John Dawney

Who was John Dawney?

Sir John Dawney was the second son of Nicholas Dawney of Mudford Terry, Somerset, and his wife, Elizabeth.

John Dawney's elder brother, Thomas Dawney of Escrick, Yorkshire, married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Newton of Snaith, Yorkshire, and was ancestor of the Viscounts Downe.

John Dawney served in King Edward III's expedition to Honfleur in 1346, and fought at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346, for which he was made a knight banneret. He died shortly after the battle, in 1346/7.

Dawney married Sybil Treverbyn, the daughter of Walter de Treverbyn of Treverbyn, Cornwall. They had one surviving child, a daughter Emeline or Emme, who married Sir Edward Courtenay, third son of Hugh Courtenay, 10th Earl of Devon, and by him had two sons, Edward and Hugh. The elder son, Edward, inherited the earldom from his grandfather, the 10th Earl, and became 11th Earl of Devon. The 11th Earl married Maud Camoys, and the earldom remained in their descendants until their great-grandson, Thomas Courtenay, 14th Earl of Devon, was beheaded at York on 3 April 1461 after the Battle of Towton, dying without issue.