The third son of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey in Wiltshire. His elder brother Henry was the Earl of Danby and Danvers was knighted by King James I in 1609. He sat as MP for Oxford University in all the Parliaments of the early reign of Charles I and was a member of the King's Privy Chamber. Danvers made two marriages to heiresses, then fell into debt through his own extravagance. A cultured man, he associated with intellectuals, poets and divines. Through his travels in France and Italy, he developed sophisticated tastes in gardening and architecture, which he indulged at his house in Chelsea and his estate at Lavington in Wiltshire.
Elected to the Short Parliament in 1640, Danvers became involved in opposition to King Charles, reputedly through pressure of debt. Although he was commissioned a colonel in the Parliamentarian army during the First Civil War, his military career was undistinguished. He was elected to the Long Parliament as recruiter MP for Malmesbury in 1645.
Shortly after his third marriage in 1649, Danvers was appointed to the High Court of Justice and signed the King's death warrant. He became a member of the Council of State, but lost his position in 1650 after a quarrel with Henry Marten in which he argued that the Council should be granted greater powers to act independently of Parliament. Danvers is said to have helped several Royalists ruined during the wars. He died in 1655.
References:
John Aubrey, Brief Lives, Sir John Danvers, ed. O.L.Dick, 1992
Sean Kelsey, Sir John Danvers, Oxford DNB, 2004
Links:
Biography of Danvers