The Courtenay family of Powderham was a junior branch of the family descended from Sir Philip Courtenay (1340–1406), 5th or 6th son of Hugh Courtenay, 2nd Earl of Devon (1303–1377) of Tiverton Castle, Devon, by his wife Margaret de Bohun (d.1391), daughter and heiress of Humphrey de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford (d.1322), by his wife Elizabeth Plantagenet, a daughter of King Edward I. The ancient Earls of Devon of Tiverton Castle were extinguished in the 15th century during the Wars of the Roses, but the title was revived soon after for close cousins who successively died without male progeny. The Courtenays of Powderham, by then very distant relations, in 1644 created baronets, were retrospectively recognised in the 19th century by the House of Lords to have been rightful ("de jure") Earls of Devon since the 16th century, being heirs male of the last earl seated at Tiverton Castle, and from that time adopted the title.