Denys family of Siston

Origins of the Denys/Dennis family of Siston

(The family name in historical documents is generally spelt "Denys" pre c.1600, "Dennis" post c.1600) The Denys family of Siston came most immediately from Glamorgan. It may have been of Danish origin, as is thought to have been the contemporaneous family of Denys of Devon established before the 13thC at Giddicote, Black Torrington. It is well established that there was much connection in the Mediaeval times between the SW Peninsula, Glamorgan and Gloucestershire, therefore it is possible the two families sprung from a common origin. The ancient arms of Denys of Devon appear to make allusion to a Danish connection: "Ermine, three bills or Danish battle-axes gules" The arms of the King of Denmark were recorded in the Camden Roll (c.1280) as: "Gules, three axes in pale or". Either or both families may have descended from the very ancient Denys family of Sock Dennis, Ilchester, Somerset. This family was recorded in early Norman charters in French as le Deneys, meaning "The Dane", which was frequently Latinised by scribes as Dacus, being the adjectival form of Dacia, the mediaeval Latin for Denmark, thus "Danish". William Dacus ("the Dane"), perhaps father of John, was the founder of the Whitehall Almshouse in Ilchester c.1217. John the Dane "Deneis", "heir of Robert de Beauchamp" (of Hatch) brought an action in 1224 concerning a carucate which Richard of Ilchester (Bishop of Winchester 1174–88) had conveyed to a certain William son of Ralph. John the Dane held two fees in Sock of the Beauchamps of Hatch in 1236. Cecilia was one of the co-heiresses of her brother Robert de Beauchamp, and m. one of the Turberville family, possibly descendants of Sir Payn "The Demon" de Turberville,(fl.c.1100) builder of Coity Castle, and one of the 12 legendary knights of Robert FitzHamon (d.1107) Lord of Gloucester and Conqueror of Glamorgan. The other co-heiress appears therefore to have been a Denys. Yet Gerard of Trent tells of King John wresting Sock and Bearley from the men of Ilchester to give them to William the Dane in exchange for nearby Petherton Park. A 13thC exchange of land called "Deneysesdone" in Petherton Forest was certainly made with a "Haywardwyk" in Ilchester. The Denys family from Glamorgan, whose pre-Gloucestershire pedigree goes back 6 generations as set out in the Golden Grove Book of Welsh Pedigrees [1](believed to be 18thC), were likely to have been in the 13thC feudal tenants or officers, under Candleston Castle near Ogmore held by the Glamorgan branch of the Norman Cantilupe family, by whom their coat of arms was seemingly granted as arms of patronage. The earliest firm evidence of the Denys family in Glamorgan is from a charter dated 1258, witnessing an exchange by Gilbert de Turberville (Lord of Coity Castle) of lands in Newcastle (Coity) with Margam Abbey (Clark, Cartae no. DXCIV). Among the 5 witnesses are: Willelmo le Deneys and Roberto de Cantulupo. Cartae MXLIII dated 1376 is a lease by Margam Abbey to Johan Denys de Watirton (Waterton in the lordship of Coity), and we are very much on firm ground with the reference in the 1415 Inquisition post mortem of Sir Lawrence de Berkerolles Lord of Coity to "rent in Waterton which Gilbert Denys, knt., and others render yearly." Denys was by then established at Siston.

