Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet
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Sir William Courtenay, 2nd Baronet (11 March 1676 – 6 October 1735) of Powderham Castle, Powderham, Devon, was an English landowner, a leading member of the Devonshire gentry and politician who sat in the English House of Commons from 1701 to 1707 and in the British House of Commons almost continually from 1707 to 1735.
Origins
Courtenay was the son of Colonel Francis Courtenay, MP for Devonshire from 1689 to 1699, and his wife Mary Boevey, daughter of William Boevey (died 1661), of Flaxley Abbey, Gloucestershire. The Boevey family was of Netherlandish Huguenot descent.[1] Mary's brother was John Boevey (died 1706) who refers to himself in his will dated 6 March 1703 [2] as "John Boevey of Powderham Castle". Courtenay's father died in 1699, predeceasing his own father Sir William Courtenay, 1st Baronet. Courtenay succeeded his grandfather in 1702 to the baronetcy and the estate of Powderham Castle.[3]
Career
Courtenay first stood for Parliament at Honiton at the first general election of 1701. He was defeated, but was then returned unopposed for Devonshire at the second general election of 1701. He was returned again unopposed in the general elections of 1702, 1705, and 1708. He stood down at the 1710 general election in favour of Sir William Pole, but when Pole had to submit to re-election on appointment to office, Courtenay was pressured by popular demand to stand again. He defeated Pole by a massive majority at the by-election on 22 July 1712. He was returned unopposed at the 1713 general election. From 1714 to 1716 he served as Lord Lieutenant of Devon.[1] He was returned as a Tory at the 1715 general election and was returned unopposed again at the succeeding general elections in 1722, 1727 and 1734.[4]
Death
Courtenay died on 6 October 1735. He directed his body to be buried in the north aisle of Powderham Church "near the monument there erected". He further desired "my executor (who was his nephew William Courtenay (died 1735) of Powderham)...to bestow and lay out the summe of fifty pounds in erecting a monument near the place of interrment in such manner as my executor shall think fit". No such monument survives. He left £10 each to his nieces Elizabeth, Mary, Lucy and Isabella Courtenay for mourning clothes. He also bequeathed them each the sum of £30 to buy a diamond ring each to be worn in his memory. He bequeathed to Sir William Courtenay his nephew the sum of £100 and also made him his residuary beneficiary.
Marriage & progeny
Courtenay married Lady Anne Bertie, daughter of James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon, and their children included:[3]
- William Courtenay, 1st Viscount Courtenay
- Henry Reginald Courtenay, MP.
- Eleanor Courtenay (d. 1765)[5] who married John Francis Basset (1714–1757) MP for Barnstaple in 1740–1, of Heanton Court, Heanton Punchardon.
Retrospectively Earl of Devon
In 1831 he was recognised as having been de jure 6th Earl of Devon.
References
- ^ a b "COURTENAY, William (1676-1735), of Powderham Castle, Devon". History of Parliament Online (1690-1715). Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- ^ National Archives prob 11/492
- ^ a b John Burke A General and heraldic dictionary of the peerage and baronetage of the British Empire, Volume 1
- ^ "COURTENAY, Sir William, 2nd Bt. (1676-1735), of Powderham Castle, Devon". History of Parliament Online (1715-1754). Retrieved 18 January 2018.
- ^ Heanton Punchardon burials record buried 14/9/1765
- 1676 births
- 1735 deaths
- Lord-Lieutenants of Devon
- Baronets in the Baronetage of England
- English landowners
- Earls of Devon (1553)
- English MPs 1701–1702
- English MPs 1702–1705
- English MPs 1705–1707
- English MPs 1701
- British MPs 1707–08
- British MPs 1708–10
- British MPs 1710–13
- British MPs 1713–15
- British MPs 1715–22
- British MPs 1722–27
- British MPs 1727–34
- British MPs 1734–41
- Members of the Parliament of Great Britain for English constituencies
- Baronet stubs
- Parliament of England (pre-1707) MP stubs
- Great Britain MP (1707–1800) for England stubs
- Peerage of England earl stubs