SIR WILLIAM DAVENANT—SHAKESPEARE’S SON?? PART 1

ROMANTIC THEORIES HAVE SPICED UP HISTORY: Caesar and Mark Anthony both slept with Cleopatra (true, albeit separately). Sir William Davenant was William Shakespeare’s illegitimate son (might this explain Anne Hathaway’s “second-best bed”?). Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes both enjoyed the affections of Irene Adler (indeed, “The Woman” might well have been Nero Wolfe’s mother).

Sir William Davenant?? Sometimes spelled “D’Avenant”?? This evolves into Parts 1 and 2 today and tomorrow. (Ain’t researching fun!)

Quite the Adventurous Life. William Davenant’s career in English Restoration Theatre spanned the Caroline and Restoration eras (James I/Charles I and Charles II/James II, respectively). Davenant was active both before and after the English Civil War (essentially 1642-1656) and during the Interregnum (see that rascal Oliver Cromwell). And, quite independent of this, his life had a good many theatrics of quite a different sort (a pox-riddled nose, among them).

Sir William Davenant aka D’Avenant, 1606–1668, English poet, playwright, Poet Laureate, Royalist activist, and frequent cross-Channel traveller. Engraving after a portrait by John Greenhill from Wikipedia.

What seems my most reliable source of Sir William Davenant is No Sweat Shakespeare, termed “a labor of love from London-based father and son Shakespeare enthusiasts Ralph and Ed Goldswain.” My usual Wikipedia search corroborated much of the information, but misled on several points (Oxford’s Crown Tavern, for instance, didn’t exist during Shakespeare/Davenant’s time.)

The Davenants/D’Avenants. The Goldswains recount, “Long before Davenant was born, his parents, John and Jane Davenant, had known Shakespeare. They had lived in the theatre area, on the south bank of the Thames, in Southwark. John Davenant was a drama addict and spent much of his time in theatres.”

“While in London,” the Goldswains continue, “the couple had six children, all of whom died in childhood. What were they to do? The solution was to move out of the city. They went to Oxford. John got a job as landlord of a tavern [the Salutation], and they settled down and had eight more children, all of whom survived to adulthood. They fitted comfortably into the community and, indeed, John later became mayor of Oxford. Although he was well-liked John was known as the man who never smiled, while Jane was universally admired for her beauty.”

Their Son William. “Davenant was born in March 1606 and baptised three days later,” the Goldswains note. Might Shakespeare have been godfather? “That might have been, but there is no trace of it in the parish records, and certainly, Shakespeare’s name is nowhere to be seen.” 

Map from Google Maps.

It’s quite possible that William Shakespeare, being a regular traveller between Stratford-upon-Avon and London, might have stayed at the Davenant’s tavern. And it’s not impossible that he was William’s godfather. But more than this?

Tomorrow in Part 2, Ralph and Ed the Goldswain will continue their analyses. And we’ll bring up Christopher Marlowe in a different context entirely. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025