Edward D'Avenant

The Venerable Edward Davenant or D’Avenant, DD (1596–1679) was an English churchman and academic, Archdeacon of Berkshire from 1631 to 1634,[1] known also as a mathematician.

[3] Brief Lives describes the elder Edward Davenant as a learned London merchant, involved in the pilchard trade.

[4] Edward Davenant the younger was baptised at All Hallows, Bread Street on 25 April 1596 and educated at Merchant Taylors's School.

They were published only in 1650, the delay being for political reasons; this came about because Edward Davenant sent them to James Ussher, who had Thomas Bedford, another Queens' graduate, edit them (in Latin).

[17] John Collins in 1676 named the special case, of rational approximations to π, after Davenant; and Wallis praised him.

Jackie Stedall suggests, however, that Wallis was more concerned with misdirection, resisting the attribution of earlier work in the field to John Pell.

[22] He had two sons, Ralph and John, and another daughter, Anne;[23] she married Anthony Ettrick, Member of Parliament for Christchurch.