Powderham is a former manor on the coast of south Devon, England, situated within the historic hundred of Exminster, about south of the city of Exeter and adjacent to the north-east of the village of Kenton. It consists in part of flat, formerly marshy ground on the west bank of the River Exe estuary where it is joined by its tributary the River Kenn, the site of Powderham Castle, originally the fortified manor house of Powderham. On the opposite side of the Exe is the small village of Lympstone and almost opposite is Nutwell Court in the parish of Woodbury, formerly the castle or fortified manor house of the powerful mediaeval Dynham family.
In the Domesday Book of 1086, the tenant-in-chief of POLDREHA~ is recorded as William II, Count of Eu, listed under the heading: Terra Willelmi de Ow. Although William II, Count of Eu, held many estates elsewhere in England from the king, in Devon he was one of the lesser Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief with only two Devonshire holdings, Powderham and nearby Whitestone, both sub-infeudated to his tenant Ranulf. William II, Count of Eu, rebelled against King William II and was executed.
de Powderham
The tenant family holding the manors of Powderham and Whitestone under the overlords, as did Ranulf in 1086, later adopted the surname de Powderham from their seat and continued to hold under the de Bohun overlords until they lost the lands by escheat.
Bohun
Following the execution of William II, Count of Eu, the manor of Powderham became a holding of the powerful de Bohun family, Earls of Hereford, tenants-in-chief and great landholders throughout England. Their tenant at both manors continued to be the "de Powderham" family until after the death of John de Powderham it escheated to the then overlordHumphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford. Pole however states that the escheat was due to the attainder of John de Powderham, who held the lands during the reign of King Edward II. Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford gave Powderham and Whitestone as the marriage portion of his daughter Margaret de Bohun on her marriage to Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton, whose seats were Tiverton Castle and Okehampton. Margaret bequeathed Powderham in her will to her 4th son Sir Philip Courtenay, who thus became the founder of the junior Powderham branch of the Courtenay family.
Courtenay of Powderham
The family of Courtenay "of Powderham", always known thus to distinguish it from its senior line the family of the Earls of Devon, was one of the most influential and best connected in Devon from the 15th century onwards. The family was descended from Sir Philip Courtenay, a younger son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon but eventually itself in 1831 was officially recognised as having become in 1556 holder of the earldom inherited from its distant cousin.
Sir Philip Courtenay (1340–1406)
Sir Philip Courtenay, 5th or 6th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon by his wife Margaret de Bohun, daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford by his wife Elizabeth Plantagenet, a daughter of King Edward I. He married Anne Wake, daughter of Sir Thomas Wake of Blisworth, Northamptonshire.
, Bishop of Norwich. Much of his time was spent away from Powderham, which manor together with Chivelstone, he leased to his brother-in-law Sir Robert Cary of Cockington, Devon, 12 times MP for Devon. Following the bishop’s death at the siege of Harfleur, leaving his 11-year-old nephew Philip Courtenay as his heir, Cary was a co-grantee of the wardship of 16 Courtenay manors in Devon and Somerset at a farm of 410 marks per annum.
Sir Philip Courtenay (1404–1463)
Sir Philip Courtenay . He was the eldest son of Sir John Courtenay , by his wife Joan Champernoun, daughter of Sir RIchard Champernoun of Modbury, Devon. He married Elizabeth Hungerford, daughter of Walter Hungerford, 1st Baron Hungerford, KG, by Katherine Peverell. His younger son was Peter CourtenayBishop of Exeter. His second son was Sir Philip Courtenay, sometime MP and Sheriff of Devon in 1471, who was bequeathed by his mother the Devon manor of Molland, where his line of the family continued until 1732.
