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  Walter B. Devereux
Walter Bourchier Devereux III was born on March 15, 1910, in New York City, New York, to Mary Lindley Fox, age 25, and Walter Bourchier Devereux , age 28. He married Zilph Palmer on September 28, 1940, in Rye, New York. They had two children during their marriage. In Rye his family lived on the Post Road. Walter enlisted and served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
Walter, who had been riding horses since he was six years old, when his father gave him a pony, was in his eighth consecutive year as head of the National Horse Show.
 He had also served as president of the event, which by tradition opens the New York social season each fall, from 1954 to 1957, and again in 1961, be fore settling into the prestigious position for good in 1963.
He oversaw the show's difficult but successful move from the old to the new Madison Square Garden in 1968. Despite some hardships, such as less room for horses, an 11 P.M. closing time, and two nights of snow, the horse show made the transition, attracted record crowds and turned a profit.
The week‐long colorful spectacle, with the country's top horses and horse fanciers, teams from abroad, flags and pomp, often ran into the early morning hours.
Faced with the threat of costly overtime and an ultimatum from the Garden's man agreement, the show was stream lined.
 “Three hours is long enough for people to watch a horse show,” Walter commented last October. “Just about all our spectators went away happy last year and so did the president because he was able to get some sleep.”
Walter's family had long been horse devotees. His father, who had the same name, helped to found the Intercollegiate Polo Association, in 1903, and wrote the authoritative “Position and Team Play in Polo.” His grandfather, also the same name, played polo, and the Devereux's were the first in the country to mount a family polo team.
Walter learned to play polo himself with Wyoming cowboys when he was 19, having watched them play at a dude ranch near Cody. He was on the freshman and junior varsity polo teams at Princeton, a school “from which,” he said later, “I don't recall graduating.”
He played for many years afterward on teams for Squadron A. Fort Hamilton, the Fairfield Hunt Club, Blind Brook and Bethpage, and accumulated 11 stitches in his face from opponents' mallets, although the scars were not apparent. For while, his string of polo ponies averaged six.
During World War II, Walter enlisted in the cavalry, but was dismounted when it was mechanized 18 months later, and he went to France as an intelligence officer.
 Walter Devereux Commissioned
Lieut. Walter B. Devereux, of the
Post Road, has been commissioned a
second lieutenant in the U. S. Cavalry
at Fort Riley, Kan., upon completion
of a three-month course of training in
the Cavalry Officer Candidate School.
He is the son of Mrs. Lindley Devereux of Syosset, N. Y.
RYE, NEW YORK, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1942
Although he found time to manage the family's investments, the horse show presidency kept him busy. Making arrangements, negotiating with the international teams, selecting judges, and the show's other details constituted a year‐round job for him, and paid a staff of five.
Walter also headed the American Horse Shows Association, which has been coping with a horse show boom in recent years. He headed judging panels at the Pan American Games and served as an officer of the United States Equestrian Team. For many years he lent Sinjon, a champion jumper, to the equestrian team before retiring it in 1967.
He and his wife, the former Zilph Palmer, both enjoyed sailing. He was a member of the Union, Turf & Field, and New York Yacht Clubs and the Downtown Association.
Walter B. Devereux, president of the National Horse Show died on May 3, 1970, in Lenox Hill Hospital at the age of 60. Besides his wife, Walter left two daughters, the Misses Lindley Read and Anne Haves Devereux.
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