Maurice Denys
Encyclopedia
Sir Maurice Denys was an English lawyer
in London
, a property speculator during the Dissolution of the Monasteries
, during which period he served as a "powerful figure at the Court of Augmentations
", a Member of Parliament
for Malmesbury
in Wiltshire
, Treasurer of Calais
and the builder of Siston Court
in Gloucestershire.
(died 1533) of Dyrham
, Gloucestershire
, by his second wife Anne Berkeley, daughter of Maurice Berkeley, de jure 3rd Baron Berkeley (1436–1506). His father was a great-grandson of Sir Gilbert Denys
(d.1422) of Waterton
, Glamorgan, who had moved to Gloucestershire following his first marriage in 1379 to Margaret Corbet, heiress of Siston
.
in London
, and was appointed marshal (1542-4, 1546), steward (1545-6) and bencher (1547).
In 1537, he was granted by King Henry VIII
the Receivership of the former Order of Saint John. This may have been due to his eldest brother, Sir Walter, having married Margaret Weston, daughter of Sir Richard Weston
(d.1541) of Sutton Place, Surrey
, elder brother of Sir William Weston, the last prior of the Order before its dissolution. Denys took up residence at Clerkenwell
, which had been the Order's headquarters and also at St John's Jerusalem, its former Commandery at Sutton-at-Hone
in Kent
. He continued as Receiver of the Order until 1544, and after that was Receiver jointly with Thomas Poley.
of Siston
from his elder brother, Sir Walter, who had inherited it, perhaps in the year 1542 when his brother needed to obtain a Royal licence to sell him Kingston Russell
, and went on to build a new country house
there, known as Siston Court. The evidence for Sir Maurice being the builder of Siston Court comes from a letter summarised in the Cecil Papers dated 1607 to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
from an agent offering him the property for sale:
Siston was built at about the same time as two of his relatives were also building nearby: Sir Nicholas Poyntz
(d.1557), husband of his first cousin Jane Berkeley, at Newark Park
near Wotton-Under-Edge
and Sir Richard Berkeley(d.1604) his nephew at Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford
. He borrowed heavily to buy not just Siston, but also Barton Regis
, a former Royal manor in Kingswood Forest. a large part of the Forest itself, and Abson
and Pucklechurch
from William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who had obtained the last at the Dissolution, as well as other manors in Gloucestershire and other counties.
"where the king's grace will thereto appoint and give licence". This was a common way of providing an indirect religious bequest at the politically sensitive time of the Reformation
after the abolition of chantries
. If his main bequest should have been disapproved he provided that instead a hundred poor people of London should be given black gowns. He left several small bequests. Elizabeth was his residuary legatee and sole executrix. The execution of Statham's bequest however seems to have been blocked by Elizabeth's new husband Denys, and the money was not released until 1550, after Denys himself had been admitted gratis to the Mercers' Company
At Brook Place, Sutton-at-Hone, Denys had previously built a great house for Statham. The name "Brook Place" may have been its name after Statham's time, in recognition of the locally important Brooke
family. This house was later renamed "Sutton Place", partially demolished and covered in white stucco. On his marriage to Elizabeth Statham, Denys gained possession of Brook Place although following Denys's death it was inherited by Elizabeth's daughter, from her previous marriage, who had married the Mercer Vincent Randall, who became Master of the Mercers' Company in 1574. Elizabeth is known to have been an active supporter of the new Protestant religion, of the unorthodox Evangelist variety. She had entertained at her house on the corner of Milk Street (rented from the Mercers) Hugh Latimer
(martyred 1555), Robert Barnes, Thomas Garret
and William Jerome, (martyred together in 1540) and other evangelicals, and in 1540 had been indicted under the first enquiry under the Six Articles to abolish "diversity in opinions". Bishop Bonner chaired the commission, which included at least 5 mercers: John Alen, Ralph Warren, Richard and John Gresham and Michael Dormer and Guy Crafford, the lawyer and grandson-in-law of Lady Joan Bradbury. Elizabeth was then assessed as worth over £500. In her will dated 1572 she left several charitable bequests, to be distributed by the Dean of St Paul's, designed to encourage the new religion by funding poor scholars at the universities. She also left a bequest to Christ's Hospital
. These bequests were opposed by her son-in-law Randall, but were upheld by the probate court.
