Sir William Davys

Sir William Davys (born before 1633 – died 1687) was an Irish judge who held the offices of Recorder of Dublin, Prime Serjeant and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. He was often accused of Roman Catholic sympathies and was threatened with removal from the bench on that account, but he succeeded in retaining high office until his death, due in part to his influential family connections.

He was the eldest son of Sir Paul Davys (died 1672), Clerk to the Privy Council of Ireland, by his first wife Margaret Ussher (died 1633), daughter of Arthur Ussher, and granddaughter of Sir William Ussher of Donnybrook. Sir John Davys, Principal Secretary for Ireland was his half-brother. His father has been described as a remarkable man who through a long career was able to work with Viceroys as different as the Earl of Strafford, Henry Cromwell, and James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde. It was his father's long friendship with Ormonde which gave William his own start in life, since Ormonde prided himself on loyalty to his friends and their families. William entered Lincoln's Inn in 1649, was called to the English bar in 1657, and entered King's Inn in 1661.

William obtained a reversion of his father's office as Clerk to the Privy Council in 1660. In 1661 he was made Recorder of Dublin; in the same year he was elected to the Irish House of Commons as member for Dublin City. On Ormonde's formal entry as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland into Dublin in 1662, he organised the civic reception and was knighted. Ormonde always showed William great kindness, obtaining for him sinecures such as Clerk of the Tholsel and justice of the Palatinate of Tipperary. His marriage to Martha Boyle, daughter of Michael Boyle, Archbishop of Armagh in 1664 also assisted his career, especially when his father-in-law became Lord Chancellor of Ireland the following year.

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