There is a woody vale, just south of Bath, England, known as Kilmersdon.  This place has been the home of coal miners for generations, since the occupation of the Romans.  Young James Denning was a collier (coal miner), just like his father (Henry Denning) and his father (Joseph Denning).  As far as we know coal mining had been the Denning occupation for generations.

Being a collier meant working six days a week for at least ten hours a day.  The food was scarce during the work hours and yet when they would end their shift, they were so tired they would fall asleep before finishing their meal.

The Denning family has its beginnings in Kilmersdon, a small parish in Somerset, England.  This parish was first noted in the Domesday Book back in 1086 when the book was first published by William the Conqueror.  The first church was built in 1335 AD.

The coal mines and the Catholic Church, which later became the Church of England in 1534, were the center of the community.  All that is known of old Kilmersdon is taken from the Parish Register or from the church itself.

The first Denning family found in the Parish Register is Philip and Elizabeth Denning.  Their children were baptized between 1665 and 1687.  Of the twenty seven cottages available to rent in Charlton and Coleford, both hamlets of Kilmersdon, Philip Denning, Thomas Denning and Richard Denning each rented one for 20 pounds.

In 1849, six generations later, Sarah Merrifield, a descendant of Philip and Elizabeth Denning, married James Denning, making the Denning surname both maternal and paternal to James and Sarah’s descendants.