, Warrington, Cheshire, from Sir Thomas Boteler, who very soon thereafter "made a forcible entry upon and a tortious possession of a messuage and lands in Sankey" on account of which he was sued, before the end of 1544, in the joint names of Elizabeth and Maurice Denys.
The couple then sold their Sankey lands to Denys's brother-in-law Walter Bucler, who in turn on 1 January 1547 exchanged them with the king for other lands in Sankey.
, Kent, from Walter Bucler, who had been granted it by the crown following the Dissolution. Bucler was secretary to Queen Katherine Parr and second husband of Katherine Denys, Maurice's sister, whose first husband Edmund Tame II of Fairford, Glos. had died in 1544. Bucler's licence to alienate, dated at Westminster 25 December 1546 is recorded in the Patent Rolls:
of Edward VI
, Denys was knight
ed, and in the same year he became a bencher
of the Inner Temple and a Justice of the Peace
for Gloucestershire and Kent
, as well as being elected to the House of Commons of England
as Member of Parliament
for Malmesbury
in Wiltshire
. Also in 1547, he sold some of his land in Clerkenwell to Sir Edward North
, who had acquired in 1545 following the Dissolution the nearby London Charterhouse
and made it his London mansion. In May 1548 he sold the manor of Surrenden to Sir Anthony Aucher(d.1558), of Otterden
in Kent, a commissioner for that county, whose burial place in Bishopsbourne
Church in Kent records as follows:
This comprised a chapel and presumably also the graveyard attached to St James's Church, Clerkenwell, then part of the London Charterhouse
, known as the "Pardon Churchyard" and used to bury suicides and those executed as felons. It stood between Great Sutton St and Clerkenwell Rd.
, Denys was appointed Treasurer of Calais
, a position which required him to reside in Calais and which proved an unhappy task, thanks chiefly to the shortage of funds. His uncle Maurice Berkeley, de jure 4th Baron Berkeley (1467–1523) had been appointed Governor of Calais, but died there in 1523 before he had taken up the post. In April 1550, the Privy Council
rebuked Denys for pressing Lord Clinton
(as he then was) not to release Boulogne
to the French until they had paid a treaty obligation under the Peace of Boulogne. In February 1551, after power had passed to Northumberland
, Denys was granted a pension of £150 a year for life.
. He was summoned to present himself to the Council on 29 January 1553, with commissioners to examine his case in April. Between May and August he appears to have been back in post as Treasurer of Calais, as he was receiving new instructions, but on 12 September was again committed to the Fleet, in due course to be released again.
in Kent
to Sir William Damsell
. Siston was also sold before his death to satisfy his creditors.
, who had reintroduced catholicism, Denys was ordered by the Privy Council to go to Rochester to join George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham
in welcoming the catholic Cardinal Pole back from his exile. Pole rapidly became one of the main forces behind the burning of many English protestant martyrs. Denys had no other government work under Mary, which may have been connected not only with his debts but also with his religious sympathies.
, one of 1,000 marks
and one of £579, so was forced to pledge his manor of Burton in Gloucestershire, and in February 1557 he sold other estates around Bristol
.
in January 1559 and began to resume his career.
to pay soldiers and may have remained there. He died at Portsmouth on 25 August 1563, probably of the plague which had broken out there. The "Cecil Papers" at Hatfield House
contain the following entry, which followed a similar one three days before:
Will
on 29 October 1562, which was proved
on 29 January 1564, after the Marquess of Winchester
had ordered the Prerogative court
of Canterbury
to take over the administration of Denys's estates "for the ease of my Lady Denys, who minds not to take any charge of her late husband's testaments because his debt to the Queen's Highness is not known".
in Glamorgan recording the return of Elisabeth's jewels by Denys's nephew Thomas Carne of Ewenny Priory
, son of his sister Anne and Sir Edward Carne:
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
in London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, a property speculator during 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...
, during which period he served as a "powerful figure at the Court of Augmentations
Court of Augmentations
The Court of Augmentations was established during the reign of King Henry VIII of England along with three lesser courts following the dissolution of the monasteries. Its primary function was to gain better control over the land and finances formerly held by the Roman Catholic Church in the kingdom...
