Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon

Hugh Rupert Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, DL (5 May 1942 – 18 August 2015), styled as Lord Courtenay until 1998, of Powderham Castle in Devon, was a British peer, landowner, and surveyor.

Origins He was the son and heir of Charles Christopher Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon (1916–1998) by his wife Venetia Taylor (died 2001). From his birth in 1942, until he succeeded to the earldom in 1998, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Courtenay.

He was a direct descendant in an unbroken male line of Robert de Courtenay (d.1242), son of Reginald II de Courtenay (d.1194) by his wife Hawise de Curcy (d.1219), heiress of the feudal barony of Okehampton in Devon. Robert married Mary de Vernon, daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon (d.1217), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon. From this marriage, the Courtenays later inherited the barony of Plympton in 1293 and in 1335 were declared Earls of Devon. The House of Courtenay were not Normans who "came over with William the Conqueror", as did much of the ancient English aristocracy, but were Frenchmen who were seated within the Kingdom of France, one of whom came to England some time after the Norman Conquest, having had his lands seized by the French king.

The Courtenay family of Powderham was a junior branch of the family descended from Sir Philip Courtenay (1340–1406), 5th or 6th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (1303–1377) of Tiverton Castle, Devon, by his wife Margaret de Bohun (d.1391), daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (d.1322), by his wife Elizabeth Plantagenet, a daughter of King Edward I. The ancient Earls of Devon of Tiverton Castle were extinguished in the 15th century during the Wars of the Roses, but the title was revived soon after for close cousins who successively died without male progeny. The Courtenays of Powderham, by then very distant relations, in 1644 created baronets, were retrospectively recognised in the 19th century by the House of Lords to have been rightful (de jure) Earls of Devon since the 16th century, being heirs male of the last earl seated at Tiverton Castle, and from that time adopted the title.

Background and career Devon was the younger child of Charles Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon and (Sybil) Venetia Taylor, who had two other children from her previous marriage to Mark Everard Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham. Born the day after Exeter was bombed during the Baedeker Blitz and while his father was away in North Africa with the Coldstream Guards, it was reported that his sisters and household staff had been hiding in the cellars while his mother insisted on giving birth in the state bed rather than evacuate. He was educated at St Peter's School, Seaford and Winchester College and graduated with a B.A. degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1964. From 1971 to 1977 he served in the Royal Devon Yeomanry, retiring with the rank of captain. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Devon in 1991.

Estate management

Devon was an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (A.R.I.C.S.) and successfully helped the family seat at Powderham Castle move into the black. The family finances had fallen on hard times after the deaths of three earls between 1927 and 1935 brought triple death duties. By the 1970s, the family lands had shrunk by 90 per cent. The family was in talks to place Powderham in the hands of the National Trust, but the 17th earl backed out when the National Trust insisted on a £60,000 endowment. The castle was opened to the public in 1957. He reversed his stance in 2013. His death was announced by his family on 20 August.

Succession He was succeeded in the earldom by his son Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon.

Ancestry