In London, Francis Jermy, previously of Gunton and then Haynford in Norfolk, but generally described latterly as being 'of St Margaret's, Westminster', must have become sufficiently well off by about 1720 to ensure his children would (through the later guidance of their mother and/or the lawyer Roger Furner) receive adequate educations and apprenticeships - although not at University or Inns of Court level. His eldest son Francis Jermy Jnr (b ca 1705) completed an apprenticeship in Bookbinding (between about 1718 and 1724) which he must have soon abandoned for he somehow took up a career in banking and commerce, apparently during the 1730s, and operated as a 'Factor' or general Merchant and Banker in the English settlement in Legorno, Italy - where he did very well. (One is curious to know how he made this unlikely transition as a 25 year old journeyman Bookbinder in London, around 1730 or so, to become a Banker, etc in Italy, which would require considerable financial backing from the start. Apparently, he began in partnership with a Holder relative of his mother. He was to live there until 1781, aged 76, and left a considerable amount, including a large Villa at Monte Nero. He never married.
In his Will (written 4 June 1781), it is noteworthy that he described himself as 'Francis Jermy, Esq - the eldest son and heir of Francis Jermy, Esq of Haynford , Norfolk, deceased...". That is, he was then quite aware of his father's origins and thus one wonders what he knew of his father's former life and of his own descent and legitimacy? Did he, for example, realise that his father was not, in fact, an Esq of Haynford but, in effect, a Gent of that parish and latterly a tenant in London only, before his death there - when young Francis was aged only 19 or so? The latter Francis Jermy would leave between 200 and 1000 'Tenkins' each (an Italian currency then?) to two Earls (Tylney and Cowper), a Baronet (Horace Mann), a Countess Agostini and a Naval friend - Charles Proby, Esq - 'His Majesty's Commissioner at Chatham, Kent' (each of whom may well have placed business Francis's way). He also left a noteworthy £1000 and the residue of his estate to the latter man's son - Henry Francis Proby (providing he added the Arms and surname of Jermy to his own - which he soon did - aged just 12, while at Westminster School). He also left "...£500 Sterling to Mrs Elizabeth Denn of Garveston, Norfolk - only child of my brother John Jermy, late Captain in H.M. Navy...". He asked that his houses at Monte Nero with vinyards, cattle, etc be let out annually and the rent devoted to paying a Clergyman to officiate at the English Chapel in Legorno; and his boxes at two theatres there to be available to British subjects and the poor. By a Codicil of 27 Oct 1781, he left an amazing £5000 (!) to John Udny Snr - the Consul at Legorno - and £500 to John Udney Jnr - the Vice Consul - just 3 days before he died - 'at 11 o'clock in the morning of 30 Oct 1781'. The Will was 'opened and made public' that same day and he was buried in the English Cemetery in Legorno on November 1st - by John Udney. A marble Obelisk with inscription was to be erected. (Is it still there and what did it say?)
[Note: a descendent of the Udney family had this checked out and reported that the cemetery was in very poor condition with much damage; no memorial to Francis was then found. But, more recently, a later researcher of the Foreign Merchants in Legorno (Matteo Giunti) has reported that the Memorial to Francis does still exist - with the Inscription: 'This Monument Is Erected To Perpetuate The Memory Of Francis Jermy Esquire Who Died The 30 October Anno 1781 Aged 76 Years'. In addition, Matteo claims to have noted early Deeds for the Monte Nero villa which imply that it was first purchase by a Francis Jermy as early as 1682! This seems barely credible in that the elder Francis at least was then but 26 or so and would at that time still reside with his 1st wife and family in Haynford, Norfolk and do so for another 18 years before moving to London, where he was generally in financial straits. Maybe the younger Francis sought to create an aura of well-established (retrospective) financial probity for his family name (by 'influencing' the deeds writer accordingly?).
