| Authorised form of name | Denham; Sir; John (1615 - 1669); poet and courtier |
| Dates | 1615 - 1669 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland, Europe |
| Date of birth | 1615 |
| Place of death | His house in Scotland Yard, Westminster, London, England, Europe |
| Date of death | 19 March 1669 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Westminster Abbey, London, England, Europe (23 March 1669) |
| Occupation | Author; politician; architect; colonial official |
| Activity | Education:
Trinity College, Oxford (matriculated 1631, did not graduate); Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1631)
Career:
Called to the Bar (1639); author of political poetry and plays which reflected his Royalist stance and considered by some to be one of the founding father's of English poetry; High Sheriff of Surrey; fought for Charles I; Governor of Farnham Castle (1642); captured and sent to London but allowed to live in Oxford; acted as agent for royal correspondence in London; (1647); with the Royal Family in exile in Paris and Holland (1648-1651); Envoy from Charles II to the King of Poland; his estates were sold (1651); worked actively for the restoration of the monarchy; Surveyor-General of Works (1660-death); Commissioner for Plantations (1660-death); MP for Old Sarum, attended parliament sessions regularly and served on 52 minor committees (1661-1669); built Burlington House as a private mansion (1664) sold it to Richard Boyle, first Earl of Burlington (1668); secured Christopher Wren FRS for his successor as Surveyor General
Honours:
KB 1661 |
| Membership category | Original Fellow |
| Date of election | 20/05/1663 |
| Date of ejection or withdrawal | 29 October 1666 |
| RSActivity | Committee and panels:
Mechanical Committee (1664) |
| Relationships | Parents: Sir John Denham and Eleanor More
Married: 1) Ann Cotton; 2) Margaret Brooke
Additional relatives: nephew George Morley (FRS 1666) |
| PublishedWorks | https://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n50036205/ |
| OtherInfo | Denham was a shareholder in the The Royal Adventurers into Africa, later Royal African Company (RAC). The RAC was a British trading company established by Royal Charter in 1660 which enslaved and sold African people. The company was chartered by Charles II, the founding royal Patron of the Royal Society, which was also chartered in 1660. The RAC was made up of and funded by members of the Stuart royal family and London merchants many of whom were, or went on to become, Fellows of the Royal Society. The Royal Society itself held shares in the company from 1682 until 1699. The RAC held a monopoly on English trade on the west coast of Africa. The principal interest of the company was originally gold and secondarily other natural resources. The Company's second charter in 1663 mentions trade in enslaved people, who were mainly sold into slavery on British owned estates in the West Indies and America. The Jesus College Cambridge Legacy of Slavery Working Party has stated that the RAC was responsible for selling more Africans into slavery in America than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade, and that they ran a brutal regime with the full knowledge of their investors. The company became insolvent in 1708, it survived until 1752 when its assets were transferred to the new African Company of Merchants, which lasted until 1821.
Denham was also a member of the Company of the Royal Fishery of England, a trading company incorporated in 1676, which sanctioned involuntary labour, though not lifelong slavery, on Company ships.
Around the time of second wife's death in 1667, Denham was widely rumoured to be the culprit, due to his wife being the mistress to the Duke of York. He was never indicted and an autopsy performed on Lady Denham showed no signs of poison. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
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| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB; Foster; Aubrey; Henning; ODNB
Notes:
The election date is Denham's re-election date into the Society after the grant of the second charter in April 1663. All Fellows admitted in a two-month window after this charter, until 22 June 1663, are considered Original Fellows. He was previously proposed on 26 December 1660. |
| Virtual International Authority File | http://viaf.org/viaf/9928566 |
| Code | NA5842 |