The Bourchier and Bowker Pages

Discovering the ancestry of the South African Bowkers, and the English Bourchiers

Lord Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex

Lord Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex

Male 1406 - 1483  (77 years)

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  • Name Henry Bourchier  [1
    Title Lord 
    Suffix 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex 
    Birth 1406  [1
    Gender Male 
    Death 4 Apr 1483  [1, 2
    Burial Little Easton Church, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I339  Bourchiers
    Last Modified 3 Apr 2020 

    Father Lord William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu,   b. 4 Jul 1374, Little Eaton, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 May 1420, Troyes, France Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 45 years) 
    Mother Lady Anne Plantagenet, of Gloucester, Countess of Stafford and Eu,   b. Apr 1383, Pleshey, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 16 Oct 1438, Priory, Llanthony, Gloucestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years) 
    Marriage 20 Nov 1405  Little Eaton, St Alkmund, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F203  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Isabel Plantagenet, of Cambridge, Countess of Essex,   b. 1409   d. 2 Oct 1484 (Age 75 years) 
    Marriage Bef 25 Apr 1426 
    Children 
     1. Fulke Bourchier   d. died young Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Isabel Bourchier,   b. 1431   d. died young Find all individuals with events at this location
     3. Sir Humphrey Bourchier, Lord Cromwell,   b. 1433, Great Totham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Apr 1471, Battle of Barnet, Hertfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 38 years)
    +4. William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier,   b. Abt 1435, Great Totham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 26 Jun 1480 (Age 45 years)
     5. Henry Bourchier,   b. Abt 1437, Great Totham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 12 Aug 1458 (Age 21 years)
    +6. Thomas Bourchier,   b. 1440   d. 26 Oct 1491 (Age 51 years)
     7. Sir John Bourchier, 6th Baron Ferrers of Groby,   b. 1438   d. 1495 (Age 57 years)
     8. Florence Bourchier   d. Abt 1525
     9. Hugh Bourchier   d. died young Find all individuals with events at this location
     10. Sir Edward Bourchier   d. 30 Dec 1460
     11. Laura Bourchier, Countess of Devon,   b. 1440
    Family ID F205  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 7 Apr 2020 

  • Photos
    BourchierArms
    BourchierArms
    Caption Note: Canting arms of Bourchier: Argent, a cross engrailed gules between four water bougets sable
    Picture Note: from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Bourchier,_1st_Count_of_Eu
    Keywords: Picture
    Coat_of_Arms_of_Sir_Henry_Bourchier,_5th_Baron_Bourchier,_KG
    Coat_of_Arms_of_Sir_Henry_Bourchier,_5th_Baron_Bourchier,_KG
    Caption Note: Arms of Sir Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, at the time of his installation into the Most Noble Order of the Garter: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Argent, a cross engrailed gules between four water bougets sable (Bourchier); 2nd & 3rd: Gules billety or, a fess of the last (Louvain of Little Easton) the whole surrounded by the Garter
    Picture Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bourchier,_1st_Earl_of_Essex
    Keywords: Picture
    GarterPlateHenryBourchier_1stEarlOfEssex
    GarterPlateHenryBourchier_1stEarlOfEssex
    Caption Note: Garter stall plate of Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, 2nd Count of Eu (1404-1483), nominated as a Knight of the Garter in 1452. St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Inscribed below: "Mons. Henry Bourcheher le Count de Essex". Arms: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Bourchier; 2nd & 3rd: Gules billety or a fess of the last (sometimes a fess argent[1]) (Louvain, feudal barons of Little Easton, Essex, for the mother of the 1st Count of Eu, Eleanor de Louvain (d.1397)). Crest: A man's (Moor's) head in profile proper ducally crowned or with a pointed cap gules[2] The Bourchier bougets appear on the mantling
    Picture Note: from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bourchier,_1st_Earl_of_Essex
    Keywords: Picture

  • Notes 
    • Henry Bourchier, 5th Baron Bourchier, 2nd Count of Eu, 1st Viscount Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (c. 1404/c. 1406 – 4 April 1483), was the eldest son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu and Anne of Gloucester. On his mother's side, he was a great-grandson of Edward III of England.

      Titles
      He inherited the title of 5th Baron Bourchier from his cousin Elizabeth Bourchier, 4th Baroness Bourchier on her death in 1433. He became the 1st Viscount Bourchier in 1446, a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1452, and was created 1st Earl of Essex in 1461.

      Career
      He saw considerable military action in France and for his services was created Viscount Bourchier during the parliament of 1445–6 and elected Knight of the Garter on his third nomination in 1452. He later saw action in 1461 as a Yorkist supporter at the Second Battle of St Albans and the Battle of Towton, soon after which Edward IV created him Earl of Essex.

      He held the post of Lord High Treasurer from 29 May 1455 - 5 October 1456, 28 July 1460 - 14 April 1462, and 22 April 1471 - 4 April 1483. He also became Justice in Eyre south of the Trent in 1461, holding that title until his death.

      He died on 4 April 1483 and was buried at Beeleigh Abbey, although his tomb was subsequently moved to Little Easton church.

      Marriage and issue
      Prior to 1426, he married Isabel of Cambridge, another descendant of Edward III. She was the elder sister of Richard Plantagenet, which made her the aunt of Richard's two sons, the future Edward IV and Richard III.

      Henry and Isabel were parents to at least eleven children.

      William Bourchier, Viscount Bourchier (d. 1480). Married Anne Woodville, daughter of Richard Woodville, 1st Earl Rivers and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. They were parents of Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex and Cicely Bourchier, wife of John Devereux, 8th Baron Ferrers of Chartley.[3]
      Henry Bourchier (d. 1462). Married Elizabeth de Scales, Baroness Scales. No known children.[3]
      Humphrey Bourchier, 1st and last Lord Bourchier of Cromwell (d. 14 April 1471). Killed in the Battle of Barnet.[3]
      John Bourchier (d. 1495). Married first Elizabeth Ferrers and secondly Elizabeth Chichele. No known children.[3]
      Edward Bourchier (d. 30 December 1460). Killed in the Battle of Wakefield.[3]
      Thomas Bourchier (d. 1492). Married Isabella Barre. No known children.[3]
      Florence Bourchier (d. 1525).[3]
      Fulk Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
      Hugh Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
      Isabella Bourchier. Considered to have died young.[3]
      Laura Bourchier (1440- ) married John Courtenay (killed at Tewkesbury, 1471)

      On his death she did not remarry and died more than a year later.

      The title of Count of Eu appears to have gone into abeyance on the death of Henry, and reverted to the French - Eu was a fiefdom in the Normandy region fo France.
      see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counts_of_Eu

  • Sources 
    1. [S6] Tudor Place Website, (http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/BOURCHIER1.htm).

    2. [S1870] Wikipedia, (en.wikipedia.org), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Bourchier,_1st_Earl_of_Essex.