On 2 Nov 1781, a diary entry or letter was written by one Maj Gen Henry Pringle (see Pringle Colln, Soc of Gen - Letters 1747-82) thus: "At Leghorn - On board ship: 'Three days ago there died in this town, Mr Francis Jeremy (sic) a Banker and Merchant (the principal one here) who has been making money here these past 55 years - yet died worth only about £30,000. He had few relations - to whom he has left nothing* - but bequeathed it to friends - the most part to a son of Admiral Proby, because the Admiral, when in Command in the Mediterranean, was 'useful' to him. He also left £5500 to the Consul here - a Mr Udney - whom he did not know above 4 or 5 years. He was buried yesterday and, as he had never been married, we all got white silk scarfs." [My gratitude to Isabelle Charlton for this item.] It seems ironical that our Jermy story began around 1200 in coastal Kessingland with a Thomas 'Jeremy' and may end as we approach 1800 with this same mis-spelling - and, again, in a port. [* In fact, he did leave a little to some of his family.]
His Will was proved twice: first locally - on 18 Dec 1781 on the Oath of one of the Executors - Charles Proby Snr - and then in London - on 23 Feb 1782 - on the Oath of the other Executor - John Udny Snr, the previous Consul. Clearly, this last of the Jermys (aware of the family Arms and thus possibly of his place at the end of their ancient lineage) was a most succesful man in his own sphere and very well off - thereby proving Gunton, in the final analysis, to be the equal of the other Norfolk branch - that of Bayfield (both financially and in longevity) - after a few setbacks and detours along the way!
Thus Francis Jermy died just a decade before Frances Michell (ex Jermy; nee Preston) in London (1791) and so any rights he may have had as being 'nearest in blood' to William Jermy of the Bayfield line that year didn't arise - if he was even aware or concerned of this possibility - eg if he had had any son, say. One wonders however what the legality of any such claimed inheritance would have been - for an illegitimate heir then - even if his paternity was seemingly admitted and widely accepted. The same would apply to any male issue of his two brothers. In any case, this Francis Jermy appeared at this point to be the last male of the ancient family of Jermy - of any branch - that we have traced from about 1200. [[See also Colin Jermy's site for subsequently discovered detail regarding the younger Francis' varied commercial activities in Leghorn and copies of several interesting letters and photos relating thereto.]
[However, there now appears to be a later survivor of the family. While the Bayfield line of Norfolk ended with the death of William Jermy in 1752 and that of Gunton with that of the younger Francis Jermy in Leghorn in 1781 (his cousin John Jermy of Gt Yarmouth having already died in that Norfolk port town in 1768 apparently), an earlier branch in Norfolk, residing in or near Marlingford until almost 1700, led to those Jermys settled for a time in Norwich and then at Ingham in the north of the county from whom a Thomas Jermy, Thatcher of Runham and Filby derived. He died in 1777 but his only son, also Thomas Jermy (born 1760 in Filby) lived until 1792 (oddly also in nearby Gt Yarmouth) when, in July that year, he was the subject of an Administration granted there to his father's sister Elizabeth Keen (nee Jermy, born ca 1740). She had married firstly (ca ?1765) a Mr Soames and secondly, in Gorleston in 1777, to Augustine Keen, Yeoman. Neither she nor her nephew Thomas, who thus just outlived Frances Michell, appear to have been buried in Yarmouth or Gorleston. Their places of burial are still sought. That last Thomas Jermy died intestate and a bachelor. Elizabeth also had a second brother, Daniel Jermy, who had been a Mariner in 1777 when left a small bequest by their father Thomas Jermy, the Woolcomber of Norwich. His whereabouts then was not mentioned nor is it known where he may have settled, if he survived for long, or had any issue. Conceivably, either Elizabeth or Daniel Jermy or both may have lived into the early 1800s. This places their possible survival (or any issue) near to that of the other late survivor of the landed family - Anne Jermy, spinster daughter of Seth Jermy of the London family; she died with more certainty in 1810 in Bath and was buried that year, as she requested in her Will, in the vault of her (non-Jermy) relations in St Mary's, Islington, in north London.]
