Background
The second of the two sons of Archdeacon John Denne, he was born at the deanery, Westminster, on 13 January 1730.
The second of the two sons of Archdeacon John Denne, he was born at the deanery, Westminster, on 13 January 1730.
He was educated at Streatham and King"s School, Canterbury. Admitted to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 1748, he graduated Bachelor of Arts 1753, and Master of Arts
1756. In 1754 he was presented to the vicarage of Lamberhurst in Kent, but he resigned it in 1767 on becoming vicar of Wilmington and also of Darenth, both near Dartford, Kent. Denne became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1783.