", a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Malmesbury
Malmesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Malmesbury was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1275 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.- MPs 1275–1508 :...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, Treasurer of Calais
Treasurer of Calais
Calais was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. The task of the Treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison...
and the builder of Siston Court
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...
in Gloucestershire.
Background
Denys was the second son of Sir William DenysWilliam Denys
Sir William Denys of Dyrham, Gloucestershire, was a courtier of King Henry VIII and High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1518 and 1526.-Origins:...
(died 1533) of Dyrham
Dyrham
Dyrham is a village and parish in South Gloucestershire, England.-Location and communications:Dyrham is at lat. 51° 29' north, long. 2° 22' west . It lies at an altitude of 100 metres above sea level. It is near the A46 trunk road, about north of Bath and a little south of the M4 motorway...
, Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....
, by his second wife Anne Berkeley, daughter of Maurice Berkeley, de jure 3rd Baron Berkeley (1436–1506). His father was a great-grandson of 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) of Waterton
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...
, Glamorgan, who had moved to Gloucestershire following his first marriage in 1379 to Margaret Corbet, heiress 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...
.
Career as Lawyer
Denys entered the Inner TempleInner Temple
The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
in London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
, and was appointed marshal (1542-4, 1546), steward (1545-6) and bencher (1547).
Receiver of Order of St. John
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
the Receivership of the former Order of Saint John. This may have been due to his eldest brother, Sir Walter, having married Margaret Weston, daughter of Sir Richard Weston
Richard Weston (1465–1541)
Sir Richard Weston KB was Governor of Guernsey, Treasurer of Calais and Under-Treasurer of the Exchequer during the reign of King Henry VIII of England....
(d.1541) of Sutton Place, Surrey
Sutton Place, Surrey
Sutton Place, 3 miles NE of Guildford in Surrey is a Grade I listed Tudor manor house built c.1525 by Sir Richard Weston, courtier of Henry VIII. It is of great importance to art history in showing some of the earliest traces of Italianate renaissance design elements in English architecture. In...
, elder brother of Sir William Weston, the last prior of the Order before its dissolution. Denys took up residence at Clerkenwell
St John's Gate, Clerkenwell
St John's Gate is one of the few tangible remains from Clerkenwell's monastic past; it was built in 1504 by Prior Thomas Docwra as the south entrance to the inner precinct of the Priory of the Knights of Saint John - the Knights Hospitallers. The substructure is of brick, the north and south...
, which had been the Order's headquarters and also at St John's Jerusalem, its former Commandery at Sutton-at-Hone
Sutton-at-Hone
Sutton-at-Hone is a village south of Dartford in Kent, England. It is part of the Dartford local government district and the civil parish of Sutton-at-Hone and Hawley. It is represented by Dartford Borough Councilors Pat Coleman and Tony Martin....
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. He continued as Receiver of the Order until 1544, and after that was Receiver jointly with Thomas Poley.
Acquires brother's patrimony
Denys later bought the ancestral Denys manorManorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
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...
from his elder brother, Sir Walter, who had inherited it, perhaps in the year 1542 when his brother needed to obtain a Royal licence to sell him Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell
Kingston Russell is a large mansion house and manor near Long Bredy in Dorset, England, west of Dorchester. The present house dates from the late 17th century but in 1730 was clad in a white Georgian stone facade. The house was restored in 1913, and at the same time the gardens were laid out...
, and went on to build a new country house
English country house
The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...
there, known as Siston Court. The evidence for Sir Maurice being the builder of Siston Court comes from a letter summarised in the Cecil Papers dated 1607 to Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, KG, PC was an English administrator and politician.-Life:He was the son of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley and Mildred Cooke...
from an agent offering him the property for sale:
"Offers for sale the manor of Siston Glos., 6 miles (9.7 km) from Bath & from Bristol, heretofore the land of Sir Morris Dennis, present owner Mr Weeks. There is a new house of stone which cost £3,000 built by Dennis; a park which will keep 1,000 fallow deer & rich mines of coal which yield almost as great revenue as the land"
Siston was built at about the same time as two of his relatives were also building nearby: Sir Nicholas Poyntz
Nicholas Poyntz
Sir Nicholas Poyntz was a prominent English courtier during the latter part of Henry VIII's reign. There is a portrait drawing by Hans Holbein the Younger in the Royal Collection and an oil portrait after the same artist based on the drawing in the National Portrait Gallery, London...
