Sir Anthony Benn (–1618) was a barrister, appointed recorder for the town of

Kingston upon Thames Kingston upon Thames (hyphenated until 1965, colloquially known as Kingston) is a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, southwest London, England. It is situated on the River Thames and southwest of Charing Cross. It is notable a ...

in 1610,

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

ed in 1615 and appointed Recorder of London in 1616 shortly before his death in 1618.

Early life and education

Benn was the first son of Robert Benn, a linen draper of St Nicholas Cole Abbey, London. He had a sister, Anne, who married Edward Goodwyn of Dorking. He matriculated at Broadgates Hall,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

, in January 1584, enrolled at the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

in 1583, and took Batchelor of Arts at Oxford in 1587.

Career

Benn was called to the bar in 1594, practising in

Chancery Chancery may refer to: Offices and administration * Chancery (diplomacy), the principal office that houses a diplomatic mission or an embassy * Chancery (medieval office), responsible for the production of official documents * Chancery (Scotlan ...

. Benn was appointed Recorder of Kingston in 1610, raised to the bench and elected Middle Temple autumn reader in 1612, lecturing on the Forcible Entry Act 1429. Benn was knighted in London on 15 September 1615 at Hyde Park on James I's return to London from Scotland. He was appointed Recorder of London the following year. In January 1618 Benn was expelled from commons at the Middle Temple for offending

Lord Chief Justice Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ...

Sir Henry Montagu.

Essays

Some

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

s of Benn's works survive including a collection of about seventy essays held at Bedfordshire County Record Office. Benn's style is noted to be more deferential towards the supremacy of the King, harking back to an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personif ...

tradition and contrasting with attitudes of some of his Jacobean contemporaries. The subjects covered in the essays are wide-ranging and reflect Benn's personal views. One is entitled ''Of preparations towards Mariadg'' and contains advice to his then new-born daughter, Amabella. citing:

Family

Benn married Jane Evelyn in about 1601. Several sources state she was the daughter of John Evelyn of Godstone and Kingston and his wife, Elizabeth Stevens and that a George Evelyn, a

Six Clerk The Six Clerks' Office was a public legal office that served the equitable jurisdiction of the English Court of Chancery in London, England, until the mid-19th century. The Office The Office was in Chancery Lane, near the Holborn end. The busine ...

in Chancery, was an uncle. However, a family tree chart of diarist,

John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's diary, or ...

, from ''Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn...'' suggests that for George to have been an uncle, Jane would have been a granddaughter of John and Elizabeth. In 1605 Benn purchased ''Norbiton Hall'', in

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stadi ...

to the east of Kingston, from the estate of George Evelyn who had died in 1603. His residence at Norbiton is now commemorated by a green plaque. The couple had at least two children; Charles (b.1608) and Amabella (1616–1698).Benn's daughter is referred to by differing sources as a Amabel, Ammabel, Amabell, Amabela, Amabella, Ammabella and Annabela.

Death

Anthony Benn died in 1618. At his death he possessed a

messuage In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contract ...

with

appurtenance An appurtenance is something subordinate to or belonging to another larger, principal entity, that is, an adjunct, satellite or accessory that generally accompanies something else. Little more is known of Benn's son Charles. As Amabella is referred to by several sources as Anthony Benn's heiress, the inference is that he died young. Sir Anthony Benn arms 1

Benn's widow commissioned Benn's memorial effigy and altar tomb, located in the south wall of the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

of All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames. It contains Benn's recumbent effigy in his lawyer's robe and ruff collar and cuffs; his hands in prayer, once broken off but since restored. The arch of the recess is a coffered round one of

alabaster Alabaster is a mineral or rock that is soft, often used for carving, and is processed for plaster powder. Archaeologists and the stone processing industry use the word differently from geologists. The former use it in a wider sense that includes ...

; the base is low and has shields, both of which were faded but since restored; one is charged quarterly 1 and 4 a griffon on a chief or three

molet In heraldry, the term star may refer to any star-shaped charge with any number of rays, which may appear straight or wavy, and may or may not be pierced. While there has been much confusion between the two due to their similar shape, a star with ...

s sable; 2 and 3 or two bars sable between nine

martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

, three, three and three.

Survivors

Benn's widow, Jane, in later life, remarried to Sir

Eustace Hart Eustace John Hewitt Hart (14 November 1907 – 4 February 1972) played first-class cricket for Somerset in three matches in the 1930 season. He was born at Pune, India, and died at Swainswick, Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersi ...

, a widower twenty years her senior, on 23 January 1656. She died in 1673. Benn's daughter, Amabella, or Amabel was baptised in Kingston 3 September 1607. She may have married a Mr Dowse (or Douce) at a young age, though this is unclear. citing: Her more notable marriage was to Anthony Fane, son of

Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland Francis Fane, 1st Earl of Westmorland (1 February 158023 March 1629), (styled Sir Francis Fane between 1603 and 1624) of Mereworth in Kent and of Apethorpe in Northamptonshire was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of ...

who fought with the parliamentarians and died from injury sustained during the taking of

Farnham Castle Farnham Castle is a 12th-century castle in Farnham, Surrey, England. It was formerly the residence of the Bishops of Winchester. History Built in 1138 by Henri de Blois, Bishop of Winchester, grandson of William the Conqueror, Farnham cast ...

in 1643. She remarried Henry Grey, 10th Earl of Kent on 1 August 1644. They had two children:

Anthony Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a ''gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anton, ...

, who inherited the earldom, and Elizabeth, who married

Banastre Maynard, 3rd Baron Maynard Banastre Maynard, 3rd Baron Maynard (c. 1642 – 3 March 1718) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1663 to 1679. He succeeded to the peerage as Baron Maynard in 1699. Life Maynard was the second eldest son of W ...

. Henry died in 1651 but Amabella survived long after, living to the age of 92. Both Lady Jane and Amabella are entombed in the

de Grey Mausoleum The de Grey Mausoleum in Flitton, Bedfordshire, England, is one of the largest sepulchral chapels in the country. The Mausoleum contains over twenty monuments to the de Grey family who lived in nearby Wrest Park. The cruciform Mausoleum h ...

, Flitton.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benn, Anthony 1568 births Alumni of Broadgates Hall, Oxford 16th-century English lawyers 17th-century English lawyers People from Kingston upon Thames Recorders of London Burials at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames English barristers