Sir William Damsell (c. 1520 – 16 June 1582), sometimes spelt Damosel, was Receiver-General of the Court of Wards and Liveries and a Member of Parliament.
Of a gentle but obscure family in Devon, Damsell gained some education at the University of Oxford, but there is no record of his taking a degree.
He was good at languages, serving as King's factor in the Seventeen Provinces of the Netherlands from 1546 to 1552, and was a member of the Mercers' Company of the City of London.
Despite this, he was knighted by Queen Mary on 2 October 1553, following her coronation, and was later appointed Receiver-General of the Court of Wards and Liveries.
[1] Also in 1553, Damsell bought Wye College, in Kent, from Sir Maurice Denys[1][2] Stephen Batman's The Travayled Pylgrime (1569), a verse translation of Olivier de la Marche's poem le Chevalier délibéré (1483), was dedicated to "Sir Wm.