John Denzel (died 1535) held large estates in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

and became serjeant-at-law and

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

to the

Queen Consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

Elizabeth of York Elizabeth of York (11 February 1466 – 11 February 1503) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from her marriage to King Henry VII of England, Henry VII on 18 January 1486 until her death in 1503. She was the daughter of King E ...

. He had at least two daughters who became his co-heiresses, of whom Ann married Sir William Holles (1509–91) who became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the Mayors in England, mayor of the City of London, England, and the Leader of the council, leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded Order of precedence, precedence over a ...

. Another daughter married into the Roskymer family.

Denzell manor

His home was the barton and manor of Denzell, in the parish of

St Mawgan St Mawgan or St Mawgan in Pydar () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of this parish at the 2011 census was 1,307. The village is situated four miles northeast of New ...

in Cornwall, which belonged to an ancient family of that name.

Cadet branch

cadet branch A cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets (realm, titles, fiefs, property and incom ...

of the family had earlier acquired by marriage lands in North Devon, which were subsequently held from 1454 to the present by the

Fortescue family Fortescue may refer to: People * Fortescue (surname), a list of people with the name * Fortescue Ash (1882–1956), Anglican bishop in Australia * Fortescue Graham (1794–1880), British Royal Marines general Places * Fortescue, Missouri, Un ...

. In 1454 Sir Martin Fortescue (d.1472), second son of Sir John Fortescue (1395–1485), Chief Justice, of Ebrington Manor in Gloucestershire, married Elizabeth Densyll, the daughter and heiress of Richard Densyll of

Filleigh Filleigh is a small village, civil parish and former manor in North Devon, on the southern edge of Exmoor, west of South Molton. The village centre's street was, until the 1980s opening of the North Devon Link Road, the main highway between ...

, and thereby the manor became a possession of the Fortescue family, together with substantial other Densyll manors including

Weare Giffard Weare Giffard is a small village, civil parish and former Manorialism, manor in the Torridge District, Torridge district, in north Devon, England. The church and manor house are situated 2 1/2 miles NW of Great Torrington in Devon. Most of th ...

Buckland Filleigh Buckland Filleigh is a village, civil parish and former manor in the Torridge district of North Devon, England, situated about 8 miles south of the town of Great Torrington. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 170. It i ...

, Combe and Tamerton. The Fortescue family quartered the arms of Denzell in the second quarter of greatest honour, and the Denzell arms may be seen sculpted on a bench end from c. 1510 in

Church.

Armorials

The Arms of Denzell are blazoned as: ''

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 ...

, a mullet in chief and a crescent in base

argent In heraldry, argent () is the tincture of silver, and belongs to the class of light tinctures called "metals". It is very frequently depicted as white and usually considered interchangeable with it. In engravings and line drawings, regions to b ...

''.General history - Extinct gentry families , British History Online
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References

*From: 'Parishes: Maker - Merther', ''Magna Britannia: volume 3: Cornwall'' (1814), pp. 212–27. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50646. Date accessed: 10 August 2007. 1535 deaths People from St Mawgan Serjeants-at-law (England) Year of birth unknown 16th-century English lawyers {{England-law-bio-stub