DAVISON, WILLIAM (c. 1541-1608), secretary to Queen Elizabeth, was of Scottish descent. In 1566 he acted as secretary to Henry Killegrew (d. 1603), when he was sent into Scotland by Elizabeth on a mission to Mary, queen of Scots. Remaining in that country for about io years, Davison then went twice to the Netherlands on diplomatic business, returning to England in 1586 to defend the hasty conduct of his friend, Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester, who had assumed the office of Governor of the Low Countries without Elizabeth's instructions. In the same year he became member of parliament for Knaresborough, a privy councillor, and assistant to Elizabeth's secretary, Thomas Walsing ham ; but he soon appears to have acted .rather as the colleague than the subordinate of Walsingham. He was a member of the commission appointed to try Mary, queen of Scots, although he took no part in its proceedings, was never at Fotheringay, and was not present at Westminster when the sentence of death was passed. The warrant for Mary's execution was entrusted to Davison. On this occasion, and also in subsequent interviews with her secretary, Elizabeth suggested that she would be glad to avoid the responsibility of the execution, but Mary's gaolers, Paulet and Drury, refused to take the hints thrown out to them. Meanwhile, the privy council having been summoned by Lord Burghley, it was decided to carry out the sentence at once, and Mary was beheaded on Feb. 8, 1587. When the news of the execution reached Elizabeth she was extremely indignant, and her wrath was chiefly directed against Davison, who, she asserted, had disobeyed her instructions not to part with the warrant. The secretary was arrested and thrown into prison, brit, although he defended himself when interrogated in the Tower, he did not say anything about the queen's wish to get rid of Mary by assassination. Charged before the Star Chamber (March 28, 1587) with misprision and contempt, he was acquitted by many of the commissioners of evil intention, but was sentenced to pay a fine of Io,000 marks, and to imprisonment during the queen's pleasure; he was released in 1589. He retired to Stepney, where he died. He was buried on Dec. 4, 1608. Davison was undoubtedly made the scapegoat for the queen's pusillanimous conduct.
His eldest son FRANCIS DAVISON (c. 1575—c. 1619), and his fourth son WALTER (1581-1608?) both contributed poems to the Poetical Rhapsody (1602) ; notices of them are given in Sir N. H. Nicolas's edition (1826) of that miscellany. Francis Davison also wrote a metrical translation of the Psalms, which remained in ms. until they were edited by Sir E. Brydges and by Nicolas in the 19th century.
Many state papers written by him, and many of his letters, are extant in various collections of manuscripts. See Sir N. H. Nicolas, Life of W. Davison (1823) ; J. A. Froude, History of England (1881 fol.) ; Calendar of State Papers 158o-1609; and Correspondence of Leicester during his Government of the Low Countries, edited by J. Bruce (1844).