Elizabeth Courtenay

Elizabeth married James Luttrell between 1450 and 1451. James (son of John Luttrell and Margaret Tuchet) was born between 1426 and 1427 in of Dunster, Williton, Somerset, England; died on 17 Feb 1461. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Hugh Luttrell was born in of Dunster, Williton, Somerset, England; died on 1 Feb 1521.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Powderham, Exminster, Devon, England
• Alternate death: 14 Dec 1476

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Devon, 1455-56. "In 1440 he was joint commander of a fleet commissioned to repress pirates, and in 1445 he obtained a license so his ship, Trinity Cou[r]tenay, could take pilgrims to St. James in Galicia in northwestern Spain." [Carl Boyer, citation details below]

Philip married Elizabeth Hungerford about 1426. Elizabeth (daughter of Walter Hungerford, Speaker of the House of Commons and Catherine Peverell) died on 14 Dec 1476. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 1406

John married Joan Champernoun about 1403. Joan (daughter of Richard Champernoun and Alice Astley) died in 1419. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"English knight and landowner, from 1400 to 1414 Member of the House of Commons, of which he became Speaker, then was an Admiral and peer. He won renown in the Hundred Years' War, fighting in many engagements, including the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. He was an English envoy at the Council of Constance in 1415. In 1417 he was made admiral of the fleet. On the death of Henry V he was an executor of Henry's will and a member of Protector Gloucester's council. He attended the conference at Arras in 1435, and was a Member of the House of Lords sitting as Baron Hungerford from January 1436 until his death in 1449. For some years he was Treasurer of England." [Wikipedia]

"Knight of the Bath, 17 Mar 1400; Knight of the Shire for Wiltshire, 1401, 1404, 1407, 1411, 1413, 1414 and of Somerset, 1410; Sheriff of Wiltshire, 1405-6 and of Dorsetshire and Somersetshire, 1413-4; fought at the battle of Agincourt (France, Hundred Years' War), 25 Oct 1415; Steward of the Household to Henry V in 1417 and to Henry VI in 1424; Member of the King's Council, 1417-22; installed as a Knight of the Garter, 3 May 1421; Treasurer of the Exchequer, 1426-32." [The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, citation details below.]

Walter married Catherine Peverell about 8 Oct 1396. Catherine (daughter of Thomas Peverell and Margaret Courtenay) was born about 1394; died between 12 Nov 1432 and 3 May 1439; was buried in Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 14 Jun 1426
• Alternate death: Aft 12 Nov 1432

Notes:

Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 1383-86. Knight of the shire for Devon, 1383, 1386, 1388, 1390, 1393, 1395, 1399, 1401.

"Courtenay's career reveals a man of energy and ability in national and local affairs whose predilection for violence and thuggery was extreme even by medieval standards. Even so, and perhaps because of this unsavory reputation, he provided the house of Lancaster with important support at a critical time." [History of Parliament]

Philip married Anne Wake about 1378. Anne (daughter of Thomas Wake and Alice de Pateshulle) died after 30 Mar 1404. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Modbury, Devon, England
• Alternate death: Aft 26 Feb 1419

Notes:

"On the Sunday following his baptism, his great-grandfather and godfather, Sir Richard Lovel, held a feast at la Mersh, by Wyncaulton for all who attended to bear witness to this event. He was a knight by 27 May 1379 and served as Sheriff of Devonshire 1368-69, 1381-82, and 1387-88." [The Ancestry of Dorothea Poyntz, citation details below]

Richard Champernoun was the direct ancestor of several well-known adventurer-explorers.

Ancestor of Sir Walter Ralegh:

Richard Champernoun (d. 1419) = Alice Astley
Joan Champernoun (d. 1419) = John Courtenay (d. <1406)
Philip Courtenay (1404-1476) = Elizabeth Hungerford (d. 1476)
Philip Courtenay (1430-1489) = Elizabeth Wonwell (1432-1482)
Margaret Courtenay (d. 1527) = John Champernowne (1458-1503)
Philip Champernowne (d. 1545) = Catherine Carew (d. 1546)
Katherine Champernowne (d. 1594) = Walter Ralegh (1505-1581)
Sir Walter Ralegh (1554-1618)

And of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man loathsome even by the standards of imperialist chancers:

