GEN-MEDIEVAL-L Archives

From: Richard Cochran <>
Subject: DENNIS - STRADLING Families
Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2001 15:08:09 -0500

At 05:45 PM 12/30/00 -0800, you wrote:
>Date: Sat, 30 Dec 2000 15:50:56 -0500
>From: "Carpenter, Charles" <>
>To:
>Message-ID: <>
>Subject: Ed. III Line for Deighton Sisters??
>Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="iso-8859-1"
>
>Lots of internet gedcoms show William Dennis as son of Walter (and Katherine
>Stradling). None that I've seen list any sources for this, and are
>therefore not worth the pixel's they're "printed" on.
>

Charles has a point! Here are a few items that I have collected that may
help to add something to the discussion on the descent of the Dennis and
Stradling families:

From the printed Calendar of Inquisitions, Henry VII:


176. WALTER DENYs, knight.
Writ 14 September, 21 Henry VII; inquisition . . . . [the upper half of the
document is torn away].

[The first portion of the inquisition, of which the only words now legible
are ` Thomas,' `Aleweston,' ` died thereof seised,' of `the king in chief '
and ` of one knight's fee,' referred, presumably, to the manors of Dereham,
and Aleweston and Ircotte with the hundred of Langley, of which William
Denys, esquire, was seised as his son and heir in 24 Henry VIII, as appears
by the inquisition taken after the death of the said William Denys on 7
January, 28 Henry VIII. (C. Series 11. Vol. 56. (9), and F. Series 11. File
368. (41)].

He was seised of [a moiety of the manor of Awste or Auste, and by charter
dated . . . .], 21 Edward IV, [enfeoffed thereof . . . . .] Twynyho,
William Twynyho, John Tha[m]e, Edmund La[ngley] . . . . . . [to hold] to
the use of William Denys, then his son and heir apparent, and of Edith,
William's wife, and of the heirs of their bodies, and in default of such
issue to the use of the said William Denys and his heirs; by pretext
whereof the said Christopher [Twynyho] and his co-feoffees were seised
thereof in form aforesaid.

He was formerly seised in fee of the under-mentioned manor of Ciston, with
the advow son of the church thereof, and by charter dated 18 December, 17
Henry VII, gave it to Giles Bruges and Alexander Baynam, knights,
Christopher Baynam and Robert Russell, esquires, Master Thomas More, clerk,
James Clyfforde and William Wyralle, to hold to them and their heirs to the
use of one Alice Baynam, widow, for her life, and after. her decease to the
use of himself and his heirs; by pretext whereof the said Giles and his
co-feoffees were seised thereof in form aforesaid and still are.

He died 1 September last, and the said Alice survived him and is still
living. William Denys, aged 35 years and more, is his son and heir.

GLOUCESTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . .

A moiety of the manor of [Awste], ate], worth 10 marks, held of Silvester,
bishop of Worcester, as of his manor of Henburye, as in right of his church
aforesaid, by service of paying to him yearly one single penny.

Manor and advowson of Ciston, worth 201., held of Adrian, bishop
of Bath and Wells, as of his manor of Poukulchurche, as in right of his
church of Bath, by service of a fortieth part of a knight's fee.

C. Series 11. Vol. 19. (149A.)

177. WALTER DENYS, knight.
Writ 14 September, inquisition 18 October, 21 Henry VII.
He died seised in fee of the under-mentioned manor of Kyngeston Russell,
with the said advowson.

He was formerly seised in fee of the under-mentioned moiety of the manor of
Lutton, with the advowson, and by charter dated the eve of St. Thomas the
Apostle, 21 Edward IV, gave it to Master Christopher Twynyho, clerk, John
Twynyho, William Twynyho, John Walsshe, Thomas de la Lynde, William Lovell
and Thomas Warner, esquires, to hold to them and their heirs to the use of
William Denys, then his son and heir apparent, and of Edith, William's
wife, and of the heirs of their bodies, and in default of such issue to the
use of the said William Denys and his heirs; by pretext whereof the said
Christopher and his co-feoffees were seised thereof to the use aforesaid in
form aforesaid.

He died 1 September last. The said William Denys, aged 35 years and more,
is his son and heir.

