Henry Fitzcount was the illegitimate son of
Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall who was, in turn, an illegitimate son of King
Henry I of England. Fitzcount's surname refers to his descent from the Earl, who administered the
county of
Cornwall. Dunstanville died without a legitimate heir in 1175 and his holdings in Cornwall, and the title of Earl, reverted to the Crown. Fitzcount was granted the manors of
Kingskerswell and
Diptford in Devon and
Liskeard in Cornwall by an 1194 charter of
Richard I of England. In 1206, Fitzcount provided two ships to Richard's successor
John in a cancelled expedition to recover
Normandy from the French. Fitzcount received the
barony of
Totnes in Devon from John in 1209, it may have been seized by the king from
Loretta de Braose, Countess of Leicester. Fitzcount remained loyal to John during the
First Barons' War of 1215–17. He was one of a group of loyal barons that secured the south-west of England for the king. During the war Fitzcount was appointed
High Sheriff of Cornwall on 17 September 1215. The king replaced him on 16 November 1215 with Robert de Cardinan as Fitzcount had assumed the title of Earl of Cornwall, without the permission of the king who planned to grant it to his son
Richard. The king later reconciled with Fitzcount and in the 17th year of his rule (circa 1216), he was granted permission to farm all of Cornwall, until such time as the "Realm should be at Peace and the King is satisfied whether he ought to hold it as Part of his Inheritance, or as a
Desmesne of the Crown". The grant is thought to have been made with the intention that Fitzcount would hold the land in trust for Richard. At the same time, he was awarded the holding of
Launceston, Cornwall including
its castle. After he lost Cornwall, Fitzcount went on the
Fifth Crusade to the Holy Lands and died either there or at Gascony, while travelling, in 1222. == References ==