Sir William Courtenay , Sheriff of Devon in 1483. He married Margaret Bonville, daughter of William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville. His second son was Edward Courtenay of Landrake, Cornwall, whose monumental brass survives in Landrake Church, who married Alice Wotton, daughter and heiress of John Wotton of Wotton in Landrake. Their son and heir was Edward Courtenay, the husband of Margaret Trethurffe, daughter and co-heir of Thomas Trethurffe of Trethurffe in Ladock, Cornwall. The brass is inscribed: "Pray for the soule of Edward Cowrtney esquyer secunde son of Sir William Cowrtney Knight of Povderam, which dyed the fyrst day of March Anno domini MVCIXo on whose soule ihesu have merci".
Sir William Courtenay (1451–1512)
Sir William Courtenay . He married Cecily Cheyne, daughter of Sir John Cheyne of Pinhoe. His younger son James Courtenay founded a branch of the family seated at Upcott, Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devon, formerly the seat of the prominent Devonshire lawyer and MP Nicholas Radford, notoriously murdered there by henchmen of Thomas de Courtenay, 5th/13th Earl of Devon, of Tiverton Castle, which event was a precursor to the private Battle of Clyst Heath, between Thomas de Courtenay, 5th Earl of Devon and his great rival William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville.
Sir William Courtenay (1477–1535) "The Great"
"The Great". MP for Devon 1529, Sheriff of Devon 1522, 1525-6, 1533-4; Esquire of the Body to King Henry VIII, whom he accompanied to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He married twice, firstly to Margaret Edgecombe, daughter of Sir Richard Edgecombe MP of Cotehele, Cornwall, widow of William St. Maure; secondly to Mary Gainsford, daughter of Sir John Gainsford of Crowhurst, Surrey.
de jure 5th Earl of Devon. He married Margaret Waller, daughter of Sir William Waller, a parliamentary general in the Civil War, and eventual heiress of her maternal grandfather Sir Richard Reynell of Forde, Wolborough, Devon, where he had built a new mansion in about 1610. Forde became the couple's main home, possibly due to the damage suffered by Powderham Castle in 1645 during the Civil War. Sir William and his wife were buried at Wolborough and several of their children were baptised there.
de jure 6th Earl of Devon. He was the son of Col. Francis Courtenay, MP for Devon 1689-99, who predeceased his own father, by his wife Mary Boevey, daughter of William Boevey, of Netherlandish Huguenot descent, of Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire. Mary's brother was John Boevey who refers to himself in his will dated 6 March 1703 as "John Boevey of Powderham Castle". He directed his body to be buried in the north aisle of Powderham Church "near the monument there erected". He further denied "my executor ...to bestow and lay out the summe of fifty pounds in erecting a monument near the place of interrment in such manner as my executor shall think fit". No such monument survives. He left £10 each to his nieces Elizabeth, Mary, Lucy and Isabella Courtenay for mourning clothes. He also bequeathed them each the sum of £30 to buy a diamond ring each to be worn in his memory. He bequeathed to Sir William Courtenay his nephew the sum of £100 and also made him his residuary beneficiary.
& 3rd Viscount Courtenay In 1831 he successfully established his right to the Earldom of Devon created in 1553, thus retrospectively making his ancestors Earls of Devon de jure. He died unmarried, when the viscountcy became extinct, but not the earldom or baronetcy. Henceforth the descent of Powderham follows that of the Earldom of Devon.
Rector of Powderham. Married Anna Maria Leslie, daughter of Henrietta Countess of Rothes.
Charles Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon (1870–1927)
Son of Henry Reginald, Lord Courtenay, a barrister and JP, Poor Law inspector for the Western District, who predeceased his own father, by his wife Lady Evelyn Pepys, daughter of Charles Christopher Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham. Died unmarried.
Henry Courtenay, 15th Earl of Devon (1872–1935)
Rector of Powderham. Died unmarried.
Frederick Courtenay, 16th Earl of Devon (1875–1935)
. The Earl is a practising attorney and is married to the American actress Alison Joy Langer. His heir apparent is his only son Jack Haydon Langer Courtenay, Lord Courtenay.
