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Bourchier, Baron (E, 1348 - abeyant 1646)

Creation: writ summ. 20 Nov 1348

Abeyant: 14 Sep 1646

Family name: Bourchier later Devereux

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Garter stall plate of John [Bourchier], 2nd Baron Bourchier, KG

A tall cut-out plate with the arms, Argent a Cross engrailed Gules between four Water

Bougets Sable, silvered and gilded helm with silver mantle lined with red, and the crest,

a Soldan's Hear Argent crined Azure crowned Or with a Cap Gules, is affixed with a black

and green torse or wreath. The helm and crest are turned to the sinister so as to face

the High Altar.

(Plate XIV from W H St John Hope: The Stall Plates of the Knights of the Garter 1348-1485)

Arms:

See Earl of Essex

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Robert [Bourchier], 1st Baron Bourchier

son and heir of John Bourchier, of Stansted in Halstead, co. Essex, a Judge of the Common Pleas, by his wife Helen, dau. of Walter of Colchester, of Stansted in Halstead, co. Essex

born

mar.

Margaret Prayers, dau. and hrss. of Sir Thomas Prayers, of Sible Hedingham, co. Essex, by his wife Anne, dau. of Hugh of Essex

children

1. Sir John Bourchier, later 2nd Baron Bourchier

2. Sir William Bourchier (d. 1365), mar. Eleanor de Louvaine, dau. and hrss. of Sir John de Louvaine, and had issue:

1a. Sir William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu, Constable of the Tower of London (d. 28 May 1420), Lady Anne de Stafford, suo jure Countess of Buckingham, Hereford and Northampton, widow of Thomas [de Stafford], 3rd Earl of Stafford, and of Edmund [de Stafford], 5th Earl of Stafford, and 1st dau. of Thomas "of Woodstock", 1st Duke of Gloucester (by his wife Lady Alianore de Bohun, suo jure Countess of Essex, 1st dau. and cohrss. of Humphrey [de Bohun], 7th Earl of Hereford, 12th Earl of Essex and 2nd Earl of Northampton), 8th son of King Edward III, and had issue:

1b. Sir Henry Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu later 5th Baron Bourchier later 1st Viscount Bourchier later 1st Earl of Essex

2b. Thomas Bourchier, Bishop of Ely later Archbishop of Canterbury

3b. Sir William Bourchier, later jure uxoris 9th Baron FitzWarine

4b. Sir John Bourchier, later 1st Baron Berners

1b. Lady Eleanor Bourchier (d. Nov 1474), mar. c. 1424 her second cousin once removed John [Mowbray], 3rd Duke of Norfolk, and had issue

died

1349

created

by writ 20 Nov 1348 Baron Bourchier

suc. by

son

note

Member of Parliament for Essex 1329, 1330, 1332 and 1339; Chief Justice of the King's Bench of Ireland 1334; fought in the French wars at the Battle of Cadsant 1337; Lord High Chancellor of England 1340-41; fought in the Battle of Crécy 1346

John [Bourchier], 2nd Baron Bourchier, KG

born

mar.

Elizabeth Coggleshall, dau. of Sir John Coggleshall

only child

1. Bartholomew Bourchier, later 3rd Baron Bourchier

died

21 May 1400

suc. by

son

note

fought in the French Wars; Governor in Chief of Flanders 1384; Knight of the Garter 1392

Bartholomew [Bourchier], 3rd Baron Bourchier

born

mar. (1)

bef. 5 Jul 1396 Margaret Sutton (widow of Sir John Sutton)

mar. (2)

Idoine Glevant (widow of (1) Edmund Brooksburn, and (2) John Glevant; d. 12 Sep 1410), dau. of ..... Lovey

only child by second wife

1. Elizabeth Bourchier, later suo jure Baroness Bourchier

died

s.p.m. 18 May 1409

suc. by

daughter by second wife

Elizabeth Bourchier later Stafford later Robessart, suo jure Baroness Bourchier

born

c. 1399

mar. (1)

bef. Sep 1410 Sir Hugh de Stafford KG, jure uxoris Baron Bourchier from 21 Sep 1411 (dsp. 25 Oct 1420), 5th son of Hugh [de Stafford], 2nd Earl of Stafford, by his wife Lady Philippe de Beauchamp, 2nd dau. of Thomas [de Beauchamp], 11th Earl of Warwick

mar. (2)

Sir Lewis Robessart KG, jure uxoris Baron Bourchier from 24 Feb 1424/5 (dsp. 26 Nov 1431), 2nd son of Sir Canon Robessart, of Hainault

died

s.p. 1 Jul 1433

suc. by

cousin

Henry [Bourchier], 5th Baron Bourchier later 1st Viscount Bourchier later 1st Earl of Essex, KG

created

14 Dec 1446 Viscount Bourchier

30 Jun 1461 Earl of Essex

The Barony of Bourchier was held by the Earls of Essex from 30 Jun 1461 until 13 Mar 1539/40, when on the death of Henry [Bourchier], 2nd Earl of Essex, 6th Baron Bourchier, etc., the Earldom of Essex became extinct and the Barony of Bourchier passed to his only child:

Lady Anne Bourchier later Parr, suo jure Baroness Bourchier

born

mar.

after 9 Feb 1526/7 as his first wife Sir William Parr KG, cr. 9 Mar 1538/9 Baron Parr, 23 Dec 1543 Earl of Essex and 16 Feb 1546/7 and 13 Jan 1558/9 Marquess of Northampton (b. 1513; dsp. 28 Oct 1571), brother of Queen Katherine Parr, 6th wife of King Henry VIII, and only son and heir of Sir Thomas Parr, of Kendal, co. Northumberland, and of Parr in Prescot, co. Lancaster, by his wife Maud Green, dau. and cohrss. of Sir Thomas Green, of Green's Norton, co. Northampton

died

s.p. legit 28 Jan 1570/1

suc. by

first cousin twice removed

note

her husband repudiated her and on 17 Apr 1543 obtained an Act of Parliament declaring her children bastards and incapable of inheriting; in 1552 he obtained another Act of Parliament altogether annulling his marriage to Lady Anne and declaring his second marriage during the lifetime of his first wife to be valid

Following the death of Lady Anne Parr the Barony of Bourchier passed to her first cousin twice removed, Walter [Devereux], 2nd Viscount Hereford (by his wife Lettice Knollys, sister of William [Knollys], 1st Earl of Banbury, and 1st dau. of Sir Francis Knollys KG), 1st son and heir of Hon Sir Richard Devereux (by his wife Lady Dorothea Hastings, only dau. of George [Hastings], 1st Earl of Huntingdon), 1st son and heir ap. of Walter [Devereux], 1st Viscount Hereford (by his first wife Lady Mary Grey, 8th dau. of Thomas [Grey], 1st Marquis of Dorset), 1st son and heir of John [Devereux], 9th/2nd Baron Ferrers of Chartley, by his wife Lady Cicely Bourchier, sister and in her issue sole heiress of Henry [Bourchier], 2nd Earl of Essex, 6th Baron Bourchier, etc. In 1572 Lord Hereford was created Earl of Essex and the Barony of Bourchier was held by the Earls of Essex from 4 May 1572 until 14 Sep 1646, when on the death of Robert [Devereux], 3rd Earl of Essex, 10th Baron Bourchier, etc., the Earldom of Essex became extinct and the Baronies of Bourchier and of Ferrers of Chartley fell into abeyance between his two sisters (Lady Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, and Lady Dorothy Shirley later Stafford) and their descendants. The Barony of Ferrers of Chartley was called out of abeyance on 14 Dec 1677.

 First written 16 Nov 2003

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