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Alexander’s son was born at Hillesden and matriculated from All Souls, Oxford in 1589 aged fifteen.
In 1694 he married Susan Temple, daughter of John Temple of Stowe and and sister of Sir Thomas Temple.
They lived at Stowe, where they had six sons, Alexander, John, Paul, Thomas, George and William, and eight daughters, Margaret (married Sir Edward Verney of Middle Claydon), Isabel, Bridget (married Sir Edward Fust, 1st Bart of Hill Court), Susan (married Colonel Jacomia, or Jeremiah, Abercroby), Elizabeth (who married Thomas Isham son of Sir Euseby of Pitchley), Anne, Dorothy and Alice.
Sir Thomas became the High Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and was knighted by the King at Salden (Bucks), in July 1603.
The Temple family controlled the principal manor and fair in Buckinghamshire and this enabled Thomas to become the MP for Buckingham in 1604-11, 1614 and 1621-2, then MP for Buckinghamshire from 1624-26 and again for Buckingham from 1628-1629. In 1614 he brought in a bill into the House of Commons to fix the Summer Assizes at the Town of Buckingham. For illumination, 1629 was when Charles I decided to dispense with parliament and rule his kingdoms himself for eleven years.
Thomas’s parliamentary activities were varied. In 1604 he was appointed to consider the needs of English captains who served in Ireland. Later he was part of a committee looking at statutes to limit the use of guns and to preserve pheasants. On another occasion he assisted in passing a bill that would forbid married men to live with their wives and children in colleges. Later still he attended a conference tasked with looking at a proposed union between England and Scotland.
He got into trouble when he supported Charles I’s extra-parliamentary taxation, and worked to get the Benevolence and a Forced Loan through parliament to raise £250,000 for him. He was deselected as MP for the county in 1628 and forced to go back to his old seat of Buckingham.
By 1613 Thomas had expanded his landed estate, buying for example the Sutton-cum-Buckingham prebend and parsonage in 1613 for £4,500. He settled £2,500 on his daughter Margaret to enable her marriage to Sir Edward Verney but ran into financial problems and was forced to sell three manors to his brother-in-law Sir Peter Temple.
Thomas died at Hillesden in 1633. His will arranged the sale of lands in Buckinghamshire, Herefordshire and Oxfordshire. Together with the sale of his household plate and goods he cleaned up his financial affairs and left small annuities for his children. He was buried at Hillesden in the chancel.
| ASIDE: Margaret Denton married Sir Edward Verney of Middle Claydon: Edward was born in January 1590, son of Sir Edmund Verney and Mary Blakeney. He married Margaret Denton (14 Dec 1612 – 1641), the daughter of Sir Thomas Denton and together they had ten children. Edmund was knighted by King James in 1611-12, becoming a gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Charles, Duke of Buckingham (Charles I). In 1623 he went with Charles to Spain to court the Infanta Maria. However, Edmund created a number of Spanish enemies by punching a catholic priest whilst trying to keep him away from a dying Englishman. In 1624 he was elected MP for Buckinghamshire. From 1625-9 he was made Knight Marshal for life. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Edmund and Edward supported the King, but Edward’s eldest son Ralph pledged for Parliament, along with his namesake uncle. Edmund was the standard-bearer of the Royal Army, and was killed at the Battle of Edgehill on the 23 Oct 1642. His body was never recovered, only his gauntlet covered hand which had been hacked off still grasping the standard. This grim relic together with his helmet is part of the memorial (below). Edward commanded the troops of the Royalist infantry at the Siege of Drogheda and was slain during the final assault.  Memorial to Margaret Verney (Denton) All Saints, Middle Claydon, Buckinghamshire This monument at All Saints, Middle Claydon takes up the entire south wall of the chancel. It was created by Ralph Verney (the Parliamentarian) in memory of his Father, Mother and Wife. His wife recently dead, Ralph was in exile facing complete ruin (debts of £6000 and estate sequestered), he wrote regularly to Alexander Denton, his wife’s uncle, to get some designs drawn up. Ralph returned to England in 1653 and immediatly signed a contract with distinguished sculptor Edward Marshall (later Master Mason to the Crown), to make a monument for £130.  The full monument |
| Note on shorthand acronyms being used in the DFB: – GGF1 / GGM1 – means first great-grandfather /mother; – GU11 / GA11 – means eleventh great-uncle / great-aunt; – 1C3 – means first cousin three times removed |
Forward to 3C11 – Rev Richard Denton (1603-1663) – Forward to American Denton’s Index
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