DORSET. Manor of Kyngeston Russell, with the advowson of the free chapel
appurtenant thereto, worth 201., held of the king in chief by knight-service.

A moiety of the manor of Lutton, with the advowson of the church thereof,
worth 121., held of Henry Stafford, knight, as of his manor of Chewton, co.
Somerset, in right of his wife, by a twentieth part of a knight's fee.
C. Series II. Vol. 19. (149B.)E.
Series II. File 8970. (22.)


Then, Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological
Society, vol. 12 (1887), p. 326-327:

OLVESTON CHURCH.
The building is a fine and large structure, but almost everything of
ecclesiological interest has been swept away through successive "
restorations " by well-meaning though ignorant and incompetent people. It
sadly needs a restoration indeed, in the proper sense of the word. It
consists of a chancel, nave of five bays, north and south aisles, with a
chapel at the east end of each, and a tower, the basement of which forms
the choir, the upper part, with the spire that surmounted it, was destroyed
by lightning in 1604. In the south aisle there is a recessed tomb of
second-pointed work, probably that of a benefactor to the church. There is
a shield of arms on it, but the stone is so much abraded that the charges
cannot be defined. Against the east wall of the north chapel is a brass
commemorating Morys Denys, Esq., son and heir of Sir Gilbert Denys, Knt.,
Lord of the Manors of Alveston and Irdecote, and, also, of Sir Walter
Denys, Knt., son and heir of the said Morys. The figures are represented
kneeling, Morys on the dexter side and Sir Walter on the sinister, both
wear tabards over their armour with their arms thereon. From the mouth of
the former proceeds a scroll inscribed "unicus et trinus bone Jsu sis nobis
Jhus,"and another from the mouth of Sir Walter inscribed: "In trinitate
p'fecta sit nobis requies et eterna vita." And on a label between them is:
"Miseremini n'ri, miscremini nostri, saltem vos filii et amici nostri, quia
Manus dominus tetgit nos." [Job. xix. 21]. On the sinister upper corner are
the arms of Denys: Gu. a bend Eng. ar. betw. 3 leopards' heads jessant de
lis or, and on the dexter corner the arms of Russell of Dyrham: ar. on a
chief gu. three bezants.

On a brass plate is the following inscription :
Her lyeth buryed in ye middl of the quere morys denys esquyere sonne and
heire of Sr Gylbert denys knyght lorde of the manor of Erdecote: and also
Sr Walter denys knyght sonne and heire to the seid morys denys Esquyer ye
which Sr Walter denys decessed the the first day of the moneth of Septembre
in the xxi yere of the reigne of Kyng henry the vii whos soules Jhu p'don,
Ame. All ye that this rede and see of yor charite saye for their soules a
pater noster and an ave.

On the tabard of Morys are the following arms : quarterly. 1. Denys. 2,
Russell, as above. 3. lozengy. ar. and az. a chevron gu. Gorges. 4. a
cross moline .... (query). On the tabard of Sir Anthony Denys: Denys
quartering, Russell, Gorges, and 4, ...a chevron... between three roses ...
? for Danvers. Without the blazon, which does not appear, we are unable to
assign the fourth quarter in the first shield without greater research than
we can give it. The arms are thus derived:

Sir Gilbert Denys acquired the Manors of Alveston and Erdoote by the
marriage of his father, William Denys, with Margaret, daughter and heir of
William Corbett, of Alveston (ob. 2nd Ric. II.) and relict of William
Wroth, who died in the same year. Sir Gilbert succeeded his father in 8th
Ric. II, from whom the manor descended as stated in the inscription. Sir
Gilbert married Margaret, dau. and coheir of Sir Maurice Russell, of
Dyrham, Knt., whose grandmother was dau. and heir of Sir Ralph Gorges,
Knt. Maurice Denys married twice: first, the dau. of Sir Edward Stradling,
Knt., and, secondly, Alice, the dau. of Sir Nicholas Poyntz, of Iron Acton,
Knt., by whom he was the father of Sir Walter, who was four times married.
His second wife was Agnes, the daughter of Sir Robert Danvers, Justice of
the Common Pleas, his last wife being Alice. dau. and heir of William
Walwyn, of Bykerton, co. Hereford, and relict of Thomas Baynham, of Dene,
Constable of St. Briavels Castle in 1483 (ob. 10th Feb. 1499-1500). Sir
Walter Denys died 1st Sept. 1505. She survived him, and died 10th Oct. 1518
(Inq. p.m. 10th Henry VIII. No. 1 Exch.). Her monument is at Michel Dene
Church, together with that of Sir Thomas Baynham's first wife (See ante
Vol.VI. Pl. VIII.)

