During the reign of King Henry II the manor of Gidleigh was held by Walter Prous. It was believed by Ralph Brooke, York Herald, and by others, that his ancestor Peter Prouse of "Eastervale" married Mary de Vernon, daughter of William de Redvers, 5th Earl of Devon, feudal baron of Plympton, Devon, and widow of Robert de Courtenay, of Okehampton Castle, Devon, feudal baron of Okehampton, son of Reginald de Courtenay by his wife Hawise de Curcy, heiress of Okehampton. From this marriage the Courtenays later inherited the barony of Plympton in 1293 and in 1335 were declared Earls of Devon. However Pole was sceptical of this high-status connection "which I can hardly admit without better proof than their allegation". He accepted that Mary de Vernon may well have been married to a man whose name was Latinized as Peter de Pratellis, better known by his Norman-French name Peter de Preaux, but had never seen the surname of Prouse Latinized in such a form, only as Probus. There is however one clear Courtenay connection: the building style and methodology used at the castles of Gidleigh and Okehampton, 6 miles to the north-west, are similar. The sandy magnesium limestone used in both buildings came from the same quarry and the same mason probably built both. The last male of the Prous family was Sir William Prouz, who died during the reign of King Edward II. He married either Alis Reigny or Alis Widworthy. Alis Reigny was a daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Reigny of "Assholt"; Alice Widworthy was the daughter and heiress of Sir Hugh Widworthy of Lustleigh. By whichever wife Sir William Prouz had a daughter and heiress Alis Prouse, who married Roger Mules after his marriage seated at Lustleigh. Sir William le Prouz ordered in his will to be buried amongst his ancestors at Lustleigh, but was in fact buried at Holberton. When his daughter Alice became aware of this error, she obtained permission from John de Grandisson, Bishop of Exeter, to exhume the body and re-bury it at Lustleigh. The transcript of the episcopal licence is recorded by Risdon, in which she is named as nobilis mulieris domine Alicie Mules.
Roger Moels of Lustleigh (d.1323)
It is believed that the second son of Roger de Moels, feudal baron of North Cadbury in Somerset, was a certain Sir Roger de Moels of Lustleigh in Devon, called a "King's Yeoman" in 1301, who married Alice le Prouz, , daughter and heiress of Sir William le Prouz of Gidleigh Castle. and of Lustleigh, by his wife Alice de Reyny. Alice Prouse survived her first husband Roger de Moels and remarried to Sir John Damerell; Roger de Moels of Lustleigh is known to have had a son William de Moels, possibly by an earlier wife.
