Person Page

     Charlotte Denne was Artist. She Charlotte, born in Newcastle in Q3 1902; an eccentric lady of short stature (4ft 4ins) who wore very bright home-made clothes; did not marry; was in Malta at the outbreak of WWII and, with her brother,sailed a family yacht (acquired by their father) back to England; she corresponded with Madeline Denne (great-granddaughter of Anthony Smith Denne- ) in Australia, who with her daughter Anna later visited Charlotte in England (Charlotte is also believed to have visited Australia at some point); she was an accomplished artist (illustrations for books, and paintings and drawings - hernephew and Australian cousins retain some examples), from which she made a living (supplemented by some independent means); she lived respectively at Kingston, Chichester, Guildford and Seaford, and was living at 2 Priory House, Mountfield Road, Lewes in the late1960’s/early 1970’s; in the mid-1970’s she moved to 10 Highdown Road,Lewes, with her nephew and his wife ; in poor health due to asthma, she later moved later to a wardened flat near Lewes and died there in 1982/3 (no deathcertificate located), being buried at Kingston. She was born in 1902 at Newcastle, Northumberland, England. She lived between 1960 and 1970 at 2 Priory House, Mountfield Road, Lewes, Sussex, England. She lived in 1970 at 10 Highdown Road, Lewes, Sussex, England. She was buried between 1982 and 1983 at Kingston, Sussex, England. She died between 1982 and 1983 at Lewes, Sussex, England.

     Her married name was Findlay. Charlotte Ann Denne was born in 1860 at Brixton, London, England.

     Charlotte Louisa Denne Charlotte Louisa, born 10 December 1823 and baptised on 12 January 1831; did not marry; died 24 April 1844. She was born on 10 December 1823 at Sorell, Tasmania, Australia. She was baptized on 12 January 1831. She was buried in 1844 at St. Clement's Anglican Church Cemetery, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia. She died on 24 April 1844 at age 20.

     D'arcy Collicott Denne lived at 'Sunnyside', Trumpeter Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. He was born on 10 February 1855 at Tasmania, Australia. He married Gertrude Mary Elizabeth Denne, daughter of Henry Haberezer Denne, in 1881 at Tasmania, Australia. D'arcy Collicott Denne died on 7 March 1947 at Tasmania, Australia, at age 92.

     Doris Clare Denne was born in 1890.

     Her married name was Johnston. Edith Beatrice Denne was born on 2 October 1876 at Tasmania, Australia. She married Archibald Dalgleish Johnston, son of George Johnston and Jessie Babington, on 26 February 1906 at North Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. Edith Beatrice Denne died on 14 August 1932 at age 55. She was buried on 16 August 1932 at Dunalley, Tasmania, Australia.

     Her married name was Cranston. Edna Denne was born on 10 September 1891 at Tasmania, Australia.

     Edward Denne was born on 6 April 1748 at Chilham, Kent, England. He was baptized on 6 April 1748 at Chilham Parish Church, Chilham, Kent, England. He was Yeoman of Bishopsbourne in 1775 at Bishopsbourne, Kent, England.¹ He married Jane Plummer on 15 July 1775 at St. Peter and St. Paul Church, Upper Hardres, Canterbury, Kent, England; Married by license

The licence noted Edward as a yeoman of Bishopsbourne (a batchelor, age shown incorrectly as 24), and Jane as a 25-year-old spinster of Upper Hardres. Edward Denne died circa 9 September 1806 at Chilham, Kent, England.

     Edward Denne was born in 1777. He was baptized on 16 July 1777 at Chilham, Kent, England. He married Elizabeth Lee on 7 December 1802 at Godmersham Church, Canterbury, Kent, England. Edward Denne was Clockmaker and watch maker in 1841.¹ He died on 28 May 1849 at Chilham, Kent, England.¹

     Edward Denne After leaving school at 14 in 1884, from mid-1885 Edward started working in the grocer’s shop in Croydon owned by William Amos;
Whilst Edward may have been alive in 1888 (based on an inference in a letter from his father to his cousin Louisa Jane Davis [nee Denne] in Australia), he is not mentioned in his father’s 1890 will (perhaps they had become estranged), he was not living with the Amos family at the time of the 1891 census, doesn’t appear in the 1901 census, and there is no obvious marriage; he may either have died or, possibly, emigrated. With the four Amos sons, clearly he would not have seen any long-term prospects in the shop. There is a possibility that he died in Croydon in Q4 1886, at age 16 (to be confirmed). He was born on 9 July 1870 at Maidstone, Kent, England. He appeared in the 1871 census living at 91 Wheeler Street, Maidstone, Kent, England.