The youngest brother of Francis of Leghorn, Edward William Jermy, became a legal clerk and/or attorney's writer - probably around 1730 or so. He appears to have died, unmarried, by the 1770s (being unmentioned in his older brother's Will of 1781.) He was described in a legal document of 1752 as 'late of Salter's Hall, City of London'. The London daughter of the elder Francis - Diana Jermy - apparently married firstly (c1732) one Paul Loot van Schooten of St Paul's, Covent Garden - a bachelor, aged about 22, and later (ca 1740s?) to a ?Richard Ferryman - who also pre-deceased her - she being a widow before 1752 - when described similarly as 'Mrs Diana Ferryman - late of Red Lyon Street, Holborn, widow'. She too is not mentioned in the 1781 Will. The first marriage was to follow a marriage licence application by Diana and her then guardian - one Benjamin Scott of St Mary le Savoy (a Grocer) - dated 22 Feb 1731/32, when she was 19 and still of St Margaret's, Westminster - to marry at St Mary's or at All Hallows the Wall. We must assume that her mother Diana (nee Holder) had herself already died (ca 1725-30?) and thus her need for a guardian. During the litigation of 1752, both she and her brother Edward were described (wrongly it would appear) as being of lowly circumstances whereas they convinced the Court of their bona fides and that they were, in fact, both then of genteel and middling status - having much assisted their brother John's daughter Elizabeth during her minority in London. Presumably, they continued to care for her over the following decade - somewhere in or near the City - before she married there - in 1763 (see below).
That middle brother John Jermy (born in 1710) had several apprenticeship experiences (ca 1721-25) in such as Clog-making/Shoemaking (one in Leicestershire!) before he tried his hand at the Navy - in 1726 - where he too prospered. (It may be noteworthy that just after he died, Francis's sons were placed in such relatively 'working class' trades - suggesting that his wife wasn't left that well off. However, by their own initiative (and inherited abilities?), they seem to have eventually realised their truer potentials. In addition, it appears likely that they may have received help from their mother's Holder family. [We may recall that another John Jermy - he allegedly of the Yarmouth family - was apparently marrying and also trying to survive - eg in a southern part of rural mid-England - about this same time (1730s) - but without benefit of even that level of apprenticeship; He was a farm labourer.]
The London John Jermy (the Captain to be) was also married about then - to one Salome Hely - when in port at Wapping in 1738 (she possibly the sister of a fellow seaman?). They had their only child - the afoementioned daughter Elizabeth Jermy - in 1741 before John, as first a Lieutenent (1742) and later Captain (1745), R.N., served with distinction in several actions in the Navy. (See article by the late Kenneth Jermy in the Norfolk Ancestor - Sept 1987.) He later had an address in London on Park Street, Grosvenor Square. His last posting was as Captain of a Sloop of War - 'The Swan', and while sailing off the coast of Africa, became ill and wrote his Will on 28 Aug 1751, dying a few days later (between the deaths of Elizabeth and William Jermy of the disputed Will). He left his estate to his only child Elizabeth (including £1750 in Bank Stocks and Annuities), with his brother Edward and sister Diana named as joint guardians. This Will (not proved until 2 June 1752 after an initial Administration in March before the Will was found) was later challenged - unsuccessfully - by relatives of John's deceased wife (c1752-54). It is interesting to recall that this was the same period when William Jermy's Will was also being actively considered - in Norfolk - by Isaac Preston - vis a vis John Jermy of Yarmouth, as well as by the Mallisons and Lacams. Did any of them know about this London off-shoot of the Jermy family, or of the activities of one of them in distant Leghorn? Or, indeed, about an alleged John Jermy in Oxfordshire having one or more sons there? [Interestingly, the other Elizabeth Jermy (as discussed above) was born about 1740 as well, seemingly in Norwich, who was also remembered in a Will later that century - by Thomas Jermy, the Woolcomber - and who later administered the small estate of her nephew Thomas Jermy of Gt Yarmouth who died in 1792. Did either family know of either of the other two?
