DENNE, Vincent (1628-93), of Denne Hill, Kingston, Kent.

Denne’s family had owned land in Kent since the reign of King John, and in Sussex since that of William I.21Hasted, Kent, ix. 345. His father, a younger son, is difficult to distinguish from many namesakes in the region. He may have been the lawyer who served as counsel to the cinque port of New Romney, but this could also have been his cousin, Thomas Denne† (1577–1656) of Kingston and Canterbury, a bencher of the Inner Temple who represented the latter in the 1624 Parliament and was its recorder during the civil wars.22LI Black Bks. i. 457; E. Kent Archives Centre, NR/AC1, ff. 68, 81v-2, 166, 192, 201v; Cal. White and Black Bks. Cinque Ports, 309, 343; HP Commons 1604-1629.

Vincent Denne was too young to participate in the first civil war. Admitted to Queens’ College Cambridge early in 1645, he migrated in 1648 to Magdalen Hall Oxford, where he received his BA in the same year, and his MA in 1651. In 1648 he was also admitted as a student (fellow) of Christ Church, Oxford by the parliamentarian visitors.23Reg. of the Visitors of the Univ. of Oxford, ed. M. Burrows (Cam. Soc. n.s. xxix), 170. But he quickly progressed to Gray’s Inn, where he was called to the bar in May 1655. After banns called that November at St Andrew, Holborn, he married his kinswoman Mary Denne, daughter of Thomas Denne†. The latter’s two sons had died within the previous few years, and in August 1656, shortly before his death, he settled his estate on Vincent and Mary rather than between his four daughters, causing complicated legal battles.24Cent. Kent. Stud. U36/T678; PROB11/204/185; PROB11/207/41; PROB11/261/490; C6/132/49; Philipot, Villare Cantium, 207, 364. More straightforwardly, in September this marriage and inheritance secured Denne’s admission as a freeman of Canterbury and his election as MP for the town, alongside Thomas St Nicholas*.25Canterbury Cathedral Archives, CC/AC4, f. 407v; HMC 9th Rep. pt. 1, 165.

Denne’s attitude towards the protectorate is not clear. He is to be distinguished from a namesake in Deal who was accused of having purchased prize goods illegally in 1656, and who later petitioned Charles II claiming to have served the royalist cause in the 1650s by conveying correspondence to the exiled court.26CSP Dom. 1656-7, p. 442; 1660-1, p. 153; CTB i. 8, 369, 477; HP Commons 1660-1690. That Denne the MP was not suspected of disaffection is evident from the fact that Cromwell’s council did not exclude him from Parliament. He made only a slight impression on its proceedings, being named to just three committees, all in October 1656, on sales of estates, naturalization and the abolition of the court of wards.27CJ vii. 433a, 446b, 447a. While these doubtless drew on his legal expertise, one of his kinsmen was probably being ironic in describing Denne in April 1657 as ‘that great Parliament-man’.28Cent. Kent. Stud. U47/3/F3/15. In May Denne was the focus for a minor privilege case when he complained about legal proceedings instigated against him while an MP. The issue prompted his only recorded speeches in the chamber, but does not appear to have been resolved prior to dissolution.29CJ vii. 539b, 541b, 543a; Burton’s Diary, ii. 146, 164.

Denne was not returned to Parliament again before the Restoration. Pursuing his legal practice, his clients appear to have included his longstanding friends Sir Thomas Peyton* and Henry Oxinden of Barham.30Add. 28003, ff. 396, 455; Add. 28004, ff. 95, 326, 347, 349; Add. 28005, ff. 75, 89, 96, 104, 109, 155; Cent. Kent. Stud. U47/3/F3/5. He played an increasingly important role as legal adviser to the civic authorities in Canterbury, and may have succeeded Thomas St Nicholas as recorder as early as 1659.31HMC 9th Rep. pt. 1, 165; Add. 28004, f. 91.

After the Restoration Denne successfully built a legal reputation, despite hostility and questions about his religious and political loyalities arising from his provision of legal services for a renowned local Independent minister and a local Quaker.32CSP Dom. 1663-4, pp. 565-6. Gaining seniority at Gray’s Inn in the 1670s, he also served as town counsel of Sandwich from at least 1676.33Add. 33512, ff. 107, 125-6, 131. Elected to Parliament as MP for Canterbury in 1681, in June 1688 he was made a serjeant-at-law, at the instigation of a former royalist, Sir Anthony Aucher†, and Sir William Honywood†, both prominent members of the Kentish gentry.34Baker, Serjeants at Law, 201, 449. In 1689 he was appointed steward of the court of chancery of the cinque ports.35CSP Dom. 1689-90, p. 355. Denne died in October 1693, and was buried at Kingston. His estate had long since been settled, including portions of £1,000 each to two of his four daughters.36Canterbury Cathedral Archives, PRC32/56, f. 160. No later member of his family sat in Parliament.