No. 46.
SIR WALTER COVERT.
By Mytens.
Full length. Black dress and sword belt. Lace collar and cuffs.
THE Coverts were an ancient and knightly race, supposed to be of Norman origin; settled in Sussex about the middle of the twelfth century. A marriage with an heiress of the Norman family of the D’Aiguillon brought them good estates, Broadbridge and Sullington in the same county, and at the latter place they remained for several generations; in the church there is the tomb of a mailed knight—temp. Henry III.—supposed to be that of Sir William de Covert. They formed alliances with some of the oldest families in Sussex, and were reckoned the richest untitled gentry in that part of the country, where they were held in good repute.
In the reigns of Henry VIII., Elizabeth, and James, there is so much confusion in the printed pedigrees and county histories respecting the Coverts that we are unable to mention names and circumstances relating to Sir Walter, with any degree of certainty. In a Sussex archæological journal, we find that in 1587 a survey of the county was made by Thomas Parker and Sir Walter Covert (two deputy-lieutenants) in order to ascertain how far the shores were prepared for defence. Sir Walter was twice married. By his first wife, Anne Covert, he had a son, the first and only Baronet. It is difficult to decide if he obtained the estate of Slaughane by this marriage, or by inheritance, but he is reputed to have been the builder of the noble mansion there. His second wife was Jane Shurley. Sir Walter died before the year 1632.