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The surnameDenys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated inGloucestershire,Somerset andDevon in southwest England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surnameDenys is just one of many variant spellings of the name:Denise,Le Deneis,Le Danies,le Deneys ,and most recentlyDennis, are some of the others.
The family of Denys was apparently of Danish origin,[1] and was recorded in early Norman charters in French asle Deneys, meaning "The Dane", which was frequentlyLatinised by scribes asDacus, being the adjectival form ofDacia, the mediaeval Latin forDenmark, thus "Danish".
An early and influential west-country family named Denys seems to have originated in Gloucestershire in the 13th century and to have moved into Glamorgan, where it was resident atWaterton, before moving back to Gloucestershire c. 1380, where it was seated atSiston near Bristol until the late 16th century. This family's arms are the differenced arms of their apparent sometime feudal overlords the Cantilupes,three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys.
Several members of this branch of the family becameHigh Sheriff of Gloucestershire. The first wasSir Gilbert Denys (c. 1350 – 1422); others includedMaurice Denys (c. 1410 – 1466),Sir William Denys (1470–1533) andHenry Dennis (Feb 1594 – 26 June 1638).
Another possibly related 12th- and 13th-century Denys family held the manor ofSock Dennis nearIlchester, in Somerset, from the Beauchamp family,[2]feudal barons of Hatch Beauchamp.White Hall Hospital in Ilchester was founded in about 1217–1220 by William Dacus/Le Deneis of Sock Dennis, following his gift of a house and other property.[3] During the reigns of Henry II (1154-1189) and Richard I (1189-1199), theroyal forest ofPetherton Park, nearBridgwater in Somerset, washeld from the crown by Osbert and William Dacus bygrand serjeanty of being the king's Forester of Petherton.[4] The Somerset Denys family seems to have died out soon after in the male line. No trace of their armorials has survived from which to make a link to other families of the same name.
Josceline le Deneys (whose first name was Latinised toJollenus,Jellanus orJoscelinus) was recorded in the 1166Cartae Baronum return submitted by Henry de Pomeroy,feudal baron ofBerry Pomeroy in South Devon, as holding from him the manor ofPancrasweek,Black Torringtonhundred, North Devon, and de Pomeroy himself held it from Tavistock Abbey. ThisJollenus Dacus held Pancrasweek as oneknight's fee on militaryfeudal tenure.Orleigh formed asub-manor of Pancrasweek, but was held by him under the non-military tenure of freesocage, that is to say it was a heritable estate the service for which was monetary not military.[6]
Dacus held two fees in total from de Pomeroy, as stated in his 1166 return, and the identity of these fees are revealed in the record of the holdings of his descendant Robert le Deneys in the feudal aid of 1285 which shows Pancrasweek forming one, Southwick in Germansweek and Manaton (14 miles north ofBerry Pomeroy Castle) forming a half each. In 1285 however Robert le Deneys was holding these manors not from the de Pomeroy barons but from the heirs of Patrick de Chaworth, who was successor in title to Brewer,lord of the manor ofBuckland Brewer amongst others, who had himself purchased them from de Pomeroy.[citation needed]
The arms adopted by the Devon family of this name at the start of the age ofheraldry in about 1200 reflected their supposed origins:Azure, three Danish battle axes or, that is three golden axes on a blue background.[citation needed] A history of this family is contained in the Duchess of Cleveland's "Battle Abbey Roll", under "Denise".[7]
A cadet branch of Dennis of Orleigh settled atHolcombe Burnell, 3 miles west of Exeter, andBicton, 10 miles SE of that city, and bore the arms of Orleighdifferenced:Ermine, three Danish battle axes gules (three red battle-axes on a white background with black ermine spots).[citation needed]
Robert le Deneys gave Orleigh to his younger son William, whose son John le Deneys was in possession in 1342[8] Richard Denys (died 1442), John's grandson, married Elizabeth Bowhay, daughter and heiress of Geoffrey Bowhay of Bowhay. In 1417 Orleigh was occupied by his wife's cousin, also called Elizabeth Bowhay, the daughter of John Bowhay and widow of Thomas Crydia. She was granted in 1417 byEdmund Stafford (died 1419),Bishop of Exeter, licence to have mass performed in her oratory at Orleigh.[9]
Three generations of Denys's each named John followed Richard Denys, the last of whom, John Denys (died 1498) married Eleanor Gifford, daughter and co-heiress of Stephen Gifford of Theoborough. His son was William Denys (born 1472), who was followed by his son Nicholas and the latter's son John Denys (died 1584) who married Dorothy Monk, daughter and co-heiress of Anthony Monk ofPotheridge. John settled the reversion of his manor of Farley inPetrockstowe onto the issue of his son William Denys (died 1605) in 1573 on the occasion of his marriage to Mary Vyell, daughter of William Vyell of Trevorder. William contributed £25 to the defences against theSpanish Armada in 1588. He died intestate. His son was Anthony Dennis (1585–1641), the last of the male line, whose monument can be seen in Buckland Brewer Church.
The heir of Denys of Holcombe Burnel and Bicton was the Rolle family ofStevenstone, which in the person ofJohn Rolle, 1st Baron Rolle (died 1842), seated atBicton House, was the largest landowner in Devon possessing some 55,000 acres, now represented byBaron Clinton.
Anthony Dennis of Orleigh married twice:[10]
In 1661 the three sisters conveyed jointly the manor of Orleigh tofeoffees (i.e. trustees) who sold it in 1684 to the Bideford merchant John Davie (died 1710).