William Davenly

Sir William Davenly (1616–1689) was a Royalist soldier during the English Civil War.

Davenly was born into a gentry family in Suffolk, the son of William Davenly and Elizabeth Tollemache. His grandfather was Sir Lionel Tollemache, 1st Baronet and his great-grandfather was Henry Cromwell, 2nd Baron Cromwell. His family owned a sizeable estate in East Anglia. Davenly was educated at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and the Inner Temple. He then practised as a lawyer in London.

Davenly was known as a Royalist sympathiser and his house was attacked during the Stour Valley Riots of 1642. Following the raising of the King's Standard in Nottingham on 22 August 1642, Davenly left his Suffolk home to join Charles I's forces. He was given command of a troop of horse under Prince Rupert of the Rhine in September 1642 and was present at the Battle of Edgehill the following month. Davenly was involved in the Storming of Bristol in July 1643, in which he suffered injuries. By this stage, East Anglia was firmly under Parliamentarian control and Davenly joined the King's court at Oxford. He stayed there for the remainder of the war. Following the execution of Charles I, Davenly returned to Suffolk where he lived in relative obscurity under the Commonwealth. The Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 saw Davenly's fortunes change and in 1662 he was knighted by Charles II. He subsequently briefly returned to law.

Davenly married Mary Appleton, the daughter of Sir Henry Appleton, 2nd Baronet and Joan Sheldon. Together they had two sons, although only one, Thomas, survived to adulthood.