(d.1557), husband of his first cousin Jane Berkeley, at Newark Park
Newark Park
Newark Park is a Grade I listed country house of Tudor origins located near the village of Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire. The house sits in an estate of at the southern end of the Cotswold escarpment with views down the Severn Valley to the Severn Estuary...
near Wotton-Under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge
Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern end of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058 Wotton is about from the M5 motorway. The nearest railway station is...
and Sir Richard Berkeley(d.1604) his nephew at Stoke Park, Stoke Gifford
Stoke Gifford
Stoke Gifford is a large dormitory village, and parish in South Gloucestershire, England, in the northern suburbs of Bristol. It has around 11,000 residents as of the 2001 Census. It is home to Bristol Parkway station, on the London-South Wales railway line, and the Bristol offices of Friends Life...
. He borrowed heavily to buy not just Siston, but also Barton Regis
Barton, Gloucestershire
Barton is a village in Gloucestershire, on the Windrush River, near Naunton. It appears in written records as Berton as early as 1287....
, a former Royal manor in Kingswood Forest. a large part of the Forest itself, and Abson
Abson
Abson is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom- Location :Abson is located on a minor road between the villages of Wick and Pucklechurch. It is a mainly nucleated in pattern with some additional outlying farms and settlements...
and 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...
from William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who had obtained the last at the Dissolution, as well as other manors in Gloucestershire and other counties.
Marriage
On 3 February 1545 Denys married Elizabeth(d.1572), the widow of the Mercer Nicholas Statham(d.1538). Her family name is not known. Statham had been admitted to the Mercers' Company in 1512 as an apprentice of Robert Imber. He served as one of the 4 wardens of the company in 1532, as Second House Warden. In 1535 he is recorded as having shipped, together with his son-in-law Vincent Randall, 349 Kerseys to Sinxen Mart as part of a group of 114 cloth shippers. His will dated 1538 was "sparse" and "suggests a sombre support of the new ways" according to Anne Sutton. He did not, as had been previously common of Catholics, mention the Virgin Mary or his parish. His main bequest was of 500 marks to be lent to "the moost honnest, towarde and thryving yonge men" of the Mercers' Company. The interest therefrom, stipulated at 25 marks p/a, was directed to the use of St Bartholomew's HospitalSt Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, also known as Barts, is a hospital in Smithfield in the City of London, England.-Early history:It was founded in 1123 by Raherus or Rahere , a favourite courtier of King Henry I...
"where the king's grace will thereto appoint and give licence". This was a common way of providing an indirect religious bequest at the politically sensitive time of the Reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
after the abolition of chantries
Chantry
Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...
. If his main bequest should have been disapproved he provided that instead a hundred poor people of London should be given black gowns. He left several small bequests. Elizabeth was his residuary legatee and sole executrix. The execution of Statham's bequest however seems to have been blocked by Elizabeth's new husband Denys, and the money was not released until 1550, after Denys himself had been admitted gratis to the Mercers' Company
At Brook Place, Sutton-at-Hone, Denys had previously built a great house for Statham. The name "Brook Place" may have been its name after Statham's time, in recognition of the locally important Brooke
George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham
George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham was an aristocrat during the early Tudor dynasty in England. A soldier and magnate, he participated in the English wars of his days and in the political turmoil following the death of Henry VIII....
family. This house was later renamed "Sutton Place", partially demolished and covered in white stucco. On his marriage to Elizabeth Statham, Denys gained possession of Brook Place although following Denys's death it was inherited by Elizabeth's daughter, from her previous marriage, who had married the Mercer Vincent Randall, who became Master of the Mercers' Company in 1574. Elizabeth is known to have been an active supporter of the new Protestant religion, of the unorthodox Evangelist variety. She had entertained at her house on the corner of Milk Street (rented from the Mercers) Hugh Latimer
Hugh Latimer
Hugh Latimer was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, Bishop of Worcester before the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555, under Queen Mary, he was burnt at the stake, becoming one of the three Oxford Martyrs of Anglicanism.-Life:Latimer was born into a...
