William Gabriel Davy

General Sir William Gabriel Davy (178025 January 1856) was a British Army officer who fought in the Peninsular War.

Life

William Gabriel Davy was born in 1780 in Kingsholm, Gloucestershire. He was the eldest son of Harriet Preston and Major William Davy, Persian Secretary to Warren Hastings, the first Governor-General of Bengal. Educated at Eton College, Davy became a lieutenant in the 61st Foot of the British Army in 1797. He transferred to the 5th battalion of the 60th Foot at the beginning of 1802, and was made a captain. He was promoted to major and lieutenant colonel on 5 February 1807 and 28 December 1809, respectively. In 1808, he succeeded Francis de Rottenburg as the commander of the 5th battalion.

The battalion departed from Cork on 12 July 1808. On 1 August, they arrived at Mondego Bay in Portugal, where the first British troops to participate in the Peninsular War landed; Davy's battalion was the first to land. The Battle of Roleia was especially difficult, as his battalion was in the middle of the fighting. At one point, the troops ascended a mountain "so covered with brushwood that [their] legs were ready to sink under [them]." The sister of the new Lady Davy was married to Major-General Sir Richard England. Davy was promoted to lieutenant-general in November the following year. Davy was promoted to general in 1854. Ever since his purchase of the property in 1820, he resided at Tracy Park, Gloucestershire. He died there on 25 January 1856, aged 77. He was buried at his family vault in Gloucester Cathedral. Davy had only one son, The Reverend Charles Raikes Davy, the rector of Adel, Leeds, who had four children. As he gave his son the middle name Raikes, an historian postulates he had ancestry from the Raikes clan.

Honours Davy was awarded the Field Officer's Gold Medal, a clasp, and a gold ribbon buckle for his service in the battles of Roleia, Vimiera and Talavera during the Peninsular War. He was also praised by distinguished figures, such as Secretary of State Lord Castlereagh. Davy became a Companion of the Bath on 4 June 1815. King William IV knighted Davy and made him a Knight Commander of the Royal Guelphic Order at St James's Palace on 23 March 1836.