Devonshire February March 17

the the Courtenay family
Devon Champions for over 800 years
The next century saw
the family restore
something of the fortunes
that had been lost
during the traumatic
Tudor years. The family’s
estate grew both
in Devon and overseas,
principally in Ireland,
where they founded
one of Ireland’s earliest
public schools in Newcastle
West, County
Limerick.
18th Century Builders and Viscounts:
In Devon, another Sir
William Courtenay
served as MP for The Staircase Hall
Honiton and for Devon,
and was enobled as Viscount
Courtenay in 1762. He and his
son undertook remarkable architectural
developments at Powderham
during the century, converting a
ruinous medieval castle into the
sumptuous Georgian home we see
today. Notable achievements were
the insertion of the staircase hall
and libraries, and the remarkable
woodland garden and Belvedere
tower familiar to many that know
the Exe estuary. The portraits around
Powderham today are a testament to
the taste, style and aesthetic of the
Viscounts Courtenay, who commissioned
work from England’s leading
The Music Room
Sir William Courtenay (1st Viscount) by Hudson
Cosway - 'Kitty' Courtenay
(3rd Viscount)
artists, the Devon-born Hudson
and Reynolds.
Later in the century, Powderham
was filled with life as the 2nd
Viscount’s 13 daughters filled the
house to the rafters. Their brother,
William ‘Kitty’ Courtenay, completed
the re-design of Powderham with a
sumptuous Music Room by James
Wyatt, and portraits by another
Devonian, Richard Cosway, before
tragically being exiled himself for
his homosexual proclivities, once
more thrusting the family into
public disgrace.
19th Century Benefactors and Gamblers:
The rollercoaster of family fortunes did not let up during the Victorian
century. The exiled Kitty’s cousin, another William, was a lawyer
who petitioned the House of Lords to have Kitty re-created Earl of
Devon. Devon’s case was successful, and restored to the Powderham
branch of the family, the honours previously restored by Queen Mary
to Edward Courtenay in 1556, and recognised that Kitty Courtenay was
the rightful heir to the ancient 1335 Earldom of Devon.
The Gatehouse
On Kitty’s death, William conveniently succeeded
and set about a further major overhaul at Powderham.
Engaging Charles Fowler, the Devon-born
architect of Covent Garden, William, the 10th
Earl, created the courtyard and western approach
that we see today and embraced modernity by
permitting Brunel’s Atmospheric Railway to
run alongside the Powderham Deer Park beside
the River Exe.
'The Good Earl
William’s son, yet another William known
as ‘the good Earl,’ set about many worthy
works in and around Devon. He established
psychiatric hospitals in Exminster, Starcross
and Dawlish, and became involved in Devon
and national politics, serving as Chancellor
of the Duchy of Lancaster for a time. A
statue of him, paid for by public prescription
now stands in Northernhay Gardens outside
Exeter’s Rougemont Castle.
The Good Earl’s son, Baldwin, suffers somewhat from comparisons
to his father. Reputed to have taste for fast living and slow horses, he
had a career as an MP, but died childless aged 54 after suffering a fit
while walking home across Trafalgar Square. He had been Earl only a
few years. The title passed to his uncle, Henry Hugh, an elderly cleric,
and the family estates fell into considerable financial distress, with
major sales in Devon, Ireland and elsewhere. Indeed, the Castle was
let out for a period of time, as the family could not afford to live there.
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