     Edward Collicot Denne was Whaler at Tasmania, Australia. He Edward Collicott, born 6 July 1829 and baptised on 15 January 1840; did not marry; a keen cricketer; a whaler, who later worked at the Dennes Point Post Office.

The Chancery Suit

John Thomas Denne and Edward Collicott Denne, sons of Anthony Smith Denne, were claimants on the estate of Sir Michael Benignus Clare (born on 27 March 1767; married Margaret Graham on 17 March 1807) who had no children and had died intestate in 1832. Clare was a great-grandson of Elizabeth Etherick, the fourth wife of JohnS kinner of Lydd, Kent (born 1651; died 1721). ASD’s mother, Jane Plummer (bapt 1749), was a also a grand-daughter of Elizabeth Etherick.

The High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, in London found in 1883 that Anthony, following the death of Clare’s neice Eliza in1872, answered the description of sole next of kin for Clare. ASD had died in 1873, and his sons JTD and ECD were therefore permitted to pursue the case.

The Court found in favour of JTD and ECD who, as heirs of ASD,were paid (subject to confirmation) an amount of £1570.15.0. from Clare’s estate.

One may wonder how JTD and ECD were able to show that they were Clare’s next of kin. It is believed (based on a letter from John Rayner Denne to Louisa Davis in 1887) that Lucy Denne, sister of Henry Hadarezer, had felt entitled to the Clare estate, and was disappointed at the outcome of the chancery suit, but it is not clear what her grounds were (nor how she could have pressed a claim as she died in1 878). Perhaps ASD’s claim was stronger than Lucy’s as he was from the previous generation - and, once his position as next of kin had been established in 1872, his sons succeeded to that right of claim even though ASD died the following year.

Edward lived at Woodlands, Dennes Pt. in his old age but when he became sick he moved to Lyndenne at Barnes Bay where Arthur and his wife Ellison looked after him. He was born on 6 July 1829 at Sorell, Tasmania, Australia. He was baptized on 15 January 1840. He died on 27 January 1915 at Barnes Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia, at age 75 died at the home of his nephew Arthur. He was buried circa 30 January 1915 at St. Clement's Anglican Church Cemetery, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia.

     Elizabeth Denne Elizabeth had presumably left home to find work at about age 14. She was born on 15 July 1864 at Chilham, Kent, England. She appeared in the 1871 census at 91 Wheeler Street, Maidstone, Kent, England.¹ She appeared in the 1881 census living at 1 Cambridge Villas, 27 Sheldon Street, Croydon, Surrey, England. At the time of the 1881 census, aged 16, she seems to have been living with her step-brother William Amos and his family (wife Kate, sons John H and Ernest W aged 1 year and 2 months respectively, and nurse Alice Wells, 17) (she may have been just visiting, as a Mary Wood, noted as a visitor born in Chilham, was also recorded at the Croydon address on that date). (registered in East Ashford.)¹ She died in 1883 at England.

     Elizabeth Denne John’s sister Elizabeth, baptised on 13 July 1814, is believed to have died in infancy. in 1814. She was born in 1814. She was baptized on 13 July 1814.

     Elizabeth Mary Denne was born on 6 April 1872 at 25 Malpas Road, Deptford, Kent, England, (registered in Greenwich.) She appeared in the 1891 census. In the 1891 census she was shown as Eliza M, age 19 and unmarried (but born in Ashford, Kent), living with her father and with no occupation;no obvious 1901 census entry; she married a Mr Batten, and they had ason, Mark, a sculptor, who was executor of Charlotte’s will.

     Her married name was Yeoland. Fanny Sheldon Denne was born on 2 November 1850 at Van Diemen's Land, Australia. She married William Heady Yeoland on 21 June 1876 at Long Bay, Tasmania, Australia. Fanny Sheldon Denne died on 15 June 1928 at New Norfolk, Tasmania, Australia, at age 77.

     Her married name was Denne. Gertrude Mary Elizabeth Denne was born in 1859 at Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia. She married D'arcy Collicott Denne, son of John Thomas Denne and Mary Anne Bethune Hopwood, in 1881 at Tasmania, Australia. Gertrude Mary Elizabeth Denne died on 1 September 1932 at Tasmania, Australia.

     Her married name was Gibson. Gwendoline St Clair Denne was born on 26 February 1889 at Tasmania, Australia. She married Norman Arthur Gibson on 27 October 1910 at St. George's Anglican Church, 30 Cromwell Street, Tasmania, Australia. Gwendoline St Clair Denne died on 5 July 1959 at Tasmania, Australia, at age 70.