Capt John Jermy's daughter Elizabeth Jermy was married - on 15 Dec 1763 - to one Christopher Jeffries Denn - in All Hallows Staining, City of London. [Interestingly, the other contemporary Elizabeth Jermy (of Yarmouth) was marrying her first husband, Mr Soames, at about this same time.] They (Elizabeth and Christopher) likely met in London through the auspices of her guardians. Her uncle Francis in Italy would also have business contacts in London no doubt and likely shared in making some of the decisions about her future. Christopher Denn was of a relatively well-off family of Shipdham and Garveston, Norfolk (neighbouring parishes in the south-west of that county) who held a little property. His and Elizabeth's families' mutual origins in Norfolk appear to have been pure coincidence, however - this part of the county having no relevance whatsoever to the landed Jermys of North Norfolk and Elizabeth having no former contacts with that rural county in any case. It was a London-arranged union.
Christopher, who was born to Thomas and Mary Denn on 22 June 1736 in Shipdham, Norfolk, appears to have fallen out with his father who, nevertheless, did consider his new daughter-in-law Elizabeth in his Will - dated 11 Jan 1764, in which he states: "...and whereas my son Christopher Jeffries Denn is lately married, but greatly indebted to me, I now, in order to make some provision for his said wife, do hereby - on his payment to my Executors hereafter named the sum of £300 - give and bequeath to the said Christopher and his heirs, but not otherwise, all that my messuage and lands belonging thereto situated in Shipdham - subject nevertheless to such Settlement as I may make thereof to his said wife, or to some other person in trust for her.... And I also give and bequeath (via my Executors) rent from my land in East Dereham for the benefit of...(his own daughter Mary Hall, a widow, and to a son-in-law (?nam...and the remainder of my estate to my two (older) sons Thomas and William Denn...". It was witnessed by a Robert and Elizabeth Denn (possibly his brother and sister-in-law) and a Rhoda ?Storland). He died 11 Aug 1767 and was buried in Shipdham - the Will proved on Oct 8th that year.
One wonders if Christopher ever re-paid the £300 owed to his father and thereby ensure his wife's future security or if there was any issue of this union? Elizabeth was later described as being 'of Garveston' in that Will of her uncle Francis Jermy in 1781. They may have continued residing in London for a time (1770s) before retiring to Garveston. Elizabeth's £500 would presumably give her considerable independence during the 1780s. But, whenever and wherever she died, she initially appeared to be the very last Jermy - born as such - at least of the Norfolk landed Jermys (but possibly of the entire family) - and may have lived into the early 1800s. Did she leave a Will ? I shall try to locate one. [I later discovered that a descendant of Capt Seth Jermy (and of his son, also Seth) - one Anne Jermy, spinster - amazingly born the same year as Elizabeth (1741) seemingly, lived until 1810, leaving a Will. She may have died in Bath (but was buried in Islington, London as mentioned above) - quite possibly the very last Jermy of this ancient family (in view of further information concerning Elizabeth Denn described below). One wonders if she (Anne) appreciated that? See also details in this regard added near the end of the section on the Later Jermys of Suffolk. And, more recently, I have found that the other Elizabeth Jermy (of Yarmouth), also born about this same time (as both Capt John's daughter and said Anne), also lived to about 1800 or later (as a twice or thrice married lady), while her nephew Thomas Jermy would now appear to tbe the last born male Jermy of the family (born 1760), but who pre-deceased his aunt, in 1792, as described above, as well as in the section on the Jermys of Happing Hundred.]
