Henry William Carless Davis CBE FBA (13 January 1874 – 28 June 1928) was a British historian, editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History.
In December 1918 at the conclusion of the war Davis served on the British delegation to the Paris Peace Conference until March 1919, and then spent a few weeks as the acting director of the Department of Overseas Trade at the invitation of Sir Arthur Steel-Maitland and in the New Years Honours of that year, Davis was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE).
He took up the editorial directorship of the Dictionary of National Biography, for which the previous editor, Sir Sidney Lee, had conveyed responsibility to the University of Oxford in 1917.
The names for inclusion in the dictionary and list of contributors were chosen by Davis and his co-editor J. R. H. Weaver, in consultation with a committee from Oxford and outside advisors.
Davis accepted the chair of modern history at Manchester University in 1921, and he moved to Bowdon, spending three and a half years in the post.
During Hilary term 1925, Davis was appointed to succeed Sir Charles Firth as Regius Professor of Modern History, making him a fellow of Oriel College.