page_title: Maurice Russell, knight
section_title: Succession
hierarchical_section_title: Maurice Russell, knight / Succession
caption_attribution_description: English: A rubbing of the 1505 Denys funerary brass on the east wall of the south transept of the parish church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Olveston, Gloucestershire, England. The figure on the left is Maurice Denys (circa 2019 date QS:P,+2019-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902 1410–1466), twice High Sheriff of Gloucestershire in 1460 and 1461, who is interred in the church; and the figure on the right is his son Sir Walter Denys (c. 1437–1505). The armorials are as follows: Top left (Dexter (1st) Quarter (to bearer's R, viewer's L)): Denys; top right: (Sinister) Russell. Bottom L (3rd. Q): 1st: Denys; 2nd: Russell; 3rd: Gorges; 4th: a cross moline or fer de moline, is for the family of Eleanor Ferre, da. of Sir John Ferre, of Tothill, Lincs., an heiress of the Gorges. (Raymond Gorges, History of the Family of Gorges, Boston USA, 1944; The arms of Sir Guy Ferre (d.1323), possibly his brother, can be seen above the pedestrian gateway of Butley Priory (of which he held the advowson) where the fer de moline of his canting arms is shown in the form of a cross moline). Bottom R (4th. Q): 1st: Denys; 2nd: Russell; 3rd: Gorges; 4th: prob. Danvers. Armorials repeated on tabard fronts and sleeves. Maurice Denys the father to L in Dexter position of honour. Russell was his heiress-mother, Gorges a former Russell heiress. On the R. is Sir Walter Denys, the son, with the arms of his co-heiress 2nd. wife, Agnes Danvers, in the 4th. Q. Blasoning of armorials Denys arms Denys: 3 leopards' faces jessant-de-lys, over all a bend engrailled. With tinctures it becomes:Gules, 3 leopards' faces or jessant-de-lys azure, over all a bend engrailled of the last.The Denys arms blazoned with these tinctures survive earliest in BL Add. MS 45131, f. 54, a 1509 drawing of Hugh Denys of Osterley (d. 1511) at the deathbed of Henry VII. The armourials are the arms of Cantilupe of Candleston Castle, Glamorgan, probably granted as "arms of patronage" to their feudal officials or tenants the Denys's, differenced by the imposition of a bend engrailled, probably before 1258. Cantilupe arms, reversed for difference, are still borne as the official arms of the See of Hereford, [1] in honour of St. Thomas de Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford, canonised in 1320. The Denys arms are a rare ancient exception to the rule "no colour on colour or metal on metal" propounded by John Gibbon in his 1682 Introductio ad Latinam Blasoniam, in which he lists (pp. 150–151) some exceptions, including Denys: "Now for my reader's diversion and delight I will insert what hath fallen under my observation". The Denys arms are also shown sculpted on the wings of the nearby Tudor mansion Siston Court, built by Sir Maurice Denys (d. 1563), great-grandson of Maurice Denys (d. 1466), yet there they have been altered to a neater composition, with the bend passing between the leopards' faces, and the latter composition was also adopted by the Denys family of Pucklechurch, lords of that manor until 1701. Russell (of Kingston Russell, Dorset &amp; Dyrham, Glos.): Sir Gilbert Denys of Siston had married c. 1404,as his 2nd. wife, Margaret Russell, eldest da. and later co-heiress of Sir Maurice Russell of Dyrham.Argent, on a chief gules 3 bezants. She was the mother of Maurice Denys. (Bezants are Byzantine gold coins, thought to have been very popular with the Crusaders who plundered Constantinople in 1204, not having received the previously agreed funding from the Emperor.) Gorges (of Knighton, Isle of Wight; Wraxall, Somerset; Bradpole, Dorset): Sir Theobald I Russell (d. 1341) of Kingston Russell, Dorset, grandfather of Sir Maurice Russell of Dyrham, had been the ward of Sir Ralph III de Gorges, 1st Baron Gorges (d.1324), and had been married off by his warder to his 2nd. daughter Eleanor de Gorges. Eleanor's 3rd. son Theobald II Russell inherited from his uncle Ralph IV de Gorges (d.1331), 2nd. Baron, the former Gorges estates and changed his name to "Gorges", adopting their arms, apparently as part of the arrangement. The armorials of Gorges are of interest. They were originally canting arms of a Gurges, which is Latin for "whirlpool", then c. 1300 were changed voluntarily to Lozengy, or and azure, in recognition of the de Morvilles, ancestors of the Gorges. Yet there was a celebrated dispute in 1347 (see Warbelton v. Gorges) when these lozengy arms were claimed by John de Warbelton against Theobald II Russell "de Gorges" and a court of honour adjudged the arms to Warbelton. Instead of adopting completely new arms, Theobald merely added a red chevron as a difference, blazoned Lozengy or and azure, a chevron gules. These arms are known as "Gorges Modern". The Denys family should logically have quartered the undifferenced arms of their ancestor Ralph III de Gorges, not those of Theobald II Russell "de Gorges", their cousin, unless as appears to have been the case, it was customary to apply such heraldic judgements retrospectively. Danvers (of Cothorpe, Oxon.): Maurice Denys's 2nd. wife, and Sir Walter's mother, was Agnes Danvers, co-heiress of Sir Robert Danvers (d. 1467), Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. The arms blazoned in the 4th. Q. on Sir Walter's tabard appear as A chevron between 3 roses, yet the arms given by Burkes 1884 for this family are quite different: Argent, on a bend gules 3 martlets (house martens) vert legged or. The arms of Danvers of Warwick however are closer to those depicted here: Gules, a chevron between 3 mullets (stars) of 6 points or. Conclusion: The brass is likely to have been erected well after the date of the interment, so if indeed there are errors on the part of the engraver, or in the instructions given him, it may have been felt acceptable to let the matter rest, rather than incur considerable expense in having it remade. On the other hand, if the arms are all correct, there are major lacunae in the literature and official records of Denys family history. Transcription of Gothic text Below: Her lyeth buryed in ye midde. of the quere (i.e., choir/chancel) Maurice Denys esquyer sonne and here of sir Gylbert Denys knyght lorde of the maner of Alveston &amp; of the maner of Irdecote (i.e., Earthcott Green) &amp; also sir walter Denys knyght sonne and here to the seid morys denys esquyer ye. whiche sir walter denys decessed the first day of the moneth of Septembre in the xxi yere of the reigne of kyng henry the vii (i.e. 1506) whose soules Jhesu pardon amen. All ye that this rede and see of yor. charitie seye for their soules a pater noster and an ave (i.e., Hail Mary). On banner above: Miseremini mei miseremini nostri saltem vos filii et amici nostri quia manus domini tetigit nos. (Be ye all pitiful of me, be ye all pitiful of us, at the least ye our sons and friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched us – Job 19:21, altered) On banner from mouth of Maurice: Unicus et trinus bone jhesu sis nobis Jesus (One and Three O good Jesus, you are to us Jesus). On banner from mouth of Sir Walter: In trinitate perfecta sit nobis requies et eterna vita (In the perfected Trinity may there become to us rest and eternal life).