(martyred 1555), Robert Barnes, Thomas Garret
Thomas Gerrard
Thomas Gerrard was an English Protestant reformer. In 1540, he was burnt to death for heresy, along with William Jerome and Robert Barnes.-Life:...
and William Jerome, (martyred together in 1540) and other evangelicals, and in 1540 had been indicted under the first enquiry under the Six Articles to abolish "diversity in opinions". Bishop Bonner chaired the commission, which included at least 5 mercers: John Alen, Ralph Warren, Richard and John Gresham and Michael Dormer and Guy Crafford, the lawyer and grandson-in-law of Lady Joan Bradbury. Elizabeth was then assessed as worth over £500. In her will dated 1572 she left several charitable bequests, to be distributed by the Dean of St Paul's, designed to encourage the new religion by funding poor scholars at the universities. She also left a bequest to Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital
Christ's Hospital is an English coeducational independent day and boarding school with Royal Charter located in the Sussex countryside just south of Horsham in Horsham District, West Sussex, England...
. These bequests were opposed by her son-in-law Randall, but were upheld by the probate court.
Legal action over Sankey
On 8 May 1544, shortly before her marriage to Denys Elizabeth had acquired lands in Great SankeyGreat Sankey
Great Sankey is a civil parish and suburban area of the Borough of Warrington and the ceremonial county of Cheshire in England. It is west of Warrington town centre. It has a population of 24,211.-History:...
, Warrington, Cheshire, from Sir Thomas Boteler, who very soon thereafter "made a forcible entry upon and a tortious possession of a messuage and lands in Sankey" on account of which he was sued, before the end of 1544, in the joint names of Elizabeth and Maurice Denys.
The couple then sold their Sankey lands to Denys's brother-in-law Walter Bucler, who in turn on 1 January 1547 exchanged them with the king for other lands in Sankey.
Acquires Wye College
In 1546 Denys acquired Wye CollegeWye College
The College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
, Kent, from Walter Bucler, who had been granted it by the crown following the Dissolution. Bucler was secretary to Queen Katherine Parr and second husband of Katherine Denys, Maurice's sister, whose first husband Edmund Tame II of Fairford, Glos. had died in 1544. Bucler's licence to alienate, dated at Westminster 25 December 1546 is recorded in the Patent Rolls:
"Walter Bucler to Maurice Denys and Elizabeth his wife. Mansion, etc., of the late College of Wye, Kent, manors of Perycourte and Surrenden, rectory of Promhill, pensions of 33s. 4d. out of Westwell rectory, 10s. out of Hothefield rectory and 8s. out of Estwell rectory, and all lands in Wye, Wydtheston, Nacolt, Henxsell, Goodmesham, Crondale, Charter Magna, Bethersden, Postlyng, Westbury and Promhill, Kent, which belonged to Wye College.
Knighted
On 22 February 1547, two days after the coronationCoronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, Denys was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed, and in the same year he became a bencher
Bencher
A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a barrister , in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law...
of the Inner Temple and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Gloucestershire and Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, as well as being elected to the House of Commons of England
House of Commons of England
The House of Commons of England was the lower house of the Parliament of England from its development in the 14th century to the union of England and Scotland in 1707, when it was replaced by the House of Commons of Great Britain...
as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Malmesbury
Malmesbury (UK Parliament constituency)
Malmesbury was a parliamentary borough in Wiltshire, which elected two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons from 1275 until 1832, and then one member from 1832 until 1885, when the borough was abolished.- MPs 1275–1508 :...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
. Also in 1547, he sold some of his land in Clerkenwell to Sir Edward North
Edward North, 1st Baron North
Edward North, 1st Baron North was an English peer and politician. He was the Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire 1559–1564 and Clerk of the Parliaments...
