Henry Dennis (sheriff)
Encyclopedia
Henry Dennis was High Sheriff of Gloucestershire
in 1629. He was lord of the manor of Pucklechurch
, Gloucestershire. The Dennis family produced more Sheriffs of Gloucestershire than any other family. Like many members of the Gloucestershire gentry he refused to take a knighthood at the coronation of King Charles I
in 1625, for which he paid a composition of £25.
(d.1609) the angling poet, by Elianor Millett, daughter of Thomas Millett of Warwickshire. He was aged only 15 on his father's death. The Denys family became established in Gloucestershire in about 1379 when Sir Gilbert Denys
(d.1422) moved from Waterton, Bridgend
in Glamorgan, Wales
to marry the young widow Margaret Corbet(1352-1398), the sole heiress of her paternal manors of Siston
, Alveston
and Earthcott Green. The family name changed from its mediaeval spelling after about 1600 to Dennis. The earliest record of the family is in a Glamorgan Latin charter of 1258, where Willelmus le Deneys appears as a witness to an exchange of land between Gilbert de Turberville of Coity Castle
and Margam Abbey
. This early form of the name in Norman French can be translated as "The Dane", and the name was generally Latinised to Dacus, the adjectival form of Dacia, the mediaeval Latin name for Denmark.
of the manor, that is to say the "manor house", in which the Dennis family would have lived. The manor appears to have had no resident lord of the manor until after the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, before which time the manor was held as demesne
lands of the Bishop of Bath and Wells
. The Denys family had held the farm of Pucklechurch from about 1400, and were resident at the adjacent manor of Siston
, thus no manor house was needed. The canons of Bath & Wells did however regularly visit their manor to hold a manorial court, and there must have existed a suitable hall-type building for this purpose. It is thought however that the cadet branch of the Dennis family, which became lords of the manor after the Dissolution, lived in the 17th c. house now called "Moat House", but shown on tithe maps as "Great House", also known formerly as "Old Hall". This house now retains only the right-most three of what are believed to have been its original seven gables to its front elevation. The ground floor front left room was formerly the ante-room to the great hall
and has a fine plaster ceiling with large Tudor rose
s at its corners, with in its centre a ribbed pattern with fruit and flowers, and fully panelled walls. In the roof one arched-brace collar truss and one pair of windbraces survive, probably over the former solar
wing.
Translated thus:
The text plays on the Latin word pulcher meaning "beautiful", as mediaeval scribes often Latinised the name of the manor to Pulcher-Church. The monument includes on its top an escutcheon of the Dennis arms impaling
the arms of Still: Sable goutte argent, 3 roses of the last seeded or barbed vert. These arms, granted by Sir William Dethick, Garter King of Arms, on 10th April 1593 on his elevation to the bishopric, can be seen on the tomb of John Still(1543-1607) Bishop of Bath & Wells in Wells Cathedral, in the chapel leading from the north aisle to the Chapter House. On a helm above the escutcheon is sculpted the Dennis crest of a wolf passant.
High Sheriff of Gloucestershire
This is a list of High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
in 1629. He was lord of the manor of Pucklechurch
Pucklechurch
Pucklechurch is a village in South Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom.- Location :Pucklechurch is a historic village with an incredibly rich past, from the Bronze Age with its tumulus on Shortwood Hill, up to the siting of a barrage balloon depot in World War II...
, Gloucestershire. The Dennis family produced more Sheriffs of Gloucestershire than any other family. Like many members of the Gloucestershire gentry he refused to take a knighthood at the coronation of King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
in 1625, for which he paid a composition of £25.
Origins
He was baptised in February 1594 in the parish church of St Thomas a Becket, Pucklechurch. He was the eldest son and heir of John “Dennys”John Dennys
John Dennys poet and fisherman was the pioneer of Angling poetry in England. His only work "The Secrets of Angling" was the earliest English poetical treatise on fishing, first published in 1613 in London...
