Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (1485 creation)

A member of a family that had consistently supported the Lancastrian cause throughout the Wars of the Roses, Courtenay became involved with the opposition to King Richard III in the 1480s, having secret dealings with Margaret Beaufort, the dowager queen Elizabeth Woodville, and the latter's son Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset.

Edward and Elizabeth his wife were third cousins once removed, sharing a common descent from Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon.

[3] A fine monument, now lost, was erected in the Tiverton chapel apparently to Edward Courtenay and his wife, but was destroyed before the end of the 16th century.

W. Hamilton Rogers wrote of a certain Dr. Oliver who in alluding to this epitaph says "that "Kate" is manifestly wrong and Cleveland's reading of "Mabel" is equally incorrect.

[6] The analysis in several documents deposited at Westcountry Studies library and the Devon History Centre, Exeter, reveals how the bifurcation of the lineage caused the descendants of the female lines to claim patrimony.