Charles Davenant - Life

Life

The eldest son of Sir William Davenant, the poet, he was born in London. He was educated at Cheam grammar school and Balliol College, Oxford, but left the university without taking a degree. He became manager of his father's theatre. Having taken the degree of LL.D., he became a member of Doctors' Commons.

In 1678 Davenant was appointed Commissioner of the Excise, earning £500 per year; taxes were collected using the “farming system”. In 1683 Britain ended the tax farming system, Davenant received £1000 per year as Commissioner. In 1685 he was elected to Parliament as M.P. for St Ives. However, the revolution of 1688 saw James II was exiled to France and William of Orange installed as king by Parliament. In 1689 Davenant lost his position as Commissioner of the Excise, and his loan to James II was nullified.

In 1692 he applied for Controller of the Excise, with Godolphin's support, but did not get the position. He applied again in 1694 and again failed to get the position, probably due to objections by Charles Montagu, the Chancellor of the Exchequer. In 1696 his friends in government, Shrewsbury and Godolphin, were under political attack. Godolphin resigned shortly afterward, and Davenant lost his main supporter for appointment to a public office.

In 1698 Davenant returned to Parliament as a representative of Great Bedwyn; he became associated with the Tory party, which replaced the Whig Junto as the majority in Parliament. Davenant was linked to French agents in March 1701, and it was suspected, but not proved, that the French government tried to bribe him to promote their interests and to provide intelligence if England declared war on France. There is evidence that a French agent recommended bribing Davenant, but there is no evidence that “a bribe was ever actually offered or accepted.” The link with the French tarnished Davenant’s public and political reputation.

In 1702 Queen Anne assumed the throne. The Junto Pembroke Ministry was removed from power, and Davenant’s friends – Godolphin, Nottingham, and Harley – were placed in positions of power in the Coalition Ministry. In September 1702 Davenant was appointed to the Secretaryship of a commission to negotiate for the union of Scotland and England. In June 1703 he was appointed Inspector General of the Imports and Exports.

Davenant visited Holland in Autumn 1705, to research wartime traffic with France.

In 1710 Godolphin lost his office, which removed one of Davenant’s supporters from power and threatened his position as Inspector General of the Imports and Exports. Davenant wrote Sir Thomas Double at Court and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs in order to make amends with the Tory party, which was likely to be returning to power. Sir Thomas Double at Court reversed Davenant’s argument for moderation in his 1703 Essays upon Peace at Home and War Abroad; and New Dialogues upon the Present Posture of Affairs repeated the attacks on the methods of financing public spending that he had been stating since 1689. He also reversed his stance from Memorial Concerning the Free Trade now Tolerated between France and Holland and argued that the Dutch were benefitting from trade with France while “Britain bore the burden of the war.”

Davenant died in 1714 in London.