Armourials of the Denys family

The armourials of the Denys family are sculpted on the facade of the wings of Siston Court. The full blazon as anciently used is: "Gules, 3 leopards' faces or jessant-de-lys azure, overall a bend engrailled azure". It must be assumed the two prominent Denys families in the S.W., if indeed related at all, branched out prior to the widespread adoption of armorials c.1250, and therefore adopted coat-armour independently. The basic arms of Cantilupe are "three leopards' faces jessant-de-lys" and are still used as the official arms of the See of Hereford, but reversed for difference, in honour of St.Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford,(d.1282), canonised 1320. The arms of Denys of Glamorgan are the three Cantilupe leopards' faces jessant-de-lys, differenced by the overlay of a bend engrailled. As has been stated above, these arms are likely to have been granted by the Glamorgan branch of the Cantilupe family to a member of the Denys family, probably one of their feudal tenants or officers, holding an important post within their manor of Candleston, which modern name is thought to be a corruption of "Cantilupe's-ton". a few hundred yards west of Ogmore Castle across the River Ogmore, which formed the boundary of the Ogmore Lordship. As for dating evidence, the Margam Charter dated 1258 (Clark's Cartae DXCIV) concerning an exchange of lands between Gilbert de Turberville, Lord of Coity, and Margam Abbey, was witnessed by 5 people, including Roberto de Cantulupo and Willelmo le Deneys. It seems likely that witnesses to an important charter between high-status parties would themselves be high-status individuals, who would necessarily bear coat-armour. This suggests that the Denys family had been granted the Arms of Patronage before this time. Examples of these original arms survive earliest as shown on the Denys monumental brass of Sir Walter Denys (1437–1505) at Olveston Church (next to Alveston). A colour depiction has survived (c.1509) drawn by Sir Thomas Wriothseley, Garter King of Arms, of the arms of Hugh Denys of Osterley (d.1511), Groom of the King's Close Stool to Henry VII, Verger of Windsor Castle and great uncle of Sir Maurice Denys, showing the scene at the deathbed of the King at Sheen Palace, at which he was present The Denys arms are shown quartered with Corbet, with a crescent superimposed on the bend to denote a third son. The arms of all the heiresses married into the Denys family are also sculpted on the facade of the wings of Siston Court: Russell of Dyrham (1404), Newmarch (1224) and Gorges (c.1325) (Russell heiresses), Danvers (1467) and Corbet (1380). The Corbet Raven "Corbeau" is believed to have been the early emblem of the Viking Dukes of Normandy, whose hereditary standard-bearer was known as Roger Corbeau, who founded the Corbet family.

Sir Maurice Denys (1516–1563) builder of Siston Court

It was the ambitious Sir Maurice Denys (1516–1563), great-great-grandson of Sir Gilbert, who bought out his elder brother Sir Walter's inheritance of Siston, probably in 1542 when the latter obtained Royal Licence to alienate Kingston Russell to Sir Maurice, and erected the present mansion. He took the classic Tudor businessman's training as a lawyer at the Inner Temple and became heavily involved in property speculation and development during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1540 he was awarded the Receivership of the dissolved Order of Knights of St.John, residing at a London mansion at Clerkenwell, the order's HQ, and at a former Commandery at Sutton-at-Hone in Kent. He had built a large mansion for the prominent Mercer Nicholas Statham at Brook Place, Sutton, and in 1545 married his widow Elizabeth, thereby inheriting the house he had built. Sir Maurice borrowed greatly not only to buy out his brother's manor of Siston, but also Barton Regis, a large part of adjacent Kingswood Forest, Abson and Pucklechurch from William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke who had obtained the latter at the Dissolution from Bath Abbey, as well as a handful of other manors in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. Certainly Siston Court was designed to be Sir Maurice's grand seat after he had obtained a title of nobility. Yet his plans had been over-ambitious and his debts dragged down not only himself but also his brother, who as a beneficiary of the loan, was forced by the Crown to co-sign a bond. Sir Maurice had been appointed Treasurer of Calais, responsible for financing the military campaign there, yet was twice imprisoned in the Fleet seemingly for accounting irregularities, but was twice released and pardoned. The inference seems to be that he misapplied Crown funds to repay his personal debts. He was fully rehabilitated by Queen Elizabeth, and died in August 1563 at Portsmouth during an outbreak of plague whither he had been sent to pay troops. As dating evidence for Siston Court the following entry in the Cecil Papers is given:

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. Cecil Papers, vol 1. no.924.

A similar dispatch had been made 3 days prior. Siston was sold before his death to satisfy his creditors, but with a right of repurchase for £2,200. His nephew and heir Richard Denys (1525–1594), son of Sir Walter, exercised the repurchase, but due to the depletion of the family funds, it was finally sold by Richard and his son Walter in 1568 for £3,200 to Robert Wicks. Wicks offered it without success to the Earl of Salisbury in 1607 for £3,300 and then sold in 1608 to Sir Henry Billingsley (jnr) of Doynton Manor, Glos., the son of Sir Henry (c.1530–1606) Lord Mayor of London in 1596 and the first translator of Euclid into English. It passed in 1651 to Samuel Trotman, Esq.

Decline of Denys/Dennis family

Another branch of the Denys family descended from Sir Maurice's uncle John, third son of Sir Walter (d.1505), and heir of Hugh Denys (d.1511), remained as Lords of the Manor of Pucklechurch until 1701. Richard's brother Thomas fared best of all, albeit temporarily, having married the niece and heiress of cap manufacturer Sir Thomas Bell (snr.)[2], thrice mayor of Gloucester and its richest citizen. The Dennis family of Gloucester by inheritance briefly became the main private landlords of the city, but most of their properties, situated on the outskirts, were destroyed during the Civil War siege. In the 16/17th century the family had modernised its name to Dennis.