(d.1609) the angling poet, by Elianor Millett, daughter of Thomas Millett of Warwickshire. He was aged only 15 on his father's death. The Denys family became established in Gloucestershire in about 1379 when Sir Gilbert Denys
Gilbert Denys, knight
Sir Gilbert Denys of Siston, Gloucestershire, was a soldier, and later an administrator. He was knighted by Jan 1385, and was twice knight of the shire for Gloucestershire constituency, in 1390 and 1395 and served as High Sheriff of Gloucestershire 1393-4...
(d.1422) moved from Waterton, Bridgend
Waterton, Bridgend
Waterton is an area south of Bridgend, Wales. It is mainly an industrial zone, as it is home to Bridgend Industrial Estate, Waterton Industrial Estate, Waterton Park, the Ford Engine Plant & Waterton Retail Park...
in Glamorgan, Wales
to marry the young widow Margaret Corbet(1352-1398), the sole heiress of her paternal manors of Siston
Siston
Siston is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England east of Bristol Castle, ancient centre of Bristol, recorded historically as Syston, Sistone, Syton, Sytone and Systun etc. The village lies at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon...
, Alveston
Alveston
Alveston is a commuter village of roughly 3000 people about south of Thornbury, South Gloucestershire and approximately north of Bristol, England. Alveston is twinned with Courville sur Eure, France. It has two hotels, a variety of small shops, several parks and fields, two churches and a...
and Earthcott Green. The family name changed from its mediaeval spelling after about 1600 to Dennis. The earliest record of the family is in a Glamorgan Latin charter of 1258, where Willelmus le Deneys appears as a witness to an exchange of land between Gilbert de Turberville of Coity Castle
Coity Castle
Coity Castle in Glamorgan, Wales is a Norman castle built by Sir Payn "the Demon" de Turberville , one of the legendary Twelve Knights of Glamorgan supposed to have conquered Glamorgan under the leadership of Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester. Now in ruins, it stands in the Community of Coity...
and Margam Abbey
Margam Abbey
Margam Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, located in the village of Margam, a suburb of modern Port Talbot in Wales.-History:The abbey was founded in 1147 as a daughter house of Clairvaux by Robert, Earl of Gloucester and was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The abbey was dissolved by King...
. This early form of the name in Norman French can be translated as "The Dane", and the name was generally Latinised to Dacus, the adjectival form of Dacia, the mediaeval Latin name for Denmark.
Marriages
He married twice:- Firstly aged 21 in 1615 Margaret Speake(d.1622), a daughter of Sir George Speake, KB, of WhitelackingtonWhitelackingtonWhitelackington is a village and civil parish on the A303 one mile north east of Ilminster, in Somerset, England. The parish includes Dillington Park and the hamlets of Atherstone and Ashwell.-Etymology:...
, Somerset, by Philippa Rosewell, daughter of William RosewellWilliam RosewellWilliam Rosewell was the Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth between 1559 and 1566.William Rosewell was born about 1520, the son of William Rosewell of Loxton, Somerset, England. He came to some prominence as Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth. He appears in the list of Queen’s Counsel between...
(c.1520-1567) of Devon, Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth IElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
- Secondly, after 1626, Jane Whitmore(1587-1639), who was buried at Bath AbbeyBath AbbeyThe Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Bath, commonly known as Bath Abbey, is an Anglican parish church and a former Benedictine monastery in Bath, Somerset, England...
, widow of Nathaniel Still(d.1626) of HuttonHutton, SomersetHutton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, which has a population of 2,627, is within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset and located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, close to Weston-super-Mare....
, Somerset, son of John StillJohn StillJohn Still , bishop of Bath and Wells enjoyed considerable fame as a preacher and disputant. He was formerly reputed to be the author of the early English comedy drama Gammer Gurton's Needle .-Career:...