Richard Champernoun (d. 1419) = Alice Astley
Joan Champernoun (d. 1419) = John Courtenay (d. <1406)
Philip Courtenay (1404-1476) = Elizabeth Hungerford (d. 1476)
Philip Courtenay (1430-1489) = Elizabeth Wonwell (1432-1482)
Margaret Courtenay (d. 1527) = John Champernowne (1458-1503)
Philip Champernowne (d. 1545) = Catherine Carew (d. 1546)
Katherine Champernowne (d. 1594) = Otho Gilbert (d. 1547)
Sir Humphrey Gilbert (1537-1583)

And ancestor of Francis Champernowne and his father Arthur Champernowne, both of whom were associates of Sir Ferdinando Gorges in his early efforts to settle and develop the coasts of what are now Massachusetts and Maine. Gorges was married to Mary Fulford, sister of Arthur Champernowne's wife Bridget Fulford. Francis settled permanently in Massachusetts in 1637.

Richard Champernoun (d. 1419) = Alice Astley
Joan Champernoun (d. 1419) = John Courtenay (d. <1406)
Philip Courtenay (1404-1476) = Elizabeth Hungerford (d. 1476)
Philip Courtenay (1430-1489) = Elizabeth Wonwell (1432-1482)
Margaret Courtenay (d. 1527) = John Champernowne (1458-1503)
Philip Champernowne (d. 1545) = Catherine Carew (d. 1546)
Arthur Champernowne (1524-1578) = Mary Norreys (d. 1570)
Gawen Champernowne (1554-1591) = Roberta d'Orge
Arthur Champernowne (1580-1650) = Bridget Fulford
Francis Champernowne (1614-1687)

It's notable that the Champernoun family was rich, and rich for a long time. In the direct male line, the earliest known individual, Jordan de Cambernon (d. >1172), married a granddaughter of Henry I. His 3XG-grandson Richard de Champernoun married a granddaughter of King John. So why did Arthur Champernowne and his son Francis involve themselves in the risky, high-stakes business of financing fishing colonies in Newfoundland and on the coast of Maine? The answer is, because their line of Champernowns had lost all their money.

Arthur's maternal grandfather, remarkably, was Gabriel d'Orge, count of Montgomery, who at a joust in 1559 accidentally killed Henri II, king of France. Despite the dying king's forgiveness, so traumatized was the count by this -- and so immediate and complete was his exclusion from French courtly society -- that in due course he converted to Protestantism and became a leader of the Huguenots. He was one of the few Huguenots to escape the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre, from which he fled to England. The queen mother, Catherine de Medici, demanded his extradition, which Elizabeth I refused. In 1573, d'Orge raised a fleet in an unsuccessful attempt to relieve the siege of La Rochelle. The next year, he tried to raise an insurrection in Normandy but was captured and executed. Just before his execution he was told that all his property and that of his children would be confiscated and all their titles stripped.

(All of which sounds remarkably like a Dumas novel, and in fact a novel about Gabriel, The Two Dianas (1846-47) was published with Dumas' name on it, albeit mostly or entirely written by his friend and collaborator Paul Meurice.)

The count's daughter Roberta had married the Devon squire Gawen Champernowne, father of Arthur, and Gawen had become a close ally of the count. Now their branch of the family was substantially penniless. It's little wonder that Arthur and Francis looked to the potential riches of the New World, despite the risks involved.

Richard married Alice Astley about 25 Apr 1369. Alice (daughter of Thomas de Astley and Elizabeth de Beauchamp) died before 1394. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"[T]he first person to be recorded in the rolls of the Parliament of England as holding the office of Speaker of the House of Commons of England, although that office had existed before his tenure." [Wikipedia]

Sheriff of Wiltshire, 1355-60. Knight of the shire for Wiltshire 12 times and for Somerset 5 times. Chief steward to John of Gaunt.

Thomas married Joan Hussey before 1376. Joan (daughter of Edmund Hussey and Joanna) died on 21 Mar 1412; was buried in Farleigh, Somerset, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Knight of the shire for Cornwall. Sheriff of Cornwall, 1389-90.

Thomas married Margaret Courtenay before 1372. Margaret (daughter of Thomas Courtenay and Muriel de Moels) was born in 1352; died on 14 Aug 1422. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: 1355
• Alternate death: Abt 8 Dec 1422