[A Will of apparent relevance regarding Capt John Jermy's daughter Elizabeth was later located - or at least one for an 'Elizabeth Denn, Widow' - dated not at Shipdham or Garveston, Norfolk however but in Dulwich, Surrey - on 5th July 1787, with a Codicil of 17th April 1788. It was proved in London (PCC) on 11th February 1789 by her Executrix - one Mary Morland, spinster - whom she described as her 'great niece'. This indicates that this Elizabeth died in about January 1789 and thus, if formerly a Jermy, didn't quite extend this branch of the Norfolk Jermys into the 1800s - as previously suggested. As the Elizabeth Jermy who married Christopher J. Denn was born in 1741, she would be aged just 46 when she wrote such a Will in 1787 and not yet 50 at her death. To have a 'great niece' old enough to be named her Executrix that year - at say 21 or so (and so born no later than 1765) - implies that the latter lady's mother or father - ie Elizabeth's nephew or niece presumably - would themselves have to be about the same age as Elizabeth, and so born about 1740 or so. Normally, this would imply that she had a rather older sibling, a sister say, born about 20 years before her (possibly to a first wife of her father?) - ie by the early 1720s - who later married a Mr Morland - around 1740. She would then have Elizabeth's nephew - as eg a John Morland - born about 1741 (the same year as Elizabeth). It would be the daughter of such a nephew, born about 1762/3 at the earliest, who could in theory represent Elizabeth's 'great niece' and executrix Mary Morland. The difficulty here is that as far as we know, Elizabeth Jermy had no such sibling, or half-sibling, either older or otherwise - whether a sister or brother. Moreover, her father would not be old enough to marry and have issue before 1730 and certainly not by the early 1720s. On this basis at least, we would seem to have the wrong Elizabeth Denn. [This was later confirmed; the Elizabeth Denn of the 1789 Will was clearly of the previous generation to that of 'our' Elizabeth' (nee Jermy).]
Consistent with the latter conclusion, the Will included no references whatsoever to link this Elizabeth Denn with the Jermy family of Norfolk (all then deceased) or even to her deceased husband's family (the Denns), or their Norfolk origins (directly). However, there is one intriguing reference in the Will - to a Hannah Young (to whom she leaves a small bequest). She is described as 'the daughter of David Long of Shipdam (sic) in Norfolk' (more typically spelt 'Shipdham'). The reference to Shipdham, the very parish where the family of Elizabeth (nee Jermy)'s husband certainly resided seems on the face of it too unlikely to be accounted for by anything other than that the Elizabeth of the 1789 Will was indeed an Elizabeth who married into the Denn family of that very parish - albeit in London apparently. Further support for this view is provided when one examines the Will of Christopher J. Denn's father Thomas Denn in which he refers not only to Christopher's then recently acquired wife but, crucially, to his own son-in-law 'David Long'! The only way that this might not be the case, would be if one of Thomas Denn's male relatives had also married an Elizabeth - who, on being widowed herself (ca 1770s, say), then resided in Dulwich - to be known similarly (and appropriately) as 'Mrs Elizabeth Denn, Widow'. If such a relative was older than Christopher, it could provide scope for such as nephews and great-nieces to be more appropriately aged than seems the case where the wife concerned was assumed to be Elizabeth nee Jermy, only born in 1741.
In either case, it would be most useful if we could identify (and place within her family) the various legatees referred to in the Will of this Elizabeth Denn, Widow of Dulwich, in addition to Hannah Young of the Shipdham family and her siblings. To this end, a Vicar-General's marriage licence allegation in respect of an intended union in 1762 between a bride and groom with the surnames Morland and Wheatley, respectively, could provide us with possible clues in this regard - as should become clear after the essential detail of the Will (shorn of its legalese) has first been perused - as below:
The Will begins: "THIS is the Last Will and Testament of me Elizabeth Denn of Dulwich in the County of Surrey, Widow, made this 5th day of July, 1787...etc ". She then leaves £50 to two Trustees - her Great-niece Mary Morland [of where sadly not given] and her good friend John Pond of Dulwich - upon Trust for Hannah Young - daughter of David Young, late of Shipdam, Norfolk, deceased. She also leaves another £80 via the same two Trustees - for any other children of David Long. [As mentioned, this man was also mentioned in the Will of Christopher Jeffries Denn's father Thomas - as 'his son-in-law' - implying he had married one of his daughters. This appears to have been Hannah, born to Thomas in Shipdham in 1725.] She leaves £20 to her Great-nephew John Morland, eldest son of her Nephew John Morland, a Cabinetmaker of Shadwell, near Wapping and Stepney in east London. The above Hannah Young (nee Long) would thus be Elizabeth's 'niece' (in-law) but oddly this relationship term is never used for her, while such terms (presumably also of 'in-law' implication) are frequently used with respect to her apparent Morland 'relations'.]
