David Davies (textile merchant)

Sir David Sanders Davies JP (11 May 1852 – 28 February 1934) was a Welsh businessman, merchant and Liberal Party politician.

Family and education

David Sanders Davies was the son of John Owen Davies [1] He was educated at Llandovery College [2] In 1886,he married Jane Emily Gee and they made their home at Dolgelly in Merionethshire. They had one daughter [3] who married Lt-Col J E Lewis DSO.[4]

Career

Davies went into the textile business. By the end of the First World War he was described as a successful Manchester merchant.[5] He became Governing Director of Pugh, Davies & Co. Ltd, Manchester [6] wholesale milliners, warehousemen [7] and textile merchants.[8] Davies clearly acquired great wealth through his business interests. In 1913 he presented 244 acres (0.99 km2) of land near Denbigh, worth £5000, to the Welsh National Memorial Association for the building of a sanatorium for people suffering from Tuberculosis.[9] He served for a while as the Treasurer of the Welsh National Memorial Association.[10]

Politics

Local government

Davies involved himself in local government affairs. He took a leading part in county council and educational work in Denbighshire.[11] He was High Sheriff of Denbighshire in 1915.[12][13] He was Chairman of the Denbighshire County Appeal Tribunal and Pensions Committee [14] and also served as a Justice of the Peace.[15]

Parliament

Davies was selected to fight the Denbigh Division of Denbighshire at the 1918 general election as a Coalition Liberal. He had no Unionist opponent, so was presumably awarded the Coalition coupon. He won the seat easily in a straight fight with Labour, gaining 83% of the poll.[16]

Davies did not contest Denbigh again, intimating as early as the autumn of 1921 that he wished to stand down at the next election (by which time he would be 70 years old). It was reported at that time that his likely successor as Coalition Liberal candidate would be Alderman Walter Gummow Dodd, the Chairman of the Denbighshire Education Committee.[17] Dodd was not selected however but the seat was won by another member of the Denbighshire Education establishment, John Cledwyn Davies, for the Lloyd George National Liberals.[18]

Honours

Davies was knighted in the 1918 New Years Honours List.[19]

References
  1. Brian North Lee, Bookplates from Mussett's Heraldic Office: with a note on their forerunners ; The Bookplate Society and the Apsley House Press, 1994 p25
  2. Debrett's House of Commons, and the judicial bench; 1922 p44
  3. Who was Who, OUP 2007
  4. The Times, 2 March 1934 p16
  5. The Times House of Commons 1919; Politico’s Publishing, 2004 p67
  6. Who was Who, OUP 2007
  7. The Times, 2 March 1935 p22
  8. The Times, 14 May 1959 p18
  9. The Times, 28 July 1913 p8
  10. The Times, 1 January 1918 p7
  11. The Times House of Commons 1919; Politico’s Publishing, 2004 p67
  12. Who was Who, OUP 2007
  13. "No. 29086". The London Gazette. 2 March 1915. p. 2089.
  14. The Times, 1 January 1918 p7
  15. Who was Who, OUP 2007
  16. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949 p553
  17. The Times, 20 September 1921 p7
  18. F W S Craig, British Parliamentary Election Results 1918-1949; Political Reference Publications, Glasgow 1949 p553
  19. The Times, 1 January 1918 p7
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