William Dauntesey

Alderman William Dauntesey (or Dauntsey) was a London merchant and Master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.

Not to be confused with William Daunce or Dauntesey.

A merchant of the Staple at Calais, he was the son of John Dauntesey of West Lavington in Wiltshire.

He died in April 1542.[1] By a Will dated 10 March 1542, Dauntesey gave land in London to the Mercers' Company so that they could build a schoolhouse for a grammar school at West Lavington, and support seven poor people in an almshouse.[2] The school continues today as the private Dauntsey's School.

Part of the bequest reads:[3]

I William Dauntesey Citizen and Alderman of the Cities of London ... will that in West Lavington a house called a church house and a house for a schole be kept ... and that Ambrose Dauntesey shall name and appoint one apt and convenient person to teach gramer in the Schole house...

Notes
  1. Wiltshire notes and queries (1899), vol. 2, p. 537: "William Dauntesey, Alderman of London, the well-known benefactor of school and almshouses to his native parish of West Lavington".
  2. Schools Inquiry Commission, Report of the commissioners (1868), p. 55
  3. "History of the School". Dauntsey's School. Retrieved 26 November 2020.


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