W Davenport
Alternate candidate:
William Davenport
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housewright in Wrentham, MA 1782 and North Providence, RI, 1785.
GAWP5 presented William Davenport, a cabinet maker in Little Compton, RI as the craftsman behind W Davenport. It also mentioned that he kept an account book in Milton, MA from the 1782 through 1805.
Plane photographs courtesy of A. C. Smith in the Facebook group Rhykenologists International, May 2026
W Davenport
An alternative candidate.
William Davenport
-
housewright in Wrentham, MA 1782 and North Providence, RI, 1785.
GAWP5 presented William Davenport, a cabinet maker in Little Compton, RI as the craftsman behind W Davenport. It also mentioned that he kept an account book in Milton, MA from the 1782 through 1805. (Editor notes are included at end of this entry.)
William Davenport court document 1782, Wrentham, MA, housewright.
William Davenport court document 1785, North Providence, RI, housewright. It mentions William as a housewright in Wrentham in 1782.
W Davenport molding plane, 11 1/2" long. Note the wedge and the molded shoulders, features which can be found on late Ce Chelor molding planes. The decorative escapement feature can also be found on the occasional Ce Chelor molding plane. (It is rarely found elsewhere.) Plane photographs courtesy of A. C. Smith in the Facebook group Rhykenologists International, May 2026.
Ce Chelor / Living In / Wrentham NC-700 Colonial Williamsburg Collection. Late wedge, molded shoulder and late chamfer stops on reverse.
Editor's notes on the identity of the craftsman W Davenport.
GAWP5 presented William Davenport, a cabinet maker in Little Compton, RI as the craftsman behind W Davenport. GAWP5 also noted that William kept an account book in Milton, MA from the 1782 through 1805. This information was obtained from an article published in Antiques, May 1982.
Added research (post 2018) into William of Little Compton and William of Milton, point towards two individuals born in 1736 and 1744 respectively. A separate William was born, married, served in the RW, followed separate vocations and died in each location. A vocation search of each William did not show that either was cabinetmaker.
William of Milton was recorded by his daughter as a long-time storekeeper and schoolmaster. Milton town accounts record William as a trader, retailer, schoolteacher and inn holder. The contents of the account book are described as "showing merchandise sold in Milton" (Antiques 5-1982) but further content descriptions were not recorded.
William of Little Compton's having been a cabinetmaker could not be independently verified*. The cited Antiques 5-1982 article did not specifically state that William was a cabinetmaker, but it did record that he came from a family of cabinetmakers including Thomas (his uncle), Adam and Ebenezer. The article indicated that the two Williams were one and the same and that both the account books and two Thomas Davenport chairs (and possibly other Davenport furniture) descended in the family to Ruth Davenport of Middleton, RI. In contrast, Little Compton town records not only point to a separate William, it records two Williams; a father 1736-1807 and his son 1777-1804. The son, William Jr., died in 1804 and his probate inventory included a sextant and a book on navigation, but no tools. The father, William Sr., died in 1807 and in his will from 1804, he's listed as a yeoman and he bequeaths to his children his farm tools, stock, land, clothes and general household goods. No inventory was found for William Sr. Deed records for William Davenport in Little Compton were very limited with only two deeds extant. They both give his trade as a yeoman in the years 1761 and 1786. These deed dates can only refer to William Sr.
*Antiques 5-1982, Little Compton Families.