She then directs that her two Trustees purchase Capital Stock in Public Funds of an amount that will produce £49 a year interest (although does not specify from what source she leaves them the capital to do so). [This annual interest would require capital of about £1250 at that time; we may recall that Elizabeth Jermy's father Capt John Jermy left her about £1500 (and her uncle Francis Jermy another £500) that would quite adequately cover this - possibly also held in such Stock via her guardians.] The £49 per annum is then to provide Three Annuities - of £25, £10 and £14, respectively - for her Niece Rhoda Wheatley, her Nephew John Morland Snr of Shadwell, and for the latter's younger children (for their education). Rhoda Wheatley was also to get a one-off payment of £10 for her own use. [This often implies that she was then married (and thus was not born a Wheatley) and her husband was not to have access to such funds. Was she nee Morland and was it her marriage that was the subject of the Marriage Licence application in these two surnames in 1762? This proved to be the case: a Rhoda Morland (born in 1738 to a Charles Morland in St Botolph's Aldgate) married a William Wheatley (born 1741 and of Warley, Essex) in St Mary's Whitechapel (a neighbouring parish) on 2 Sept 1762, the day after obtaining the marriage licence. On the deaths of her Niece and Nephew (Rhoda Wheatley and John Morland Snr), their respective Annuities were to provide £20 to each of their children, as they reached 21 (excepting John's eldest son - John Jnr (her Great-nephew).
Finally, she refers to this Great-nephew - John Morland Jnr - of Birmingham, Warwickshire - to whom she leaves £100 as well as cancelling a debt he owes her of £50 or, if he happens to have paid this off (with interest) before her decease, she leaves him a further $50 in any case. She then leaves the residue of her estate to Mary Morland and names her as the Executrix of her Will. Before adding a Codicil about 10 months later, she signed the foregoing Will (witnessed by two seeming friends Sarah Miller and Sarah Steel) and afixes her Seal (on the original, not yet seen; could this prove useful in identifying her - if it includes any remnants of the Jermy Arms, say)? [Now most unlikely.]
In the Codicil dated 17th April 1788, she directs that in the event that her Great-niece Mary Morland, named as her Trustee, Executrix and Residual legatee, should pre-decease her, then her Great-nephew John Morland of Birmingham shall replace her in all such duties and benefits. She also directs that whomever is in this position shall apply an additional £10 to the care and maintenance of the youngest daughter (unnamed) of John Morland of Shadwell - she being of a weak and infirm condition. She again signs and seals the Will - with the same two witnesses. It was proved in London just under a year later by Mary Morland, Spinster - on 11th Feb 1789. We may assume that Elizabeth Denn died a few weeks at most before this date although her date and place of burial have yet to be discovered. Her burial wasn't in the parish church (St Giles, Camberwell) in which parish Dulwich then fell. If ill latterly, she may have moved in with her nephew in Shadwell and the local parish church there can be checked for her possible final resting place (and thus possibly that of the Jermys although this now appears most unlikely). A Chapel burial ground at Dulwich College is another possibility. [The parish church at Shadwell has now been checked; she wasn't buried there. Two other churches in that area may prove relevant (St Dunstan's and St George's East) as two of the Morland family resided nearby; any of these churches may have been used.]
