SIR ANTHONY DENNY – GROOM OF THE STOOL
Sir Anthony Denny was Groom of the Stool to King Henry VIII of England – and his closest courtier and confidant.
Denny was the most prominent member of the Privy chamber in King Henry’s last years.
Together with his brother-in-law John Gates, Denny was in charge of the important “dry stamp”.
The dry stamp was of the King’s signature, and used to authenticate documents.
Anthony Denny was born on 16th January 1501, the second son of Sir Edmund Denny and Mary Troutbeck.
In 1525, Denny married Joan Campernowne, a close friend of King Henry VIII’s wife, Queen Catherine Parr.
Joan may also have been the sister of Katherine Campernowne, governess of the future Queen Elizabeth I.
With Joan, Denny had 12 children!
As a groom of the chamber Denny attended the reception of Anne of Cleves at court.
Shortly afterwards the King confided to him his disappointment in the new Queen.
Denny was also a wealthy man.
Due to his position close to the king, he was able to acquire several manors and former religious sites, from the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
By 1548, he was keeper of the Palace of Westminster.
As keeper of Westminster palace and of the royal household, he acted as receiver and paymaster of the King’s personal spending money – much of which was kept in the jewel house in the palace.
With his close personal relationship with the ageing King, Denny’s position gave him the power to control who saw King Henry VIII in his last years.
Denny was with Henry, on his deathbed, and was the man who told King Henry of his coming death.
He advised the King “to prepare for his final agony”.
Along with Edward Seymour, John Dudley, and Sir William Paget, Denny helped to finalise King Henry VIII’s will.
Denny was described by the imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, as the ‘most trusted of any of the gentlemen of the chamber’.
Denny rode with the Queen’s brother-in-law in the carriage with Henry VIII’s body at his funeral.
The two men were also the pall-bearers at Edward VI’s coronation.
Sir Anthony Denny died on 10th September 1549, aged 48.
Denny is buried with no surviving stone memorial, at St. Mary parish church at Cheshunt, the family seat in Hertfordshire.
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