{{short description|16th-century English politician}} {{For|those of a similar name|Richard Dennis (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}} {{Use British English|date=February 2017}} '''Richard Denys''' (c. 1525 – 1593/94), of Cold Ashton, Gloucestershire, was an English politician.
==Family== Denys was the eldest son of Sir Walter Denys by his first wife and nephew of Sir Maurice Denys.<ref name=HoP>{{cite web|url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/denys-richard-1525-9394|title=DENYS, Richard (1525-93/94), of Cold Ashton, Glos.|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> Denys married, by 1557, Anne St John, a daughter of the MP Sir John St. John of Bletsoe, Bedfordshire.<ref name=HoP /> They had a large family. His son and heir Walter and 5 daughters married members of the local Gloucestershire gentry.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Lives of the Berkeleys|first=John|last=Smyth|volume=2|date=1883|pages=178–80}}</ref>
==Career== He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Bath in 1547. He may already have already held a post under the dean and chapter,<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Parliament 1509-1558: Bath|url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/constituencies/bath|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> his father having acquired the advowson of the church before the dissolution of the monasteries<ref>{{cite book|title=Bath and Bristol, with the Counties of Somerset and Gloucester Displayed in a Series of Views|first=John|last=Britton|date=1829|page=21}}</ref> and some of the materials from the buildings afterwards.<ref>{{cite web|title=VCH Somerset volume 2: The cathedral priory of Bath|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/som/vol2/pp69-81|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> His uncle, Maurice Denys and his brothers-in-law, Oliver St. John and Francis Russell were also members of the same parliament.
His family's fortunes waned during the reign of Mary, but showed signs of recovery with the accession of Elizabeth I, when he became a justice of the peace in Gloucestershire.<ref name=HoP2>{{cite web|title=DENYS, Richard (d.1593), of Gloucester and Cold Ashton, Glos.|url=http://historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/denys-richard-1593|access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref> He was elected as MP for Gloucestershire in 1563.<ref name=HoP2 /> In that year his uncle died and his father inherited both his property and his debts. Subsequently a substantial portion of Richard's inheritance was sold, and he inherited a much reduced estate on his father's death in 1571.<ref name=HoP2 /> By 1574 he was involved in a dispute over Siston, where it was claimed he had mortgaged and separately sold the same property.<ref name=HoP />
The last years of his life are obscure. He described himself as 'of Gloucester' in his will, and may have been living with his daughter Anne at Llanthony Secunda Priory.<ref name=HoP2 />
==References== {{reflist}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|en}} {{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for Bath | before= Matthew Colthurst | before2= Silvester Sedborough | with= John Clerke | years= 1547 | after= ? | after2= ? }} {{s-par|en}} {{succession box | title=Member of Parliament for Gloucestershire | before= ? | before2= ? | with= Nicholas Walshe | years= 1563 | after=Giles Poole | after2=Nicholas Poyntz }} {{s-end}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denys, Richard}} Category:1520s births Category:1590s deaths Category:People from South Gloucestershire District Category:English MPs 1547–1552 Category:English MPs 1563–1567