Edward Denny (soldier)

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Sir Edward Denny (1547 – 12 February 1599), Knight Banneret of Bishop's Stortford, was a soldier, privateer and adventurer in the reign of Elizabeth I.

Early life

Denny was born in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire in 1547, the second surviving son of Sir Anthony Denny who was a Privy Councillor to Henry VIII and one of the Guardians of Edward VI. Orphaned in childhood, he inherited lands in Hertfordshire. After some minor appointments at court, in 1573 Edward Denny went to Ulster on a military expedition led by Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex. Denny then took up privateering, capturing a Spanish ship in 1577 and a Flemish one in 1578. The same year saw him join a colonizing expedition led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Walter Raleigh; however, their ships were forced to turn for home by bad weather.

Ireland

Denny and his cousin Raleigh were then sent to Ireland to help put down the Second Desmond Rebellion. Denny distinguished himself by leading a company at the infamous Siege of Smerwick. In 1581, he commanded another expedition to Ireland and returned with the head of Garret O’Toole, leader of one of the rebel clans. At court that year, he met Lady Margaret Edgcumbe, one of the queen’s maids of honour, and married her in 1583. They had seven sons and three daughters.

Children of Edward and Margaret Denny:

  • Arthur (1584-4 Jul 1619)
  • Francis
  • Henry (1595-1658)
  • Anthony (died young)
  • Anthony (1592-1662)
  • Thomas
  • Charles (d. 29 Dec 1635)
  • Elizabeth (b.1586)
  • Honora (died young)
  • Marie (d. 29 Nov 1678)
The elaborate monument to Sir Edward Denny is at Waltham Abbey Church in Essex

High Sheriff, Knight and M.P.

Denny first became Member of Parliament for Liskeard in Cornwall for the 1584 to 1585 parliament. He was granted lands at Tralee, confiscated from the Earl of Desmond; he both became High Sheriff of Kerry and was knighted in 1588. His estates in Ireland were a financial failure and in 1591 he returned to England to command a naval expedition to the Azores. In 1593 he became MP for Westmorland and then in 1597 for the "rotten borough" of Tregony in Cornwall.

He died on 12 February 1599 at the age of 52; his tomb and monument are in Waltham Abbey Church in Essex. The monument is beside the high altar and depicts Denny lying on his side in a suit of armour, next to his wife; on a separate frieze below are depicted their ten children kneeling.[1] It carries the inscription;

Learn, curious reader, ere you pass,
What Sir Edward Denny was:
A courtier in the chamber, a soldier in the field;
Whose tongue could never flatter,
Whose heart could never yield.[1]


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Sir Edward is interred in the family vault in the churchyard,[1] Lady Margaret Denny lived on until 1648 and is buried in St Michael's Church, Bishop's Stortford.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hagger, Nicholas (2012), A View of Epping Forest O-Books, John Hunt Publishing Ltd, ISBN 978-1-84694-587-8 (p. 179)
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