, who had acquired in 1545 following the Dissolution the nearby London Charterhouse
London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Smithfield, London dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square. The Charterhouse began as a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 and dissolved in 1537...
and made it his London mansion. In May 1548 he sold the manor of Surrenden to Sir Anthony Aucher(d.1558), of Otterden
Otterden
Otterden is a village on the Kent Downs in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England.-History:Otterden is mentioned in the Domesday Book under Kent in the lands belonging to Adam FitzHubert...
in Kent, a commissioner for that county, whose burial place in Bishopsbourne
Bishopsbourne
Bishopsbourne is a small village in Kent, England. It lies in the Nailbourne valley some from Canterbury and about from Dover. It has a public house, The Mermaid, built in 1861, and a church, St Mary's, with 14th-century wall paintings. Author Joseph Conrad lived here and his house, "Oswalds",...
Church in Kent records as follows:
"Sr. Anthony AUCHER, Knt. Mareschall of Callice; Governr. of Guisnes; Master of the Jewel House, in Times of HENRY YE EIGHT. EDWARD YE SIXT, and QUEEN MARY. Slayn at ye Loss of Callice"
Acquires Pardon Chapel
The Feet of Fines for Middlesex contain the following entry for 1547, the first year of the reign of Edward VI:
"Sir Edward North, knight, Chancellor of the Court of Augmentations, and Alice his wife and Sir Maurice Denys and Elizabeth his wife. Premises and a chapel called Pardon Chapel, in the parish of Clerkenwell. Trinity. Anno 1".
This comprised a chapel and presumably also the graveyard attached to St James's Church, Clerkenwell, then part of the London Charterhouse
London Charterhouse
The London Charterhouse is a historic complex of buildings in Smithfield, London dating back to the 14th century. It occupies land to the north of Charterhouse Square. The Charterhouse began as a Carthusian priory, founded in 1371 and dissolved in 1537...
, known as the "Pardon Churchyard" and used to bury suicides and those executed as felons. It stood between Great Sutton St and Clerkenwell Rd.
Treasurer of Calais
In December 1548, under the Protector SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
, Denys was appointed Treasurer of Calais
Treasurer of Calais
Calais was in English hands from 1347 to 1558. The task of the Treasurer, in conjunction with the Captain of Calais was keeping the defences in order, supplying victuals and paying the garrison...
, a position which required him to reside in Calais and which proved an unhappy task, thanks chiefly to the shortage of funds. His uncle Maurice Berkeley, de jure 4th Baron Berkeley (1467–1523) had been appointed Governor of Calais, but died there in 1523 before he had taken up the post. In April 1550, the Privy Council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
rebuked Denys for pressing Lord Clinton
Edward Clinton, 1st Earl of Lincoln
Edward Fiennes, 1st Earl of Lincoln, KG, also known as Edward Clinton was an English nobleman and Lord High Admiral.-Background:...
(as he then was) not to release Boulogne
Boulogne-sur-Mer
-Road:* Metropolitan bus services are operated by the TCRB* Coach services to Calais and Dunkerque* A16 motorway-Rail:* The main railway station is Gare de Boulogne-Ville and located in the south of the city....
to the French until they had paid a treaty obligation under the Peace of Boulogne. In February 1551, after power had passed to Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
, Denys was granted a pension of £150 a year for life.
Committed to Fleet prison
In June of 1552, commissioners were sent to audit Denys's accounts and in July they were ordered to investigate what had been done with money he said he had not received. On 20 November he was called back to England and on the 26th was imprisoned in the FleetFleet Prison
Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...
. He was summoned to present himself to the Council on 29 January 1553, with commissioners to examine his case in April. Between May and August he appears to have been back in post as Treasurer of Calais, as he was receiving new instructions, but on 12 September was again committed to the Fleet, in due course to be released again.
Liquidates landholdings
By now, Denys's wide-reaching purchases were proving too ambitious, and debts weighed on him heavily. He sold several estates, probably to defray debts incurred in his post at Calais. In 1553, he sold Wye CollegeWye College
The College of St. Gregory and St. Martin at Wye, more commonly known as Wye College, was an educational institution in Kent, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1447 by John Kempe, the Archbishop of York, as a college for the training of priests. It is located in the small village of Wye, Kent, 60...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
to Sir William Damsell
William Damsell
Sir William Damsell , sometimes spelt Damosel, was Receiver-General of the Court of Wards and Liveries and a Member of Parliament....
. Siston was also sold before his death to satisfy his creditors.
