Sir Anthony Benn (–1618) was a barrister, appointed recorder for the town of

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable ...

in 1610,

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

ed in 1615 and appointed

Recorder of London The Recorder of London is an ancient legal office in the City of London. The Recorder of London is the senior circuit judge at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey), hearing trials of criminal offences. The Recorder is appointed by the Cr ...

in 1616 shortly before his death in 1618.

Early life and education

Benn was the first son of Robert Benn, a linen draper of

St Nicholas Cole Abbey St Nicholas Cole Abbey is a church in the City of London located on what is now Queen Victoria Street. Recorded from the twelfth century, the church was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher W ...

, London. He had a sister, Anne, who married Edward Goodwyn of Dorking. He matriculated at Broadgates Hall,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, in January 1584, enrolled at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1583, and took Batchelor of Arts at Oxford in 1587.

Career

Benn was called to the bar in 1594, practising in Chancery. Benn was appointed Recorder of Kingston in 1610, raised to the bench and elected Middle Temple

autumn reader A reader in one of the Inns of Court in London was originally a senior barrister of the Inn who was elected to deliver a lecture or series of lectures on a particular legal topic. Two readers (known as Lent and Autumn Readers) would be elected annu ...

in 1612, lecturing on the

Forcible Entry Act 1429 The Forcible Entry Act 1429 (8 Hen 6 c 9) was an Act of the Parliament of the Kingdom of England. It is written in the Anglo-Norman language. It was expressed to be passed because the statute 15 Ric 2 c 2 was felt to be inadequate because it di ...

. Benn was knighted in London on 15 September 1615 at Hyde Park on James I's return to London from Scotland. He was appointed Recorder of London the following year. In January 1618 Benn was expelled from commons at the Middle Temple for offending

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

Sir Henry Montagu.

Essays

Some

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

s of Benn's works survive including a collection of about seventy essays held at Bedfordshire County Record Office. Benn's style is noted to be more deferential towards the supremacy of the King, harking back to an Elizabethan tradition and contrasting with attitudes of some of his Jacobean contemporaries. The subjects covered in the essays are wide-ranging and reflect Benn's personal views. One is entitled ''Of preparations towards Mariadg'' and contains advice to his then new-born daughter, Amabella. citing:

Family

Benn married Jane Evelyn in about 1601. Several sources state she was the daughter of John Evelyn of

Godstone Godstone is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, east of Reigate at the junction of the A22 and A25 roads, near the M25 motorway and the North Downs. Godstone railway station is separated from it by agricultural land. Blindley H ...

and Kingston and his wife, Elizabeth Stevens and that a George Evelyn, a Six Clerk in Chancery, was an uncle. However, a family tree chart of diarist,

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or ...

, from ''Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn...'' suggests that for George to have been an uncle, Jane would have been a granddaughter of John and Elizabeth. In 1605 Benn purchased ''Norbiton Hall'', in

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stadiu ...

to the east of Kingston, from the estate of George Evelyn who had died in 1603. His residence at Norbiton is now commemorated by a green plaque. The couple had at least two children; Charles (b.1608) and Amabella (1616–1698).Benn's daughter is referred to by differing sources as a Amabel, Ammabel, Amabell, Amabela, Amabella, Ammabella and Annabela.

Death

Anthony Benn died in 1618. At his death he possessed a

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

with

appurtenance An appurtenance is something subordinate to or belonging to another larger, principal entity, that is, an adjunct, satellite or accessory that generally accompanies something else. Little more is known of Benn's son Charles. As Amabella is referred to by several sources as Anthony Benn's heiress, the inference is that he died young. Sir Anthony Benn arms 1

Benn's widow commissioned Benn's memorial effigy and altar tomb, located in the south wall of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames All Saints Church is the historic parish church of Kingston upon Thames on the edge of London, and is set between the ancient Market Place and the main shopping centre. It forms part of the Diocese of Southwark and with the church of St John, ...

. It contains Benn's recumbent effigy in his lawyer's robe and ruff collar and cuffs; his hands in prayer, once broken off but since restored. The arch of the recess is a coffered round one of

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that include ...

; the base is low and has shields, both of which were faded but since restored; one is charged quarterly 1 and 4 a griffon on a chief or three molets sable; 2 and 3 or two bars sable between nine

martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

s sable, three, three and three.

Survivors

Benn's widow, Jane, in later life, remarried to Sir Eustace Hart, a widower twenty years her senior, on 23 January 1656. She died in 1673. Benn's daughter, Amabella, or Amabel was baptised in Kingston 3 September 1607. She may have married a Mr Dowse (or Douce) at a young age, though this is unclear. citing: Her more notable marriage was to Anthony Fane, son of

Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1 February 158023 March 1629), (styled Sir Francis Fane between 1603 and 1624) of Mereworth in Kent and of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Com ...

who fought with the parliamentarians and died from injury sustained during the taking of

Farnham Castle Farnham Castle is a 12th-century castle in Farnham, Surrey, England. It was formerly the residence of the Bishops of Winchester. History Built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William the Conqueror, Farnham castle ...

in 1643. She remarried

Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent (24 November 1594 – 28 May 1651), known as Lord Ruthin from 1639 to 1643, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons in 1640 and succeeded to the title Earl of Kent in 1643. Doyle's ''The Official Bar ...

on 1 August 1644. They had two children:

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the '' Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

, who inherited the earldom, and Elizabeth, who married Banastre Maynard, 3rd Baron Maynard. Henry died in 1651 but Amabella survived long after, living to the age of 92. Both Lady Jane and Amabella are entombed in the de Grey Mausoleum,

Flitton Flitton (Flichtam, Fllite, Flute) is a small village in Bedfordshire, England, which forms part of the parish of Flitton and Greenfield. The village derives its name from the River Flit which flows close by it. It is notable primarily as the home ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benn, Anthony 1568 births Alumni of Broadgates Hall, Oxford 16th-century English lawyers 17th-century English lawyers People from Kingston upon Thames Recorders of London Burials at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames English barristers