[Since writing the foregoing, further relevant data has been found: the third witness of the Will of Thomas Denn of Shipdham proved to be not a Rhoda '?Storland' (as originally deciphered) but, significantly (and now not surprisingly), Rhoda Morland. She was, however, not the Rhoda Morland who married William Wheatley in 1762 (to become Rhoda Wheatley - the above Elizabeth's married Niece), since Thomas's Will was witnessed - by a Rhoda Morland (not Wheatley) - in 1764. Rather, she was the spinster Aunt of the latter Rhoda and had left her own Will - written and proved in 1779 - when she resided in Stepney, near Shadwell. Usefully, she refers in her Will to many of the same people (Morlands) as would be mentioned in the Will of Elizabeth Denn, widow, 10 years later. This clarified a number of relationships and identities (see resume to be added below) but still does not allow us to be completely certain as to the identity of the Elizabeth Denn, widow - of the 1787 Will. In addition, it appears that Robert and Elizabeth Denn - had a son Jeffries Denn in a City parish in 1723 and possibly another - Christopher Denn - in about 1725 who, with a wife Elizabeth, had a son Samuel Denn baptised in neighbouring St Mary's Whitechapel in 1752. (None of these are referred to in the Wills of either set of parents named Robert and Elizabeth Denn, however so either they had all died young or it was yet another Robert and Elizabeth who were the parents; see below.) Robert, born 1710 apparently, and the latter's wife (a ?Morland), plus Rhoda Morland, either came up to Norfolk to witness Thomas's Will in 1764 or, more likely, they did so in London where Thomas had it written up while visiting such relatives.] The two forenames - Christopher and Jeffries - were (rather unusually) given together by Thomas to his own younger son (who married 'our' Elizabeth (Jermy) - 'Christopher Jeffries Denn' - in 1736.
In either case, it implies some kind of relationship between the Morlands and the Denns at or before this point. There was one daughter of Thomas - an Anne Denn - not otherwise accounted for who could, conceivably, be a link between them. The Denns would seem to have had contacts and some members active in the same eastern edge of the City of London as had the Morlands. Elizabeth Jermy and/or her guardians must also have known members of these same two families - ie in the London commercial world during the 1750s/60s. But awkwardly, she may not have been the only Elizabeth in this category - who could have been widowed (as a Denn) before 1790. The possession of the considerable funds disbursd by this Elizabeth might possibly favour the Jermy identity. But the frequent reference to 'great nieces' and 'great nephews' would seem to argue strongly for an older Elizabeth (of the previous generation) who happened also to have married into the Denn family. [Indeed.]
If the 1787 Will turns out not to be that of Elizabeth nee Jermy, we may have to search for either earlier or later Wills or Administrations - for her and/or her husband. These were previously not indexed within first letters of surnames (as they had been for some time for the 1700s) and thus very tedious to check but, usefully, they have now all been fully indexed. There was only one possibly relevant Will after 1800 - for an Elizabeth Denne (spelt thus), but sadly she was not the Elizabeth being sought. But, as mentioned, there is in any case little or no scope for any Will of the former Elizabeth Jermy to make reference to anything that pertains to the family of whom she may well not have realised she was possibly (one of) the last surviving member(s). [No, as mentioned above, an Anne Jermy, spinster, who died in 1810, now appears to be the last certain Jermy of the ancient landed family (of the Suffolk branch via its Wighton and London offshoots), although both she and Elizabeth were apparently born the same year - 1741. And, we now have evidence of the later born 'last member' of the family - in Anne's nephew Thomas Jermy (1760-1792) - given that he outlived his brother Daniel.]
