Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (16 September 1541 – 22 September 1576), an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island. He was the father of Elizabeth I's favourite of her later years, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
Walter was the eldest son of Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings. His paternal grandfathe...
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Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (16 September 1541 – 22 September 1576), an English nobleman and general. From 1573 until his death he fought in Ireland in connection with the Plantation of Ulster, where he ordered the massacre of Rathlin Island. He was the father of Elizabeth I's favourite of her later years, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex.
Walter was the eldest son of Sir Richard Devereux and Dorothy Hastings. His paternal grandfather was the 9th Baron Ferrers of Chartley, who was created Viscount Hereford in 1550. His maternal grandparents were George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Anne Stafford, Countess of Huntingdon. Anne Stafford is best known for having been a mistress of Henry VIII around 1510. Through both of his parents, Walter was related, albeit distantly, to the Bourchier family, to which previous Earls of Essex had belonged.
In 1561 or 1562, Walter married Lettice, daughter of Sir Francis Knollys and Catherine Carey. Lettice's maternal grandmother was...
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