(1543-1607/8), Bishop of Bath & Wells, who purchased Hutton Court in 1604. Jane Whitmore was a daughter of William Whitmore(d.1593), a haberdasherWorshipful Company of HaberdashersThe Worshipful Company of Haberdashers is one of the senior Livery Companies of the City of London. The organisation, following on from the Mercers' Company, another Livery Company connected with clothing and haberdashery, received a Royal Charter in 1448...
of Balmes Manor, HackneyHackney-Places:* London Borough of Hackney, formed in 1965** Metropolitan Borough of Hackney, formed in 1900 and abolished in 1965** Hackney Central** Hackney Central , a political division of the Council** Hackney Central railway station** Hackney College...
and of Apley HallApley HallApley Hall is an English Gothic Revival house located in Stockton, Shropshire. The building was completed in 1811 with adjoining property of of private parkland beside the river Severn. It was once home to the Whitmore , Foster and Avery families...
, Shropshire. Jane's nephew was Sir Thomas Whitmore, 1st BaronetSir Thomas Whitmore, 1st BaronetSir Thomas Whitmore, 1st Baronet was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons of England between 1640 and 1644. He supported the Royalist side in the English Civil War.-Biography:...
(1612-1653). There is a stone sculpted memorial to Nathaniel Still in the parish church of Hutton, showing him and his wife and children kneeling in prayer.
Progeny
He had the following two sons by his first wife:- John Dennis (1616-1660), High Sheriff of GloucestershireHigh Sheriff of GloucestershireThis is a list of High Sheriffs of Gloucestershire.The High Sheriff is the oldest secular office under the Crown. Formerly the High Sheriff was the principal law enforcement officer in the county but over the centuries most of the responsibilities associated with the post have been transferred...
in 1649. He was patron of the church of Oldbury on the Hill, Glos. in 1641. He married in about 1639 Mary Still(d.18/8/1698), daughter of Nathaniel Still of Hutton, SomersetHutton, SomersetHutton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The parish, which has a population of 2,627, is within the Unitary Authority of North Somerset and located on the western edge of the Mendip Hills, close to Weston-super-Mare....
, who was therefore the daughter of his step-mother Jane Whitmore, who died in the same year, a year after the death of John's father and her 2nd husband Henry. - Henry Dennis (1620-1649), died aged 29, buried at Pucklechurch
Residence
It is not known with certainty which house in the village was the caputCaput
The Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...
of the manor, that is to say the "manor house", in which the Dennis family would have lived. The manor appears to have had no resident lord of the manor until after the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
, before which time the manor was held as demesne
Demesne
In the feudal system the demesne was all the land, not necessarily all contiguous to the manor house, which was retained by a lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants...
lands of the Bishop of Bath and Wells
Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England.The present diocese covers the vast majority of the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew in...
. The Denys family had held the farm of Pucklechurch from about 1400, and were resident at the adjacent manor of Siston
Siston
Siston is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England east of Bristol Castle, ancient centre of Bristol, recorded historically as Syston, Sistone, Syton, Sytone and Systun etc. The village lies at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon...
, thus no manor house was needed. The canons of Bath & Wells did however regularly visit their manor to hold a manorial court, and there must have existed a suitable hall-type building for this purpose. It is thought however that the cadet branch of the Dennis family, which became lords of the manor after the Dissolution, lived in the 17th c. house now called "Moat House", but shown on tithe maps as "Great House", also known formerly as "Old Hall". This house now retains only the right-most three of what are believed to have been its original seven gables to its front elevation. The ground floor front left room was formerly the ante-room to the great hall
Great hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, nobleman's castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. At that time the word great simply meant big, and had not acquired its modern connotations of excellence...
and has a fine plaster ceiling with large Tudor rose
Tudor rose
The Tudor Rose is the traditional floral heraldic emblem of England and takes its name and origins from the Tudor dynasty.-Origins:...
s at its corners, with in its centre a ribbed pattern with fruit and flowers, and fully panelled walls. In the roof one arched-brace collar truss and one pair of windbraces survive, probably over the former solar
Solar (room)
The solar was a room in many English and French medieval manor houses, great houses and castles, generally situated on an upper storey, designed as the family's private living and sleeping quarters...
wing.
