Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 14.djvu/365

 family probably settled in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire since the time of Edward III, but not certainly traceable beyond Thomas Denman of Bevercotes, Nottinghamshire, who died in 1740. His son was a doctor at Bakewell, and had two sons, the elder his successor in practice, the younger, Thomas, born in 1733, first a surgeon in the navy, then in practice in the Haymarket, and lastly the first accoucheur in London. He married, 1 Nov. 1770, Elizabeth, daughter of Alexander Brodie, an army accoutrement maker, of good Scotch family, by whom he had two daughters and one son, the youngest child, Thomas, who was born in Queen Street (now Denman Street), Golden Square, 23 Feb. 1779. The parents sent the child at the age of three and a half to Mrs. Barbauld's school at Palgrave, Norfolk. He began Latin at five and became thoroughly grounded in knowledge of the Bible, partly under Mrs. Barbauld, for whom he always preserved a strong affection, partly under his mother, a woman of good parts, wide reading, and some poetical gifts. At the age of seven he went to Dr. Thomson's at Kensington, and to Eton in September 1788, where he remained till the summer of 1795, professing ultra-liberal opinions and acquiring some note as a debater. While a fag he was branded with a hot poker for refusing to make a speech for the amusement of the older boys. A fever when he was sixteen led to his removal to the care of his maternal uncle, the Rev. Peter Brodie, rector of Winterslow, in Wiltshire, whence in October 1796 he went to St. John's College, Cambridge. Here he became a good scholar and contributed English translations to Bland's ‘Collections from the Greek Anthology.’ He was unable to take the mathematical honours, then a preliminary to classical honours, and took the ordinary degree. In opinion he was, like his father and uncle, a strong Foxite; he entertained a passion for the theatre and for literature; admired Wordsworth, and made walking tours in North Wales in 1797, ascending Snowdon, and in Dovedale in 1798. He came to London to read law in February 1800, gifted with a handsome face, a winning, though shy, manner, an exquisite voice of great compass and flexibility, and a tall and active figure. He read real property law in the chambers of Charles Butler in 1800, was a pupil of Dampier, afterwards a judge of the king's bench, in 1801, and of Tidd in 1802; and began in the end of 1803 to practise as a special pleader. He fell in love with a sister of his college friend, Richard William Vevers, Theodosia, daughter of the Rev. Richard Vevers, rector of Saxby, Melton Mowbray, a beautiful and accomplished but dowerless woman, and married her 18 Oct. 1804, on an allowance from his father of 400l. a year. To this income he added by occasional contributions to the then leading whig organ, the ‘Monthly Review.’ On 9 May 1806 he was called to the bar at Lincoln's Inn, and joined the midland circuit and Lincolnshire sessions, where he became intimate with Copley (Lord Lyndhurst), Horner, and Empson, afterwards editor of the ‘Edinburgh Review,’ and soon acquired a fair practice. His first London employment was in May 1807, when he acted for Lord Cochrane in his successful contest for Westminster in conjunction with Sir F. Burdett. On the trial of Lord Cochrane [q. v.] and others in 1814 he appeared for some of the parties; he was engaged in Lindsey v. Colyear (11 East's Rep. 548); at the summer assizes of 1816 he defended at Derby (Oct. 14), against Copley leading for the crown, ‘Captain’ Jerry Brandreth [q. v.], leader of the Luddite riot of 9 June, and on 25 Oct. Turner and Ludlam, his accomplices. All were convicted and hanged. A report of this trial, by Gurney and Butterworth, was published in 1819 (and see too State Trials, vol. xxxii.) During this period Denman's private affairs were embarrassed in spite of his writing for the ‘Critical Review’ various political articles, beginning with a review of Pitt's speeches and including a review of Washington's life in 1808. He was sanguine, careless, and fond of society, and his family was fast increasing. In 1812 his paternal uncle, Dr. Joseph Denman of Buxton, died, leaving him the reversion to the bulk of his estate, including Stony Middleton, Derbyshire (afterwards his country seat), and an estate at Lynn in Norfolk. About 1818 he moved to No. 50 Russell Square, then the most fashionable region for leading lawyers. Through the influence of Lord Holland he was appointed deputy-recorder of Nottingham, and having unsuccessfully contested the borough was brought in with Calcraft, free of expense, by the Duke of Devonshire and the Marquis of Lansdowne for the close borough of Wareham, Dorsetshire, at the general election of 1818. He took his seat 14 Jan. 1819, but though the whigs were short of leaders, Denman made but an inconsiderable figure. He spoke in favour of various projects of reform; 10 Feb. in favour of a bill to abolish wager of battle; 25 Feb. against an allowance of 10,000l. a year to the Duke of York as the king's guardian; 3 June, against the foreign enlistment bill; and against the six acts in the autumn session, 26 and 30 Nov. and 8 and 23 Dec. He also introduced a bill to expedite the business of the king's bench. At the general election in