Alderman William Dauntesey (or Dauntsey) was a London merchant and Master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.
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][ failed verification] 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
- ^ 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".
- ^ Schools Inquiry Commission, Report of the commissioners (1868), p. 55
- ^ "History of the School". Dauntsey's School. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
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