William Devereux of Frome (died 1336)
| William Devereux of Frome | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | (1) Miss Lacy (2) Margaret de Mortimer |
| Issue | |
| Father | John Devereux of Frome |
| Mother | Constance Burnell |
| Born | c 1293 |
| Died | 1336 |
William Devereux of Frome was a member of a prominent Herefordshire family during the reign of Edward II and Edward III. He was an important retainer of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March and Queen Isabella, and a knight of the Bath.
William Devereux was born about 1293, the son of John Devereux of Frome and Constance Burnell. His paternal grandfather, William Devereux Baron of Lyonshall, had John Devereux of Frome by his second wife, Lucy Burnell. This junior line’s coat of arms was: Gules, a fesse and in chief three roundlets Argent. This was the ancestral arms of Devereux with the tinctures reversed to distinguish it from the one used by the senior line, Devereux of Bodenham (descended from the Baron’s first wife, Alice de Grandison).
William’s father, John Devereux, was granted Letters of Protection for service in Scotland with Roger Mortimer on 26 May 1306. His father died in 1310, and his mother married Henry de Mortimer, Lord of Chelmarsh, as her second husband. This coupled with the death of his paternal grandfather in 1314 led to William Devereux becoming a retainer of the Mortimer family.
Rising debt related to the terms of the Dictum of Kenilworth had led the Baron Devereux to financial arrangements permitting the alienation of Lyonshall Castle, the caput of the Barony. William’s cousin, Stephen Devereux of Bodenham and Burghope tried to regain Lyonshall through seizing it by force in 1305, and bringing suit for its return. Stephen’s plea was denied, as he had no standing while the Baron was still alive. Both branches of the Devereux family would seek and contest the ownership of Lyonshall for the next 100 years.
The Devereux family’s alignment against Edward II during the killing of his first favorite, Piers Gaveston, probably contributed to their failure to retain their Barony upon the death of William Devereux’s grandfather in 1314. William Devereux was granted Letters of Protection for service in Scotland under John de Somery on 20 July 1319. He probably was present at the Battle of Myton on 20 September 1219.
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