context_page_description: Sir Maurice Russell of Kingston Russell, Dorset and Dyrham, Glos. was an English nobleman and knight. He was a prominent member of the Gloucestershire gentry. He was the third but eldest surviving son and heir of Sir Ralph Russell and his wife Alice. He was knighted between June and December 1385 and served twice as Knight of the Shire for Gloucestershire in 1402 and 1404. He held the post of Sheriff of Gloucestershire four times, and was Coroner and Justice of the Peace, Tax Collector and Commissioner of Enquiry. His land holdings were extensive in Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. He was descended from an ancient line which can be traced back to 1210, which ended on the death of his son Thomas, from his second marriage, as a young man without male issue. Most of his estates, despite having been entailed, passed at his death into the families of his two daughters from his first marriage.
context_section_description: By 1st wife Isabel Childrey, on marriage to whom, in 1369, Dyrham and other estates were entailed to the progeny of the marriage:
  (1) Margaret Russell (born c. 1383, died 1460) married twice:
  (1) c. 1404 as his 3rd wife, Sir Gilbert Denys (died 1422) of Siston, Gloucestershire. They had 3 sons, at least 1 daughter, including Maurice Denys (1409–1466).
  (2) John Kemys (died 1477). They had at least 1 son, Roger Kemys.
  (2) Isabel Russell (born c. 1386, died 1437) married 4 times:
  (1) William le Scrope, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, beheaded 1399 at Bristol by Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster. He was a staunch adherent to Richard II, and a zealous treasurer of the Exchequer. They had no issue.
  (2) Sir Thomas de la River (died 1406) of Tormarton & Acton Turville, Gloucestershire. They had one son, Maurice de la River, who inherited the Gorges manor of Bradpole, Dorset, which he sold in 1457 to the Earl of Ormonde.
  (3) Sir John Drayton (died 1417) of Nuneham Courtenay. They had two daughters, Joan Drayton, who married Drew Barantyne, her marriage having been purchased by Thomas Chaucer, 5 times Speaker of the House of Commons & son of the great poet Geoffrey Chaucer after Isabel and her fourth husband had sold the reversion of Drayton's manor of Nuneham Courtenay to him; and Elizabeth Drayton, who married 1stly Christopher Preston of Slapton, Northamptonshire, and 2ndly by 1437 John Wenlock, 1st Baron Wenlock, future Speaker of the House of Commons.
  (4) Stephen Hatfield (died 1461), Esquire.
  Isabel and Drayton sold their share in the Russell lands to Margaret and her husband Sir Gilbert Denys, whose family retained Kingston Russell until 1543, Dyrham until 1571 and Aust until after 1600.
  By 2nd wife Joan Dauntsey (c. 1395-1457):
  Thomas Russell (born c. 1412, died 1431), ward of Thomas of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Clarence, married, wife's name unknown, at unknown date, had 1 daughter, Margery (died 1431/2). Before his death in 1416 Sir Maurice Russell had placed the bulk of his lands into the hands of feoffees to act as trustees for his son Thomas during his minority. These feoffees included Sir William Hankeford, Chief Justice; Robert Hill, Justice of the Common Pleas; Sir William Cheyne (died 1420) of Brooke, Wilts, son of Sir Ralph (died 1400) a cousin of Ralph Russell, Maurice's father; Robert Poyntz of Iron Acton & Robert Stanshawe, Glos. Gentry. On Thomas's death in 1431, much of the Russell lands descended to his half-sisters Margaret and Isabel and their families, mainly passing into the Denys family, which long continued to quarter the Russell arms, for example on the 1506 Denys brass at Olveston Church, Glos. and on the facade of Siston Court, Glos., c. 1550. Some of Thomas's lands, especially those in the Isle of Wight, were inherited by John Haket (died 1498), his first cousin, son of Alice Russell, his aunt. The Haket family seem to have been connected with Wolverton Manor within Brading parish, Isle of Wight. On the death of John Haket, his heir was his daughter Joan's husband, John Gilbert.
caption: Rubbing from Denys monumental brass, 1505, Olveston Church. Kneeling at left, Maurice Denys (died 1466), son and heir of Sir Gilbert, by Margaret Russell. Sir Walter Denys (died 1506), son of Maurice, to R. The Denys paternal armorials are blazoned at top left, at top right are the arms of Russell.
exif: {}