Gilbert Denys, Knight

Sir Gilbert Denys (c. 1350–1422) of Siston, Gloucestershire, was a soldier, and later an administrator. He was knighted by January 1385, and was twice knight of the shire for Gloucestershire constituency, in 1390 and 1395 and served as Sheriff of Gloucestershire 1393-4. He founded the family which provided more Sheriffs of Gloucestershire than any other.

Early life

Gilbert Denys was probably born in about 1350 in Glamorgan, South Wales, probably the son of John Denys of Waterton, in the lordship of Coity. The latter is referred to as ''Johan Denys de Watirton'' in a charter of 1379 being leased land by Margam Abbey at Bonvilston during the wardship of John Norreis, son and heir of John Norreis of Lachecastel. In 1415 Sir Gilbert Denys is recorded as renting land in Waterton from the late Lord of Coity, Sir Roger Berkerolles. The Denys family are recorded in ancient Glamorgan charters, the earliest mention being in 1258, when ''Willelmo le Denys'' witnessed a charter effecting an exchange by Gilbert de Turberville, Lord of Coity, of lands in Newcastle, Glamorgan, with Margam Abbey. The Glamorgan antiquarian Clark (d.1898), supported by the Denys pedigree in the "Golden Grove Book"
believed this William Denys to have originated in Gloucestershire and to have married a Turberville.

First marriage to Margaret Corbet

In about 1379 Denys obtained the hand in marriage of a Gloucestershire heiress, Margaret Corbet, and became thereby a man of wealth and influence. Margaret had been born a triplet in about 1352, and both her brothers had died young in succession, leaving her the sole heir of the large Corbet landholdings in Gloucestershire and elsewhere. John the eldest had died in 1370 and William in 1377. Their father William, husband of Emma Oddingseles, had died while his children were young, predeceasing his own father, Sir Peter Corbet(d.1362). The manors held by Sir Peter Corbet on his death in 1362, which descended to his grandchildren in succession, John, William and Margaret were as follows: Hope-juxta-Caus, Shropshire, a remnant manor from the great Corbet honour, or virtually autonomous lordship established under William I at Caus Castle. Lawrenny in Pembrokeshire, (held from the Carew family) remnant of the family's large Welsh holdings, most of which had been earlier settled on Corbet male lines. The Corbet lands in Gloucestershire were as follows: Siston, held from the Bishops of Bath and Wells, and Alveston and Earthcott Green, both held '' in chief'' from the King. The possession of these tenancies-in-chief meant that should they ever descend into the hands of a female heiress, the King could repossess them and install his own favoured tenant who would thenceforth owe royal knight service and would be obliged to become a local administrator of the royal government. Margaret had been married off to a Pembrokeshire man, William Wyriott of Orielton, probably with the intention of consolidating Lawrenny with the Wyriott lands. Yet in 1379, only two years after her brother William's death aged 25, her husband William Wyriott died also, leaving Margaret as a female tenant-in-chief, a very precarious position for her. She could only remarry by royal licence, effectively giving the King the right of veto over her free choice or she could relinquish her family manors to live with a husband of her choice, probably in relative poverty and social obscurity. Within a short time after Wyriott's death, Margaret had accepted Gilbert Denys as her husband. The two were contemporaries, and the marriage proved on a personal level to be successful, as Denys asked in his will to be buried next to Margaret. The marriage, like most of the period, is unlikely to have been the result of a romance but rather arranged by some powerful figure at Court who wished to see Denys rise in the world. Insufficient evidence exists to identify who this patron of Denys might have been, but pure speculation might suggest John of Gaunt.

Early career

Denys's career had begun in the service of John of Gaunt, son of King Edward III, who as Duke of Lancaster was Lord of Ogmore Castle, 3 miles SW of Waterton. Although certainly an insignificant property within his vast holdings, Denys may have made a mark for himself serving at Ogmore and come to the Duke's notice. In May 1375, on behalf of the Duke, Denys had taken formal custody of the manors of Aberavon and Sully in Glamorgan, part of the holdings of the late Edward le Despencer, 1st Baron le Despencer, Lord of Glamorgan. In 1378 he took out letters of protection to join Gaunt's foreign expedition, no doubt in the expectation of sharing in its profits. In 1382 Denys's subsequent letters of protection were revoked 2 months after issue when Sir John Devereux, Captain of Calais, testified that he had still not crossed the Channel. His absence may have been due to a pregnancy of his wife. In 1384 he enlisted in the army about to sail for Portugal in the company of the Portuguese Chancellor, Fernand, Master of the Order of St. James of the Sword. Denys served on his first Royal Commission at home in 1389, as Sheriff for Gloucestershire in 1393/4, and twice served as Knight of the Shire in 1390 and 1395. In 1401 he was one of 5 men from Gloucestershire summoned to attend a great council in August 1401.

