♂John Denton

John Denton was an Englishman who stands at the head of the pedigree of the Dentons of Apleton and Eaton in Berkshire, the earliest of the family that the heralds named. Through his son Thomas he was an ancestor of Thomas Dudley^W, later governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony^W. He was the nineteenth great-grandfather of Nancy Jane Blanchard (1929–2006) by two separate lines of descent, both through his son Thomas Denton.

Family

According to the family’s pedigree, John’s son Thomas Denton married a daughter of Sir John Wike of Wike, whose given name is not recorded. Their son, John Denton of Fifield in Berkshire, was the father of Thomas Denton of Fifield, whom the pedigree dates to the eleventh year of the reign of Richard II, 1387–1388. The pedigree does not name John’s wife or give the dates of his birth or death; he most likely lived around 1300.

Lines of descent

Both lines run through his son Thomas Denton, Thomas’s son John Denton, John’s son Thomas Denton, Thomas’s son Thomas Denton, the younger Thomas’s son John Denton, John’s daughter Alice Denton, her son Edward Purefoy, Edward’s daughter Mary Purefoy, Mary’s daughter Susanna Thorne, Susanna’s son Thomas Dudley (1576–1653) and Thomas Dudley’s son Samuel Dudley (1608–1683). One comes down through Samuel’s son Stephen Dudley (1654–1735) to Nathaniel Dudley (1763–1844), and the other to Nathaniel’s wife, Anna Smith (1764–1825); the two lines meet again in their daughter Sarah Dudley (1795–1839).

Notes

The Denton pedigree

The Denton pedigree in the Oxfordshire heraldic visitation^W (The Visitations of the County of Oxford, 1566, 1574 and 1634, Harleian Society vol. 5, 1871, pp. 228–229) is the only source for John. It is headed “Denton of Apleton & Eaton in com. Barks.” and opens with “John Denton.”, followed by his son Thomas Denton, whose wife was a “daur. to Sr John Wike of Wike”, then by “John Denton of ffifield in Com. Berk.” and by Thomas Denton of Fifield, the husband of “Agnes daur. to Wm. Baldington of Shipton in Com. Oxon.”, dated “A°. 11. R. 2.” A visitation pedigree was compiled from the family’s own account, long after the events.

His dates

The pedigree gives no date for John. His great-grandson Thomas Denton of Fifield is dated to 1387–1388, three generations below him, which most likely places John around 1300.