Greets Cardinal Pole
On 18 November 1554, under Mary IMary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, who had reintroduced catholicism, Denys was ordered by the Privy Council to go to Rochester to join George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham
George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham
George Brooke, 9th Baron Cobham was an aristocrat during the early Tudor dynasty in England. A soldier and magnate, he participated in the English wars of his days and in the political turmoil following the death of Henry VIII....
in welcoming the catholic Cardinal Pole back from his exile. Pole rapidly became one of the main forces behind the burning of many English protestant martyrs. Denys had no other government work under Mary, which may have been connected not only with his debts but also with his religious sympathies.
Disposes of Burton manor
In August 1556 he failed to honour two payments to the CrownThe Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, one of 1,000 marks
Mark (money)
Mark was a measure of weight mainly for gold and silver, commonly used throughout western Europe and often equivalent to 8 ounces. Considerable variations, however, occurred throughout the Middle Ages Mark (from a merging of three Teutonic/Germanic languages words, Latinized in 9th century...
and one of £579, so was forced to pledge his manor of Burton in Gloucestershire, and in February 1557 he sold other estates around Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
.
Pardoned
Denys was pardoned and rehabilitated by Elizabeth IElizabeth I of England
Elizabeth 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...
in January 1559 and began to resume his career.
Death
In November 1562 he was at PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
to pay soldiers and may have remained there. He died at Portsmouth on 25 August 1563, probably of the plague which had broken out there. The "Cecil Papers" at Hatfield House
Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I and has been the home of the Cecil...
contain the following entry, which followed a similar one three days before:
"Sir Adrian Poynings to the Queen. Concerning the state of payments to the troops from Newhaven (i.e. Le Havre) at the death of Sir Maurice Denis (sic) Treasurer. Wherwell 28/8/1563.
Will
He had made a complicatedWill
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
on 29 October 1562, which was proved
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
on 29 January 1564, after the Marquess of Winchester
William Paulet, 1st Marquess of Winchester
Sir William Paulet was an English Secretary of State and statesman who attained several peerages throughout his lifetime: Baron St John , Earl of Wiltshire , and Marquess of Winchester .-Family origins and early career in Hampshire:William Paulet was eldest son of Sir John Paulet of...
had ordered the Prerogative court
Prerogative court
A prerogative court is a court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities reserved to the sovereign were exercised. In England in the 17th century a clash developed between these courts, representing the crown's authority, and common law courts. Prerogative courts...
of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
to take over the administration of Denys's estates "for the ease of my Lady Denys, who minds not to take any charge of her late husband's testaments because his debt to the Queen's Highness is not known".
Dame Elizabeth Denys's Jewels
A deed dated 2nd Feb. 1563 is preserved amongst the charters of Margam AbbeyMargam 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...
in Glamorgan recording the return of Elisabeth's jewels by Denys's nephew Thomas Carne of Ewenny Priory
Ewenny Priory
Ewenny Priory, in Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, was a monastery of the Benedictine order, founded in the 12th century.The building was unusual in having military-style defences. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the priory, like many of its kind, was converted into a private...
, son of his sister Anne and Sir Edward Carne:
"A Deed whereby Dame Elizabeth Dennys, wife of Sir Mauryce Dennys of St. John's Street, in county Middlesex, knight, acknowledges the receipt from Thomas Carne of Wenny county Glamorgan, Esq., of a cheyne of gold with a button, a jewyll with an unicornes horne, thre dyamondes, and one obligacian of £40 for a ring which must be delyvered the last day of this instant Februarye and if the said Thomas shall pay £30 on 31st May next then a recognisauce dated 21st Dec. 1561 to be void. Signed, sealed, and attested by Thomas Marshall junior son of Thomas Marshall, notary".
Sources
- Bindoff, Stanley T.(ed.), History of ParliamentHistory of ParliamentThe History of Parliament is a project to write a complete history of the United Kingdom Parliament and its predecessors, the Parliament of Great Britain and the Parliament of England. The history will principally consist of a prosopography, in which the history of an institution is told through...
, House of Commons, 1509–1558, London, 1982, vol.2, pp. 31–33, "Denys, Sir Maurice", biog. by T.F.T. Baker - Maclean, Sir John (ed.), Visitation of the County of Gloucester Taken in the Year 1623 by Henry Chitty & John Phillipot, London, 1885, pp. 49–52, Dennis