Anne (Denny) Muschamp (1606)

Although several sources suggest that the maiden name of Anne was Denny given that her son was named Denny Muschamp and her husband lived near lands held by the prominent Denny family, no original documents have been found to support this supposition. The Denny family is fairly well documented and there is no unattached daughter that could be the wife of Agmondesham Muschamp. Therefore, she is either a very distant relative of the family, possibly illegitimate, perhaps one of the Dennys was the godfather of her son and she honored him by naming the child Denny (this was not an uncommon practice, for example, Frances Lady Denny was the godmother of Denny Vesey in 1678), or she has no connection with the Denny family and just named her son Denny as a form of Dennis. The Muschamps and the Veseys were not shy about revealing their ties to other prominent relatives and friends and yet there are no significant mentions of either family having close ties with the Dennys.

All we know with certainty about her is her given name. According to the 1659 census “Anne Muscham Esqs wid.” was residing at Buttevant. Seamus Pender, ed., A Census of Ireland, circa 1659, with Supplementary Material from the Poll Money Ordinances (1660-1661) (Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission 1939), 242. And we know that she was living in Cork by 1664. Robert C. Simington, The Civil Survey AD 1654-1656 County of Waterford with Appendices: Muskerry Barony, Co. Cork: Kilkenny City and Liberties (Part) also Valuations, Circa 1663-1664, for Waterford and Cork Cities, (Dublin: Stationery Office for the Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1942), 6:411.

I suggest you remove the Arthur Denny Knight and Elizabeth (Forest) Denny as her parents due to the total lack of evidence for this connection.

Anne seems to have picked up an extra spouse named Agmondesham Muschamp. Do you know which one is correct?