Escapes murder plot

An indictment heard before the Court of Kings Bench in 1387 accused 3 persons of holding conventicles at Earlswood in the lordship of Lydney in order to plot the killing of Sir Gilbert Denys and John Poleyn. The 3 accused were Ralph Greyndour the younger, John Magot and John Chaunterell. Greyndour was an example of the curious mediaeval phenomenon of the gentleman bandit. The Greyndour clan dominated the sparsely populated and wild area of the Forest of Dean in western Gloucestershire bordering on the Welsh Marches. Ralph's kinsman was John Greyndour, lord of Mitcheldean, Littledean and Abenhall, all within the Forest of Dean. These 3 were also accused of plotting to kill Henry Warner, Nicholas More and Thomas de Berkeley of Berkeley when the latter came hunting in the forest with the king's licence. All 3 were acquitted of the charges.

Holds ''Farm'' of Pucklechurch

The manor of Pucklechurch lies to the immediate north-east of Siston, and was held by the Bishop of Bath & Wells since 1275, when he had received it from Glastonbury Abbey. To save themselves the administrative burden of collecting all the rents within the manor, they farmed the manor to Gilbert Denys, that is to say gave him the right to keep all the rents he could collect in exchange for an annual one-off payment. This sum was set at £40, which must be assumed to represent about 70% of the total rents due, therefore estimated at £57. Thus the See saved itself more than £17 per annum in its admin. expenses by farming it to Denys, who for his outlay of £40 may have collected £51 in rents, i.e. 90%, depending on how forceful he was inclined to be. That would represent a gross return to him of 28%. One must assume that Denys would have been willing to pay more than anyone else for the privilege, already holding next-door Siston, making for convenient administration. Thus in the Communar's Accounts of the See of Bath and Wells the following entries are recorded:

*1400–01 Received from Gilbert Denys, knt, for farm of Pokelchurch £40
*1400–01 Paid to servant of Sir Gilbert Denys for venison from Pokelchurch for the canons 2s
*1407/8 Received from Sir Gilbert Denys, farmer of the church at Pucklechurch £40
*1407/9 Expenses of the steward about the agreement with Sir Gilbert Denys and on other occasions £1 3s 2d.
*1407/9 Received from Gilbert Denys for wood at Crotesmor £5 13s 4d
*1408/9 Received from Sir Gilbert Denys for the farm of Pucklechurch, £5 being remitted for the first term £35
*1414–18 Expenses of holding a court at Pucklechurch and treating with Gilbert Denys at Sixton (Siston) and Olvyston and with Abbatiston (Abson?) parish £1 1s 5½d
*1414–18 Expenses: Sir Gilbert Denys £2 and his bailiff 3s 4d and his entertainment for horses and men at Simon Bayly's (11s 8d) £2 15s
*1414–18 Expenses hire of 2 horses at Wells and holding a court at Pucklechurch 1s 11d
*1414–18 Rec'd from the bailiff of Pucklechurch, rent and perquisites of court £1 7s 5d
*1417–18 Received from Sir Gilbert Denys for the farm of Pucklechurch £40
*1417–18 Expenses at Pucklechurch, with horse hire, about tithes in Pucklechurch, Abbatiston (Abson?) and Westleigh (Westerleigh?) and arranging with Gilbert Denys £1 8s 1d

It would seem that it was a pleasant day out for a couple of the canons or friars of Wells to hire horses and ride over to talk business with Denys, perhaps an excuse to enjoy some all-expenses paid entertainment. It appears that Denys held the farm until his death in 1422, although records are not available to confirm this. A cadet branch of the Denys family became lords of the manor of Pucklechurch, probably in the 16th century, and continuing until the death of William Dennis in 1701, last of the male line.

Joins Retinue of Earl of Stafford

Following Gaunt's death in 1399, Denys joined the retinue of Edmund, Earl of Stafford(d.1403), and probably fought with the Earl in Henry IV's campaign against the Scots in 1400. In 1403 he was appointed by the King as constable of the late Earl of Stafford's Newport Castle, Monmouth, in charge of 80 archers and 40 lances, specifically to resist the rebellion of Glendower. Having been discouraged from attacking nearby Chepstow Castle, a far larger fortification, Glendower turned his force on Newport, which Denys's force was clearly unable to resist, for the castle was sacked. He must have returned across the Bristol Channel to Gloucestershire as on 7th. Oct in the same year the King issued the following order preserved in the Patent Rolls:

Commission to Maurice Russell, Gilbert Dynys, John Rolves and John Harsefelde to assemble all the able fencible men, footmen and horsemen, of the hundreds of Barton Regis by Bristol, Hembury, Pokelchurche, Thornbury, Grymboldesasshe, Berkeley and Whiston and bring them sufficiently armed to the town of Chepstowe by Thursday next at the latest to go with the King or his lieutenant to Wales to resist the rebels bringing with them victuals for 4 days and to take horses from those who have them who cannot labour and deliver them to those who can labour but lack horses. By K.

Three days later, on 10th. Oct. 1403 Denys and Edward, Lord Charlton were granted full powers to pardon any rebels in the lordships of Usk, Caerleon and Trilleck who submitted to them. He continued to hold office at Newport as steward and sheriff, possibly owing these appointments to Ann, dowager countess of Stafford and her 3rd. Husband, Sir William Bourchier. In 1418 Denys was sheriff of the Marcher Lordship of Gwynllwg (Wentloog), the ''caput