William Devereux

William Devereux was an Anglo-Norman nobleman living during the reigns of kings William I, William II, and Henry I of England. The Devereux, along with the Baskervilles and Pichards, were prominent knightly families along the Welsh marches at the beginning of the twelfth century, and linked to the Braose and Lacy lordships of the region. William Devereux's descendants would later give rise to the Devereux family of Hereford, and the Devereux Viscounts of Hereford and Earls of Essex.

William was the son of William d'Évreux by a second unnamed wife. There are indications he fought at Hastings as he was rewarded with lands along the Welsh Marches in Herefordshire and Gloucester that he held in 1086. Lyonshall Castle was constructed at the direction of his overlord, Roger de Lacy during the late 11th century. When de Lacy was exiled in 1095 the castle came under more direct control of the Devereux family, and eventually they became its chief lords.

William Devereux was a benefactor of the Abbey at Gloucester (Church of St. Peter in Gloucester). In 1086 William the Conqueror issued a charter to the abbey confirming the land it possessed, and William Devereux was identified as giving 1 hide of land. During the time of King William Rufus in 1096 he was identified as granting a hide in Herefordshire, and two tenths (duas decimas) from 'Leech and Hadrop'. A list of donations to the abbey showed William Devereux giving one hide of land in Jerchenfeld, Westone, and tithes from Haythrop, in the time of Abbot Serlo (1072 to 1104). Other sources indicate he confirmed the grant of a hide in Herefordshire to St. Peter’s Abbey at Gloucester in the tenth year of Henry I (1110). During the time of Abbot William (1113 to 1130) a woman named Hawise, identified as the widow of William Devereux, appeared on a list of donations as giving the land called Hyde, and that Walter de Lacy had given this to her upon her marriage. The gift of William Devereux of one hide of land to the abbey was confirmed again by King Stephen in 1138, the Archbishop of Canterbury between 1139 and 1148, and King Henry II about 1174.

William Devereux witnessed an undated grant by William de Hussemain of a tenement in the manor of Castle Frome, Herefordshire, to Walter de Longchamp. Another witness to this document, Baldwyn de Boulers, was married by 1102, and signed a charter of Henry I to Shrewsbury Abbey in 1121.

William married Hawise de Lacy, daughter of Walter de Lacy. This marriage occurred after 1066 as her dowry included post-conquest land grants. They had issue:

• Walter Devereux, Lord of Lyonshall, and a benefactor to Brecnock priory temp. Henry I
• Robert Devereux, a benefactor to Brecnock priory temp. Henry I

• ^ Morgan G. Watkins. Collections Towards the History and Antiquities of the County of Hereford in continuation of Duncumb’s History, Hundred of Radlow. (High Town [Hereford]: Jakeman & Carver, 1902). Page 42 to 49. Parish of Castle Frome, Genealogy contributed by Lord Hereford
• Robert William Eyton. Antiquities of Shropshire. (London: JR Smith, 1857). Pages 26-29
• Charles Homer Haskins. Norman Institutions. Harvard Historical Studies. Published Under the Direction of the Department of History. Volume XXIV. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1918). Page 88, 108-9
• Richard Stone. Marches Archeology, The Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Lyonshall, Herefordshire. (Shropshire: Marches Archeology, 2003). Section 4: Archeological and Historical Background, Lyonshall
• ^ Brock W. Holden. Lords of the Central Marches. (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2008). page 40
• Catherine Lucy Wilhelmina Powlett Cleveland, Duchess of Cleveland, Battle Abbey Roll, with some account of the Norman Lines, Vol. 1 (London: John Murray, 1889), pp. 325–26 (citing Mont

According to the Domesday Book, William Devereux held the following lands valued at about £16 in 1086 under the Tenant-in-chief Roger de Lacy: