Denys family

The surname Denys was borne by at least three prominent mediaeval families seated in Gloucestershire, Somerset and Devon in south-west England between 1166 and 1641. It is not known if any relationship existed between these families. The surname Denys is just one of many variant spellings of the name: Denise, Le Deneis, Le Danies, le Deneys and most recently Dennis, are some of the others.

The family of Denys was apparently of Danish origin, and was recorded in early Norman charters in French as le Deneys, meaning "The Dane", which was frequently Latinised by scribes as Dacus, being the adjectival form of Dacia, the mediaeval Latin for Denmark, thus "Danish".

An early and influential west-country family named Denys seems to have originated in Gloucestershire in the 13th century and to have moved into Glamorgan, where it was resident at Waterton, before moving back to Gloucestershire c. 1380, where it was seated at Siston near Bristol until the late 16th century. This family's arms are the differenced arms of their apparent sometime feudal overlords the Cantilupes, three leopard's faces jessant-de-lys.

Several members of this branch of the family became High Sheriff of Gloucestershire. The first was Sir Gilbert Denys (c. 1350 – 1422); others included Maurice Denys (c. 1410 – 1466), Sir William Denys (1470–1533) and Henry Dennis (Feb 1594 – 26 June 1638).

Another possibly related 12th- and 13th-century Denys family held the manor of Sock Dennis near Ilchester, in Somerset, from the Beauchamp family,feudal barons of Hatch Beauchamp. White Hall Hospital in Ilchester was founded in about 1217–1220 by William Dacus/Le Deneis of Sock Dennis, following his gift of a house and other property. During the reigns of Henry II (1154-1189) and Richard I (1189-1199), the royal forest of Petherton Park, near Bridgwater in Somerset, was held from the crown by Osbert and William Dacus by grand serjeanty of being the king's Forester of Petherton. The Somerset Denys family seems to have died out soon after in the male line. No trace of their armorials has survived from which to make a link to other families of the same name.

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