.
17th Century Civil Warriors and Glorious Revolutionaries:
The Powderham
Courtenays took on
Forde House - Newton Abbot
the family’s uncanny
knack of placing themselves
at the centre
of local and national
politics during the next
century. A Courtenay
descendent sailed on
the Mayflower in 1620,
and thus the family was present
at the beginnings of the New
World.
Powderham was a royalist
stronghold during the English
Civil War, and was besieged over
Christmas 1645 by overwhelming
Parliamentary forces. For
a second time, the family survived
by suing for peace on
beneficial terms, and even had
the forethought to marry into
the family of Parliamentary
William of Orange Chair
General, Sir William
Waller. Therefore,
when Oliver Cromwell
was victorious,
the family survived
to play a role following
his Protectorate
government.
The Courtenays
remained a leading Devon
family during the Restoration
of the Stuart monarchy
such that, when William of
Orange landed in Brixham
in 1688, it was to Sir William
Courtenay’s home at Forde
House, Newton Abbot, that
he journeyed to stay the night
and hold his first Court on
English soil. The chair on
which he sat remains in the
family collection at Powderham
Castle.
timeline >
the courtenay family
> timeline
Henry Courtenay made 1st
Marquess of Exeter and Earl of
Devon by Henry VIII in 1525.
Henry Courtenay beheaded
for alleged treason in 1539,
son Edward incarcerated.
Edward Courtenay released
from Tower of London 15
years later in 1553.
Sir William of Powderham
marries Elizabeth Sydenham,
widow of Sir Francis Drake.
William of Orange lands at Brixham in 1688,
staying and holding court at Sir William
Courtenay's home, Forde House, Newton Abbot.
Sir William Courtenay enobled
as Viscount Courtenay in 1762.
Earldom of Devon restored
to the family in 1832.
World War II - Christopher
Courtenay at Dunkirk and
Hugh born during the Blitz
of Exeter (1942).
Powderham hosts
BBC Radio 1's
Big Weekend!
in 2016
William Courtenay
released from Tower
of London by Henry
VIII in 1509.
William Courtenay incarcerated
in the Tower of London in 1504.
Edward Courtenay incarcerated
again in Tower of London
alongside Princess Elizabeth.
Powderham beseiged during
English Civil War - 1645.
James Wyatt's Music Room
for 3rd Viscount Courtenay
(1794-96).
Brunel's Atmospheric
Railway (1844).
Hugh Courtenay becomes
last hereditary peer to make
a maiden speech in House
of Lords by right (1999).
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