Hugh Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth and Family

He was succeeded in the earldom by his son Charles Courtenay, 19th Earl of Devon.

The 18th earl greatly improved the estate, expanding its farmlands from 400 to 2,000 acres and reviving the 18th-century gardens and deer park. He also ran horse trials from Powderham, managed one of the leading herds of cattle in South Devon, and successfully sued the Crown to regain the family’s medieval land rights on the foreshore of the estuary of the River Exe. Once regained, he quickly set up a thriving business in shellfishing and the renting of moorings. Powderham, which now sees 35,000 visitors each summer, has also been a popular events venue for concerts including Elton John and Tom Jones, and sporting events.

The 18th Earl of Devon died peacefully on 18 August 2015 at the age of 73. His death was announced by his family on 20 August.

In 2008, the earl had his licence to hold civil ceremonies at Powderham Castle revoked by Devon County Council, as he had refused permission to allow a gay civil partnership ceremony to take place there, an action the Council said was in contravention of the Equality Act 2006. He reversed his stance in 2013.

After succeeding to the family titles in 1998, Devon was the last of the hereditary peers to make a maiden speech in the House of Lords.

On 9 September 1967 he married Diana Frances Watherston, daughter of former Scotland rugby player Jack Watherston, by whom he had four children:

Devon was the younger child of Charles Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon and (Sybil) Venetia Taylor, who had two other children from her previous marriage to Mark Everard Pepys, 6th Earl of Cottenham. Born the day after Exeter was bombed during the Baedeker Blitz and while his father was away in North Africa with the Coldstream Guards, it was reported that his sisters and household staff had been hiding in the cellars while his mother insisted on giving birth in the state bed rather than evacuate. He was educated at St Peter’s School, Seaford and Winchester College and graduated with a B.A. degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge, in 1964. From 1971 to 1977 he served in the Royal Devon Yeomanry, retiring with the rank of captain. He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Devon in 1991.

Hugh Rupert Courtenay, 18th Earl of Devon, DL (5 May 1942 – 18 August 2015), styled as Lord Courtenay until 1998, of Powderham Castle in Devon, was a British peer, landowner, and surveyor.

Devon was an Associate of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (A.R.I.C.S.) and successfully helped the family seat at Powderham Castle move into the black. The family finances had fallen on hard times after the deaths of three earls between 1927 and 1935 brought triple death duties. By the 1970s, the family lands had shrunk by 90 per cent. The family was in talks to place Powderham in the hands of the National Trust, but the 17th earl backed out when the National Trust insisted on a £60,000 endowment. The castle was opened to the public in 1957.

He was the son and heir of Charles Christopher Courtenay, 17th Earl of Devon (1916–1998) by his wife Venetia Taylor (died 2001). From his birth in 1942, until he succeeded to the earldom in 1998, he was known by the courtesy title of Lord Courtenay.