[Much of the foregoing analysis of the 1787 Will of 'Elizabeth Denn, Widow' has sadly now become redundant with the recent but delayed discovery of the Will of her husband Christopher Jeffries Denn of Shipdham and Garveston. It was written on 30 Oct 1795 and proved on 22 Oct 1796, two days after his burial in Garveston. Clearly, the foregoing Elizabeth, being a widow before 1787, can not now be the daughter of Capt John Jermy. She was most likely the widow of some other Denn albeit of this same family, seemingly an uncle of the Christopher J. Denn of present concern. In the latter's Will, he makes no reference to his wife whom we must assume had died some years before (ca 1790, say) and may well have been buried in Garveston of which parish she was said to be in the 1781 Will of her uncle Francis Jermy. This is to be further checked. Nor is there any reference to any issue of that union. Instead, there is much reference to his then (ca 1790s) 'housekeeper' - one Mary Osborn - to whom he leaves a most impressive legacy of over £8000 ! As he refers to himself as an Esq, we may assume that the property left him by his father (and possibly by other relatives) was rather more extensive than realised. Either that or he was very successful in business dealings in the City latterly.
Also, he and his nephew Robert Denn were trustees for a relative (his father's cousin) - one William Denn (ca ?1712-1770s) - who had been committed as a 'lunatic' some years earlier; they may well have gained control of further valuable property left previously to him therefore. Christopher also leaves Robert Denn (seemingly that nephew) of Marden Ash, near Ongar, Essex (about one mile from my previous home!) £3500 in trust - to be invested to provide Mary Osborn with income for life for the maintenance of what would seem to be a child of Christopher's borne by her - named Mary Denn Osborn - and for any other issue she may have or be carrying while living with him before his decease. There are also legacies between £500 and £1200 each for various nieces and nephews including David Long and his sister Hannah, as well as another niece of this same forename - members of this same family as mentioned in the slightly earlier Will of the (wrong) Elizabeth Denn above. He left about £20,000 in total, easily worth today over a million pounds. Clearly, the £300 he was indebted to his father turned out to be no great problem. Unless he was himself living in cloud-cuckoo land and no one actually received any of this impressive bounty?]
[NB I have recently received further information regarding the Denn family from a descendent of same (Derek Johnson) which, gratefully, clarifies some of the above uncertainties. It appears that the Elizabeth Denn of Dulwich, widow, whose Will was proved in 1789, had been the wife of the Robert Denn with whom she was a witness to the Will of Thomas Denn, said Robert's brother, written in 1764. Robert (born 1710) died in 1772 (and hence her widow's status by the 1780s). His uncle, also Robert (born ca ?1682), was the brother of Thomas's father (also Thomas!) and had married one Elizabeth Jeffries around 1710 seemingly. They apparently had only one surviving son, William (bn ca ?1712), later declared a 'lunatic'. [Did they also have sons Christopher and Jeffries ?] This Robert died in about 1734 and Elizabeth re-married a Rev Jukes Egerton.]
We would now expect that Elizabeth nee Jermy, the wife of Christpher Jeffries Denn, had likely died in the Garveston/Shipdham area - probably in the late 1780s/early '90s - before Christopher 'took up with' his housekeeper Mary Osborn and lived with her for a time either in London or Norfolk. [However, he would then have been 'free' to marry his Mary. That he didn't could imply that his wife Elizabeth, even if ignored in his Will, may have survived him after all!? If so, where might we find evidence of her date of death ? Garveston ?] In his 1795 Will, Chtistopher asks that his brother Thomas's son Robert (born 1756) of Marden Ash, near Ongar, Essex administers monies for the benefit of Mary's daughter and any other issue she may yet have (by him presumably). Derek Johnson points out that this Robert, a bachelor, subsequently resided in Brandon Hall in Suffolk, dying there in 1828 possessed of some wealth. (One wonders what happened to Mary Osborn's £8000 ?!) It seems that the Robert (ca 1700-1772) was a brother of Christpher Jeffries Denn's father Thomas had also resided in Essex (with wife Elizabeth nee Morland) and may thus have been the explanation of why Christopher's nephew, also Robert (son of his brother Thomas), had also settled there initially.