*******

In Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological
Society, vol. 23 (1900), p. 64-65, there is a description of the Siston manor:

The manor of Siston was held in 1086 by Roger de Berkeley of Dursley. Anne
had held it in the time of the Confessor. Robert de Waleran, who married
Maud, daughter of Ralph Russell of Dyrham, was lord of the manor in the
time of Henry III. From the Walerans it passed by marriage to the
Plonkenets, who were seized of it till the time of Edward III., when it was
sold to the Corbets. Sir Gilbert Dennis married Margaret, sister and
heiress of William Corbet, and the Dennises held it till the time of
Elizabeth, when it passed after several sales to the Trotmans. Fiennes
Trotman was lord of the manor in 1803. It is now in the possession of Major
Fiennes Boughton Newton Dickenson. Henry Billingsley, who held it in the
time of James I., is said to have entertained Queen Anne of Denmark here on
the occasion of her visit to Bristol, in 1614.

Siston Court is a fine Tudor house, with a noble front, two wings, and
turrets in the angles. It is said to have been built by the Dennises ; and
this statement is confirmed by the heraldic shields on the ends of the
wings. Amongst them will be found: (I) Gules, a bend engrailed azure,
between two leopards' faces jessant de lys, for Dennis; (2) Argent, a raven
sable, within a border of the 2nd bezantee, for Corbet ; (3) Argent, on a
chief gules three bezants, for Russell; (q) Losengy argent and azure, a
chevron gules, for Georges; (5) Argent, on a bend three mantlets or, for
Danvers; (6) Argent four fusils conjoined in fesse, for Newmarch ; and many
others.
The following sketch pedigree will be a guide to students of the Dennis
monuments and heraldry:

William Dennis married Margaret, daughter and heiress of Walter Corbet.
Their son and heir, Sir Gilbert, married Margaret, daughter and heiress of
Sir Morys Russell of Dyrham, who was heir of the Newmarches and Gorges.
[Footnote here states: "Sir Gilbert married first Margaret, widow of
William Wyryot, and sister of William Corbet, his second wife being
Margaret Russell. The Heralds' Visitation is not correct. Note by Mr. T.
S. Bush."] Their son and heir, Morris, married Katherine, daughter of Sir
Edward Stradling, and had son and heir, Sir Walter, who married
Agnes, daughter and co-heiress of Sir Richard Danvers.

Their son and heir, Sir William, married Anne, daughter of William, Marquis
Berkeley, and had two sons, the eldest of whom, Sir Morys, died in 1563,
sine prole, leaving his brother, Sir Walter, his heir, then sixty years of
age. Sir Walter married Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Weston. Their
son, Richard Dennis, by his wife Anne, daughter of Sir John St. John, of
Bletsoe, had son, Walter, who married Margaret Pauncefoot. The manor had
some years previously passed away from the family.

******

Finally, from the Victoria County History for Gloucester, vol. 7, p. 168:

Rapsgate Hundred

Chedworth Manor. About 1486 the owner of the manor took possession of the
estate on the ground of a supposed reversioning interest but Sir Walter
Dennis later proved his title and recovered the estate in 1496. Woodlands,
or part of it, was later acquired by the younger Sir Edmund Tame,
presumably by his marriage to Catharine Dennis. It was retained by
Catharine after Sir Edmund's death in 1544, the reversion being settled on
his sister Margaret and her husband Sir Humphrey Stafford and it apparently
passed with Rendcomb Manor to Sir Richard Berkeley.

****

I have located Walter Dennis among entries of the Calendar of Close Rolls
in 1488 and 1491 but they do not explicitly link him with other members of
the family.

Comments, anyone?

Richard Cochran, Ph.D.
Dean of Library and Instructional Services
Ferris State University
Big Rapids, MI 49307
(home: )

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• DENNIS - STRADLING Families by Richard Cochran <>