Thomas Denys

Sir Thomas Denys ( – 18 February 1561) of Holcombe Burnell, near Exeter, Devon, was a prominent lawyer who served as Sheriff of Devon nine times between 1507/8 to 1553/4 and as MP for Devon. He acquired large estates in Devon at the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Origins He was the son and heir of Sir Thomas Denys (died 1498) of Holcombe Burnell by his wife Janera Loveday, daughter of Philip Loveday of Sneston in Suffolk. Career He served twice as Recorder of Exeter, 1514–1544 and September 1551 to his death. Sir Thomas is notorious as having supervised in Exeter, in his capacity as Sheriff of Devon or as Recorder of Exeter, the burning at the stake of the Protestant martyr Thomas Benet in January 1531/32. The burning took place outside the eastern side of the city walls, near the Livery Dole where, in 1592, his son, Sir Robert Dennis, commenced the building of an almshouse, possibly an act of atonement for his father's action.