Hugh Courtenay (died 1425)

(c.1329 – 28 February 1371/2), daughter and heiress of Sir John Dawnay (d.1346/7) of Sheviock in Cornwall, Mudford Terry and Hinton in Somerset[2] by his wife Sybil Treverbyn.

[6] Furthermore, his mother requested[5] his elder brother the Earl to give him the estates of "Goderington" (Goodrington), Stancombe (alias Slancomb (sic) Dawney) and South Allington, which he duly performed by deed of indenture dated 1414.

Little else is known of his career until he went to Ireland with King Richard II's expedition in April 1399, serving under the Duke of Aumale, who had earlier been granted custody of the lands of Courtenay's stepson, Fulk FitzWarin.

At the height of the Crisis, King Richard II betrayed his uncle, Earl of Arundel, and as a consequence he lost his main supporters.

[citation needed] After the usurpation by King Henry IV Hugh was made Commissioner of Array for Devon in December 1399 - responsible for raising troops and bringing the south-west to the Lancastrian cause.

The commission met again in August, September, and October 1403, after King Henry had defeated Harry Hotspur and the Mortimers at Shrewsbury.

[citation needed] In February 1400, Sir Hugh was a Commissioner of oyer and terminer dispensing the king's justice in the south-west.

Also he was a JP for Devon, appointed on 16 February 1400 for the period until 1407; instructed to enforce the law and collect the king's taxes.

The 12th Earl spent considerable time abroad in service to the crown, leaving Hugh as the senior member of the family in England.

Sir Hugh Courtenay (died 1425), detail from his effigy in Haccombe Church. Dressed as a knight in full armour, his head rests on a helm on top of which is the Courtenay crest : A panache of ostrich feathers
Sir Hugh Courtenay (d.1425) and his wife Philipa Archdekne, heiress of Haccombe, monument in Haccombe Church
Arms of first Courtenay Earls of Devon: Or, three torteaux a label azure , the earliest surviving depiction of which (without tinctures), impaling Bohun, is visible on the monumental brass in Exeter Cathedral , Devon, of Sir Peter Courtenay (died 1405), 5th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (died 1377) and uncle of Sir Hugh Courtenay (d.1425) of Haccombe
Diagram showing the descent of the Courtenay Earls of Devon during the Wars of the Roses. Sir Hugh I Courtenay (d.1425) of Boconnoc was the link between the senior line made extinct following the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 and the post-War creation of a new Earldom in 1485 by King Henry VII