Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Constable of the Tower of London

Notes:

William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1374-28 May 1420), was an English knight created by King Henry V 1st Count of Eu, in Normandy.

Origins
He was born in 1374, the son of Sir William Bourchier (d.1375), (the younger son of Robert Bourchier, 1st Baron Bourchier (d.1349), of Halstead, Essex, Lord Chancellor) by his wife Eleanor de Louvain (27 March 1345 – 5 October 1397), daughter and heiress of Sir John de Louvain (d.1347) (alias Lovayne etc.), feudal baron of Little Easton in Essex. The arms of Louvain were: Gules billety or a fess of the last, often shown with varying number of billets and on occasion with a fess argent, for example in stained glass at Hengrave Hall, Suffolk: Gules, a fess argent, between fourteen billets or. Eleanor was descended from Godfrey de Louvain (d.1226), feudal baron of Little Easton, son of Godfrey III, Count of Louvain (1142-1190), by his 2nd marriage, and half-brother of Henry I, Duke of Brabant (1165-1235). His inheritance from his mother's Louvain lands included the Suffolk manors of Bildeston, Hopton, Shelland and "Lovaynes" in Drinkstone, and in Essex Little Easton, Broxted and Aythorpe Roding.

Career
He fought at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415. In 1417 he was in the retinue of King Henry V during his second expedition to France, and played a significant role in the capture of Normandy. In 1419 he was appointed Captain of Dieppe and was granted powers to receive the submission of the town and Comté of Eu. The French count of Eu had refused to pay homage to the conquering English king and thus had been held prisoner in England since Agincourt. In June 1419 King Henry V awarded six captured French comtés to certain of his more significant English supporters, and the Comté of Eu was granted to William Bourchier, thus making him 1st Count of Eu.

Marriage & progeny
He married Anne of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford, the daughter of the Plantagenet prince, Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester (1355-1397) (youngest son of King Edward III) by his wife Eleanor de Bohun elder daughter and coheiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 7th Earl of Hereford (1341-1373), Earl of Essex and Northampton. The Wrey baronets who were the heirs of the Bourchier Earls of Bath quartered the arms of Wrey with those of Bourchier, the Royal Arms of England and Bohun. They had the following progeny:

Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404 – 4 April 1483), eldest son
Sir William Bourchier (1407-1470), jure uxoris 9th Baron FitzWarin, 2nd son.
John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners (1415 – 16 May 1474), 3rd son
Thomas Bourchier, (ca. 1404 – 30 March 1486), Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal, 4th son
Eleanor Bourchier, (ca. 1417 – November, 1474), wife of John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk

Death & burial
He died at Troyes, France on 28 May 1420 and was buried at Llanthony Priory, Gloucestershire
all of the above from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bourchier,_1st_Count_of_Eu

William married Lady Anne Plantagenet, of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford and Eu on 20 Nov 1405 in Little Eaton, St Alkmund, Essex, England. Anne (daughter of Thomas Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Gloucester and Eleanor de Bohun, of Gloucester) was born in Apr 1383 in Pleshey, Essex, England; died on 16 Oct 1438 in Priory, Llanthony, Gloucestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Lord Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex was born in 1406; died on 4 Apr 1483; was buried in Little Easton Church, Essex, England.
2. William Bourchier, 9th Baron Fitzwaryn was born in 1407; died in 1474.
3. Cardinal Thomas Bourchier, Cardinal of Canterbury Cathedral was born in 1413; died on 30 Mar 1486 in Knole House, near Sevenoaks, Kent, England; was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, Kent, England.
4. John Bourchier, 1st Baron Berners was born about 1415 in Little Eaton, Essex, England; died on 16 May 1474 in Chertsey, Surrey, England; was buried in Chertsey Abbey, Chertsey, Surrey, England.
5. Eleanor Bourchier, Duchess of Norfolk was born in 1417; died in Nov 1474.

Notes:

William Bourchier (d. 1375), who married Eleanor de Louvaine (d. 1397), daughter and heiress of Sir John de Louvaine (alias Lovayne, etc.) feudal baron of Little Easton in Essex. Their son was William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1386–1420). The eldest grandson of William Bourchier (d. 1375) was Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404–1483) who inherited the Barony of Bourchier from the senior line of the family, being the heir of his cousin Elizabeth Bourchier (d. 1433), suo jure 4th Baroness Bourchier.

