[Illustration] This illustrious house is descended from Reginald de
Courtenay, who came over to England with Henry II. A.D. 1151, and,
having married the daughter and heiress of the hereditary sheriff of
Devonshire, became immediately connected with this county. The
Earldom of Devon was first conferred on the Courtenays in 1335,
by reason of their descent from William de Redvers, Earl of Devon,
The Powderham branch springs from Sir Philip, sixth son of Hugh
second Earl of Devon.
See Brydges's Collins, vi. 214; Lysons, lxxxvii.; Westcote's
Devonshire Pedigrees, 570, &c.; Journal of Arch. Institute, x. 52;
and Sir Harris Nicolas's Earldom of Devon.
ARMS.--_Or, three torteauxes_.
This coat, with a bend azure, was borne by Sir Philip de Courtenay
in the reign of Edward II. (Roll.) And the same, with a _label
azure_, by Hugh de Courtenay in 1300. See the Roll of Carlaverock,
and Sir Harris Nicolas's notes, p. 193. This label was, he remarks,
charged by respective branches of the family with mitres, crescents,
lozenges, annulets, fleurs-de-lis, guttees, and plates, and with a
bend over all. See also Willement's Heraldic Notices in Canterbury
Cathedral.
Present Representative, William Reginald Courtenay, 11th Earl of
Devon.