List of Famous people with last name Devon
Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon
Charles Peregrine Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon, styled as Lord Courtenay from 1998 until 2015, is an English hereditary peer and barrister. He is a crossbench member of the House of Lords, having been elected at a by-election in 2018.
Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon
Sir Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon, 2nd Baron Courtenay, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, played an important role in the Hundred Years War in the service of King Edward III. His chief seats were Tiverton Castle and Okehampton Castle in Devon. The ordinal number given to the early Courtenay Earls of Devon depends on whether the earldom is deemed a new creation by the letters patent granted 22 February 1334/5 or whether it is deemed a restitution of the old dignity of the de Redvers family. Authorities differ in their opinions, and thus alternative ordinal numbers exist, given here.
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Devon
Lady Margaret Beaufort was a great-granddaughter of King Edward III (1327–1377).
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon
Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon was an English nobleman during the rule of the Tudor dynasty. Born into a family with close royal connections, he was at various times considered a possible match for the two daughters of Henry VIII, both of whom became queens regnant of England. He was a second cousin to Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I through King Edward IV.
Thomas de Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon
Thomas de Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon was a nobleman from South West England. His seat was at Colcombe Castle near Colyton, and later at the principal historic family seat of Tiverton Castle, after his mother's death. The Courtenay family had historically been an important one in the region, and the dominant force in the counties of Devon and Cornwall. However, the rise in power and influence of several gentry families and other political players, in the years leading up to Thomas' accession to the earldom, threatened the traditional dominance of the earls of Devon in the area. Much of his life was spent in armed territorial struggle against his near-neighbour, Sir William Bonville of Shute, at a time when central control over the provinces was weak. This feud forms part of the breakdown in law and order in England that led to the Wars of the Roses.
Isabella de Fortibus, Countess of Devon
Isabel de Forz was the eldest daughter of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon (1217–1245). On the death of her brother Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon in 1262, without children, she inherited suo jure the earldom and also the feudal barony of Plympton in Devon, and the Lordship of the Isle of Wight. After the early death of her husband and her brother, before she was thirty years old, she inherited their estates and became one of the richest women in England, living mainly in Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, which she held from the king as tenant-in-chief.
Hugh de Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon
Hugh de Courtenay, 1st/9th Earl of Devon of Tiverton Castle, Okehampton Castle, Plympton Castle and Colcombe Castle, all in Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton and feudal baron of Plympton, was an English nobleman. In 1335, forty-one years after the death of his second-cousin once removed Isabel de Redvers, suo jure 8th Countess of Devon he was officially declared Earl of Devon, although whether as a new creation or in succession to her is unknown, thus alternative ordinal numbers exist for this Courtenay earldom.
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Plympton in Devon and Lord of the Isle of Wight, was the son of Baldwin de Redvers and Margaret FitzGerold and grandson of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon.
Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon
Baldwin de Redvers, 7th Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Plympton in Devon and Lord of the Isle of Wight, was the son of Baldwin de Redvers, 6th Earl of Devon and Amice de Clare, daughter of Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford. He succeeded his father at the age of ten.
Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon
Ordgar was Ealdorman of Devon in England. He was a great West Country landowner and apparently a close advisor of his son-in-law Edgar the Peaceful, king of England. His daughter Ælfthryth was King Edgar's third wife and was mother of King Æthelred the Unready (c.968-1016). Ordgar was created an Ealdorman by King Edgar in 964.