Davis was born around 1648 in Westminster and was said by Samuel Pepys, the famous diarist, to be "a bastard of Collonell Howard, my Lord Barkeshire" – probably meaning Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire, although her parentage has also been attributed to Thomas's older brother Charles, the second Earl. During the early 1660s she was an actress in the 'Duke's Theatre Company' and boarded with the company's manager, Sir William Davenant. She became a popular singer, dancer and comedian, but the wife of Pepys called her "the most impertinent slut in the world".
Royal mistress
Davis met King Charles II in a theatre or coffee-house in about 1667. She flaunted the wealth she acquired from her association with Charles, and gained a reputation for vulgarity and greed. She showed off her "mighty pretty fine coach" and a ring worth £600, in those days a vast sum. Davis gave up the stage in 1668 and in 1669 had a daughter by Charles, Lady Mary Tudor, who became famous in her own right. Later, Charles dismissed Davis, possibly due to some chicanery by Nell Gwynne, a major rival for the King's affections. Davis did not leave empty-handed however: Charles awarded her an annual pension for life of £1,000. In January 1667–68, Pepys notes that the King had furnished a house for Moll Davis, the actress, "in Suffolke Street most richly, which is a most infinite shame." At the time this street belonged to James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk and 3rd Lord de Walden, a nephew of Thomas Howard, Moll's natural father. Mary Davis is given in the rate books for 1672-3 but not earlier. As a celebrated actress and society lady, she was the subject of portraits by the fashionable artist, Sir Peter Lely.
In October 1673, Davis bought a new house in St James's Square from trustees for Edward Shaw, paying £1800. 'Madam Davis' first appears in the ratebook for the year 1675 and last appears in 1687. This house was almost square and had three storeys, each with four evenly spaced windows, all dressed with a wide architrave and cornice. The staircase hall was south of a large room in front, and two smaller rooms and a secondary staircase at the rear. There was a massive cross-wall, containing the fireplaces of the back rooms. It would now have been Number 22, St James's Square, if it had survived. It was demolished in 1847 to make way for a new club house for the Army and Navy Club, having survived longer than any other of the other original houses in the square.
Marriage
In December 1686, Davis married the French musician and composer James Paisible, a member of James II's private musick. Sir George Etherege wrote scornfully of the marriage: "Mrs Davies has given proof of the great passion she always had for music, and Monsieur Peasible has another bass to thrum than that he played so well upon". The Paisibles joined James's court in exile at St Germain-en-Laye, but in 1693 returned to England, where Paisible became composer to Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Princess Anne, heir to the throne.
