DENBOLD, Henry

Although the descent of the Okehampton branch of the Denbold (or Denbaud) family cannot be traced with any certainty, it seems clear that their relationship to the more prominent Somerset family of the same name, if any, was only a very distant one. No definite evidence of Henry Denbold’s parentage has been discovered, but it is probable that he was related to the Geoffrey Denbold who served as a portreeve of Okehampton in 1410.6 Ibid. Clearly, he trained in the law, for he is first heard of as a mainpernor at the Cornish assizes of 1412,7 KB27/602, rot. 22. and from about 1415 to the 1450s he was among the busiest attorneys practicing in the common law courts at Westminster. Among his earliest clients was the prominent landowner Robert Cary* of Cockington, and he was later to serve the latter’s son, Philip*, and other similarly important gentry, such as Roger Champernowne* of Bere Ferrers, as well as fellow lawyers like John Wolston*. Nevertheless, the majority of those who sought his services were of lesser rank, and it was the sheer volume of such business which must have earned Denbold a fairly substantial income.8 CFR, xvi. 41; CP40/652, rot. 352d; 660, rots. 326d, att. 2; 670, rot. 31; 675, rot. 40; 677, rot. 336; 678, rot. 423; 682, rot. 235d; 695, rots. 121, 125; 696, rots. 22, 48, 123, 137, 324; 697, rots. 128, 131; 705, rot. 234; 720, rot. 116; 730, rots. 275d, 278d; 734, rots. 251, 292; 745, rots. 52d, 61d, 104, 184, 309, 424; 749, rot. 106d; 755, rot. att. 3; 758, rot. 215; 760, rots. 95d, 178, 179, 181; JUST1/1536, rot. 18; KB9/236/18; KB27/618, att. rot. 2; 670, rot. 31; 675, rot. 40; 679, rot. 3; 681, rots. 50, 64; 686, rex rot. 4d; 694, rot. 62d; 703, rot. 61d; 706, rot. 58; 752, rots. 33, rex 8d; Cornw. Feet of Fines, ii (Devon and Cornw. Rec. Soc., 1450), 986; Feudal Aids, i. 459. Not always, however, did these clients pay Denbold what was owing to him. In 1424 he had to sue John Medelond* and Robert Heth, the joint keepers of the royal silver mines at Bere Ferrers, for debts of £4 each,9 CP40/652, rot. 357. and in the summer of 1431 he brought similar legal action against William Penalewy† of Penhallow and two associates for the very large sum of £50 each, the latter dispute being settled in 1434 after two of the defendants had been granted royal pardons.10 CP40/682, rot. 273; 695, rot. 138; CPR, 1429-36, pp. 317-18. Other litigation for debts, probably arising from Denbold’s professional activities, pitted him against the prominent Devon lawyers John Julkin* (later his colleague in the Parliament of 1435), and John Kirton of Exeter.11 CP40/667, rot. 95; 683, rot. 60; 740, rot. 42.

Denbold’s landholdings, which included property at Okehampton, Plymouth, Lydford, Honeychurch and elsewhere in Devon, were probably modest, but nevertheless embroiled their owner in the usual petty litigation over trespasses and pasture rights.12 CP40/658, rot. 151d; KB27/686, rot. 20d; 735, rot. 46. Perhaps rather more serious was the incident that had preceded a suit brought by Denbold and his neighbour John Harry in 1447 against a group of Plymouth shipmen and minor clergy, whom they accused of taking their goods.13 CP40/745, rot. 409d. For most of his life Denbold appears to have been resident at Okehampton, where he twice served as the elected portreeve, and was party to settlements of property.14 Devon RO, Okehampton bor. recs., 3248A-0/11/75, 88, 92. The lord of Okehampton was the earl of Devon, Thomas Courtenay, and it is possible that the earl played some part in Denbold’s final election to Parliament, at least. Certainly, in 1449 Courtenay was actively promoting the return of his servants to the Commons, in preparation for an all-out assault on the King’s principal minister, William de la Pole, duke of Suffolk.15 HP Biogs. ed. Wedgwood and Holt, 268; Patronage, Crown and Provinces ed. Griffiths, 130, 142. In the case of Denbold’s three earlier elections, by contrast, a more likely source of patronage was the abbot of Tavistock, who held extensive estates around Okehampton and by 1440 occasionally employed Denbold as an attorney. Certainly, it was the abbot, rather than the earl, who held sway in the monastic borough which returned him.16 KB27/717, rot. 47. While it is impossible to be certain whether Denbold’s recorded attendance at four elections in the Devon shire court (the last of them marking his own second return for Tavistock) reflect a personal interest in parliamentary affairs, rather than merely his professional practice,17 C219/12/4, 14/1, 2, 5. it is just possible that he actively sought a parliamentary seat, and to this end made use of the influence of successive sheriffs of Devon, for whom he acted as a minister and receiver of writs at the time of his first two elections.18 CP40/689, rots. 124d, 301d, 320d, 400d.

Denbold’s regular appearances in the Westminster courts ceased after about 1451, and he may have withdrawn into private life in Devon. He served a final term as portreeve of Okehampton in 1455, but probably died not long afterwards.19 On chronological grounds, it must have been a younger namesake, perhaps a son or other kinsman, who survived until 1489-90: Young, 70.