Author: Danby, William
Biography:
DANBY, William (1752-1833: ancestry.co.uk)
His parents were William Danby (1712-81) of Swinton Park house near Masham, Yorkshire, and his wife Mary Affleck (d 1773) who had married at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, on 5 June 1748. (GM, the Eton College Register, and ODNB identify William Danby senior as a clergyman but this is almost certainly an error: William Danby senior had been admitted to both St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge, and the Middle Temple in Aug. 1730 but there is no evidence he took a degree, was called to the bar, or joined the clergy.) William Danby, his parents’ eldest son, was born on 28 June 1752, probably in London, and baptised at St. James’s, Westminster, on 20 July. He entered Eton College on 20 Sept. 1763. He was admitted to Christ’s College, Cambridge, on 24 Oct. 1770 but he resided only until 1772 and, like his father, did not take a degree. He married Catherine Seymour at Hertingfordbury, Hertford, on 19 Sept. 1775. Their son, William Henry, was born on 28 June 1778 but he died in 1779. They had no other children and Caroline died on 12 Mar. 1821. On 5 Jan. 1822 in Exeter, Devon, he married Anne Holwell Gater (b 1796); they had no children. Danby largely rebuilt Swinton Park and added a handsome library. He died at home on 4 Dec. 1833 and was buried at St. Mary the Virgin in Masham. His will, proved on 21 Feb. 1834, left his wealthy estates in trust for his wife. She subsequently married Octavius Vernon Harcourt who, through his wife, became owner of Swinton Park. Danby was a moral philosopher whose works include Thoughts Chiefly on Serious Subjects (1821, several editions), Ideas and Realities (1827), Extracts from and Observations on Cicero’s Dialogues (1829), Travelling Thoughts (1831), and Extracts from Young’s Night Thoughts, with Observations (1832). WorldCat identifies him as the author of Cantilenae Ecclesiarum Exoniensium: and other Sonnets but nothing more is known about this book and no copy has been located. (ancestry.co.uk 31 July 2025; ODNB 31 July 2025; ACAD 31 July 2025; Eton College Register; Records of the Middle Temple; GM 1834, 440) SR