Denny, Sir Anthony
, knt. one of the gentlemen of
the privy chamber to king Henry VIII., was the second
son of Thomas Denny, of Cheshunt, in the county of
Hertford, esq. by Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Mannock. He had his education in St. Paul’s school, London,
under the celebrated grammarian Lilly; and afterwards
in St. John’s college, Cambridge; in both which places
| he so improved himself, that he became an excellent
scholar, as well as a person of great worth. His merit
having made him known at court, he was constituted by
Henry VIII. one of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber,
groom of the stole, and a privy counsellor; and likewise
received the honour of knighthood from that prince; with
whom being in great favour,*
he raised a considerable
estate on the ruins of the dissolved monasteries. In 1537,
Henry gave him the priory of
Hertford, together with
divers other lands and manors; and in 1539, Dec. 15, the
office of steward of the manor of Bedwell and Little Berkhamstead, in Herts; besides which sir Anthony also obtained the manor of Buttenvick, in the parish of St. Peter
in St.
Alban’s, the manors of the rectory and of the nunnery, in the parish of
Cheshunt; and of Great Amwell, all
in the county of
Hertford. In 1541, there was a large
grant made to him by act of parliament, of several lands that
had belonged to the abbey of St.
Alban’s, lately dissolved;
and not content with all this, he found means to procure a
thirty-one years’ lease of the many large and rich demesnes
that had been possessed by Waltham-abbey, in
Essex; of
which his lady purchased aftenvards the reversion. In
1544 the king gave him the advantageous wardship of
Margaret, the only daughter and heir of
Thomas lord Audley,
deceased. On the 31st of
August, 1546, he was commissioned, with
John Gate and William Clerk, esquires,
to sign all warrants in the king’s name. Though somewhat rapacious, he was liberal; in this reign he did eminent service to the great school of Sedberg in
Yorkshire,
belonging to the college wherein he had received his education; the building being fallen to decay, and the lands
appropriated thereto sold and embezzled, he caused the
school to be repaired, and not only recovered, but also
settled the estate so firmly, as to prevent all future alienations. He was also a more faithful servant than his brother
courtiers, for when
Henry VIII. was on his death-bed, he
had the courage to put him in mind of his approaching
end, and desired him to raise his thoughts to heaven, to
think of his past life, and to call on God for mercy through
| Jesus Christ. So great an opinion had that capricious monarch of him, that he appointed him one of the executors
of his will, and one of the counsellors to his son and successor
Edward VI. and hequeathed him a legacy of 300
l.
He did not live long after this; for he died in 1.550. By
his wife
Joan, daughter of sir
Philip Champeruon, of Modbury, in
Devonshire, a lady of great beauty and parts, he
had six children; of whom, Henry, the eldest, was father
of Edward Denny, knighted in 1589, summoned to parliament in 1605, and advanced Oct. 24, 1626, to the dignity of earl of
Norwich. Of sir
Anthony Denny’s personal
character, one of his contemporaries informs us, that his
whole time and cares were employed about religion,
learning, and the care of the public, and has highly commended him for his prudence and humanity. He was the
early friend and patron of
Matthew Parker, afterwards archbishop of
Canterbury. The learned
Henry Howard, earl
of
Surrey, wrote an excellent epitaph for him some years
before his decease; tfnd sir
John Cheke, who had a great
esteem for him, honoured his memory with an elegant heroic poem.
1
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