Death & burial
He died on 26th June 1638, as his monument in Pucklechurch Church states, and was buried on the same day as the parish register records.Monument
The following monument inscribed in slate (or black marble) within a decorative marble frame was erected post 1660 in Pucklechurch parish church, on the wall of the north aisle, one of two monuments to the Dennis family:
Monumento...
In memoriam Johannis Dennis Armigeri, primo-geniti et haeredis Henrici Dennis Armigeri qui 26 die Junii Anno Domini 1638 ex hac vita decessit postquam ex uxore sua Margareta Domini Georgii Speake de Whight-lackington in Comitatu Sommerset Equitis balnei e filiabus una, Duos accepisset filios Johannem Scilecet et Henricum Equibus. Johannes Dennis de Puckle-church (alias pulcher-Church) in Comitatu Gloucestriae Armiger duxit Mariam, Nathanielis Still de Hutton in Comitatu Somerset Armigeris filiarum et cohaeredum Unam; ex qua tres accepit filios, et filiam unam, viz: Henricum, Johannem, Gulielmum et Margaretam.
...Hoc Quod est pulchri Templum, est pulchrius.
Translated thus:
By this monument what is a beautiful temple is become more beautiful.
In memory of John Dennis Esquire, first-born and heir of Henry Dennis Esquire who on the 26th day of June in the year of Our Lord 1638 departed from this life after he had received from his wife Margaret, one out of the daughters of George Speake Lord of Whight-lackington in the county of Somerset, Knight of the Bath, two sons, that is to say John and Henry (knights?). John Dennis of Puckle-church (otherwise pulcher-Church) in the county of Gloucester, Esquire, married Mary, one of the daughters and co-heiresses of Nathaniel Still of Hutton in the county of Somerset, Esquire; from whom he received three sons and one daughter, that is to say: Henry, John, William, and Margaret.
The text plays on the Latin word pulcher meaning "beautiful", as mediaeval scribes often Latinised the name of the manor to Pulcher-Church. The monument includes on its top an escutcheon of the Dennis arms impaling
Impalement (heraldry)
In heraldry, impalement is the combination of two coats of arms side-by-side in one shield or escutcheon to denote union, most often that of a husband and wife, but also for ecclesiastical use...
the arms of Still: Sable goutte argent, 3 roses of the last seeded or barbed vert. These arms, granted by Sir William Dethick, Garter King of Arms, on 10th April 1593 on his elevation to the bishopric, can be seen on the tomb of John Still(1543-1607) Bishop of Bath & Wells in Wells Cathedral, in the chapel leading from the north aisle to the Chapter House. On a helm above the escutcheon is sculpted the Dennis crest of a wolf passant.
Sources
- Maclean, Sir John (ed.) The Visitation of the County of Gloucester Taken in the Year 1623 by Henry Chitty and John Phillipot, London, 1885. pp.49-53, Dennis.
- Barnard Papers, Bristol Archives, P/Puc/HM/1. Correspondence 1889-90 between Rev. Lionel Barnard , vicar of Pucklechurch and Samuel Tucker of London, grandson of John Dennis(1779-1864) of Dorking, H.M. Receiver General of Excise & author of "A Handbook of Dorking", whose bookplate shows the arms of Dennis of Gloucestershire & whose purported descent from that family Mr Tucker was investigating, ultimately unsuccessfully. Includes a detailed pedigree of the Dennis family.
- http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/arthur-john-jewers/wells-cathedral-its-monumental-inscriptions-and-heraldry--together-with-the-he-hci/page-14-wells-cathedral-its-monumental-inscriptions-and-heraldry--together-with-the-he-hci.shtmlJewers, Arthur John. Wells Cathedral: Its Monumental Inscriptions and Heraldry, together with the Heraldry of the Palace, Deanery, and Vicar's Close, with Annotations from Wills, Registers, etc., and Illustrations of Arms], pp.146-150, Bishop Still