William + Eleanor de Louvaine. Eleanor (daughter of John de Louvaine) was born on 27 Mar 1345; died on 5 Oct 1397. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

She was daughter and heiress of Sir John de Louvain (d.1347) (alias Lovayne etc.), feudal baron of Little Easton in Essex. The arms of Louvain were: Gules billety or a fess of the last, often shown with varying number of billets and on occasion with a fess argent, for example in stained glass at Hengrave Hall, Suffolk: Gules, a fess argent, between fourteen billets or. Eleanor was descended from Godfrey de Louvain (d.1226), feudal baron of Little Easton, son of Godfrey III, Count of Louvain (1142-1190), by his 2nd marriage, and half-brother of Henry I, Duke of Brabant (1165-1235). His inheritance from his mother's Louvain lands included the Suffolk manors of Bildeston, Hopton, Shelland and "Lovaynes" in Drinkstone, and in Essex Little Easton, Broxted and Aythorpe Roding.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Count of Children: 2
• Occupation: Judge of the Court of Common Pleas

Notes:

Robert Bourchier (or Boussier), 1st Baron Bourchier (died 1349) was Lord Chancellor of England, the first layman to hold the post.

Family
Robert Bourchier was the eldest son of John de Bourchier (d.circa 1330) (alias Boucher, Boussier, etc.), a Judge of the Common Pleas, by his wife Helen of Colchester, daughter and heir of Walter of Colchester of Stanstead Hall, in Halstead, Essex. The Bourchier family seat became the estate of Stanstead (not to be confused with nearby Stansted Mountfitchet) in the parish of Halstead, Essex, in which county the family later acquired several estates.

Life
Robert initially followed his father in working for the de Vere family, Earls of Oxford, but later worked for the crown. He served on a diplomatic mission to France in 1327 and was returned as a member of parliament for the county of Essex in 1328-9, 1330 (twice), 1332 (once), and 1339 (both). He held a number of judicial positions, despite no evidence for legal training, and in 1334 he was chief justice of the king's bench in Ireland, but never took up office. His military career was more active, joining the invasion of Scotland in 1335, was stated to have been present at the Battle of Cadsand in 1337 (although this is regarded by some as a translation error by his descendent John Bouchier) and travelled with Earl of Northampton on Edward III's expedition to Flanders in 1338. On 3 June 1341 he received, in the name of Robertus Bourghchier, Stanstede, a royal licence to crenellate his house at Stanstead in the parish of Halstead in Essex.

On his return to England, the king Edward III committed the great seal, which had been alternating between Archbishop John de Stratford and his brother Robert de Stratford, the Bishop of Chichester, to Bourchier, who thus became, on 14 December 1340, the first lay chancellor. His salary was fixed at £100, besides the usual fees. In the struggle between the king and the archbishop, Bourchier withheld the writ of summons to the ex-chancellor, interrupted his address to the bishops in the Painted Chamber, and on 27 April 1341 urged him to submit to the king. When the parliament of 1341 extorted from the king his assent to their petitions that the account of the royal officers should be audited, and that the chancellor and other great officers should be nominated in parliament, and should swear to obey the laws, Bourchier declared that he had not assented to these articles, and would not be bound by them, as they were contrary to his oath and to the laws of the realm. He nevertheless exemplified the statute, and delivered it to parliament. He resigned his office on 29 October 1341. Robert continues to serve in the King's Council, as a diplomat and as a soldier. In 1342, he commanded a contingent in Brittany, and is recorded as being at the Battle of Crécy in 1346.

He was summoned to parliament as a peer in November 1348 and from then was known as Lord Bouchier. He died the following year, probably of the Black Death and was buried at Halstead, where he had intended to found a college of eight chaplains.

Marriage and Issue
At some time before 1329 he married Margaret Prayers, daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Prayers of Sible Hedingham and his wife Anne of Essex, daughter of Hugh of Essex. They had two known children:

i. John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Bourchier (1329–1400), eldest son and heir.
ii. William Bourchier (d. 1375), who married Eleanor de Louvaine (d. 1397), daughter and heiress of Sir John de Louvaine (alias Lovayne, etc.)[5] feudal baron of Little Easton in Essex.[6] Their son was William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (1386–1420). The eldest grandson of William Bourchier (d. 1375) was Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (1404–1483) who inherited the Barony of Bourchier from the senior line of the family, being the heir of his cousin Elizabeth Bourchier (d. 1433), suo jure 4th Baroness Bourchier.

Robert + Margaret de Prayers, Countess of Essex. Margaret (daughter of Sir Thomas Prayers, of Sible Hedingham and Anne, of Essex) was born on 7 Oct 1307 in Sible Hedingham, Essex, England; died on 1 Jun 1360 in Little Eaton, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

daughter of Sit Thomas Prayers of Sible Hedingham, Essex

Notes:

Judge of the King's Bench in 1321

John + Helen de Colchester. Helen was born in 1281 in Halstead, Stansted, Essex, England; died in 1349 in Halstead, Stansted, Essex, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

daughter of Walter of Colchester

Thomas + Anne, of Essex. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

daughter of Hugh of Essex