 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.Damsell joined the House of Commons of England as a member for Wilton in 1553, and in 1555 returned to represent Arundel.In 1563 he was elected from Hastings, to a parliament which was not dissolved until 1567.