Papers of Edward Davies

A small, miscellaneous collection relating to Edward Davies' life and career, c 1900 - c 1921; to the settlement of his aunt Miss Maria Hunt Davies' (d Apr 1925) estate, c 1920 - 1925; and to his brother Robert William Davies, Officer in the 10th Southern Provinces Mounted Rifles (I.D.F.) of the Madras Presidency, Jun - Aug 1920.

The personal papers of Edward Davies comprise typescript references of employment from the Antelope Gold Mine (Rhodesia) Limited, Bulawayo and Matopos; the Selukwe Gold Mining Company Ltd., Selukwe; the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College; and Geldenhuis Deep Limited, Cleveland, Transvaal. There are also short typescript notes on the Influence of Submergence on Efficiency of Air Lifts, copyrighted by H.T. Abrams in 1921, and a paper written by Edward Davies entitled Hints and Tips on the Use and Abuse of Reinforced Concrete with Some of the Principals Involved.

The evidence gathered in regard to the settlement of Miss Davies' estate contains details about her immediate family, in particular her nephews, Edward Davies and Robert William Davies, and her niece, Isabella Thurburn Moir, wife of Thomas Eyebron Moir, I.C.S., of the Madras Presidency, each of whom were appointed executors to her estate. Much of this is concerned with the gifts of 4900 and 10000 which she gave to Edward and Robert William Davies in the years shortly before her death.

The papers of Robert William Davies relate to a nine month period of leave of absence through ill-health, from his position in the Indian Civil Service, beginning between Jun - Aug 1920.

Edward Davies was born c 1874, the son of William Edward Hunt Davies of Fairfield, Kent and Isabella Thurburn Young, daughter of Robert Young, historian, of Millbank, Elgin. His father's family were early pioneers in the development of the iron industry in Great Britain, his great great grandfather, Edward Davies having left Carmarthenshire, Wales, and founded a successful ironworks in Dudley in 1758. He attended classes in mine surveying at the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College, Apr - Jul 1900, and towards the end of 1902 was appointed assistant sampler, later assistant assayer, by Geldenhuis Deep Limited, Cleveland, Transvaal. He remained with the company until May 1903, when he was appointed surveyor and draughtsman with charge of the sampling and assay plans, with the Selukwe Gold Mining Company Ltd., at Tebekwe Mine. He remained at Tebekwe until 1909. From 1910 - 1912 he was employed as assayer and surveyor with the Antelope Gold Mine (Rhodesia) Limited, at Bulawayo. He later moved to India, and in 1920 was employed as mining surveyor and assayer at North Anantapur Gold Mine, Morriston P.O. South India.

Edward's younger brother, Robert William Davies (1876 - 1957) left Britain in 1900 for a career with the Indian Civil Service. He retired in 1926 and returned to Britain, where he purchased and farmed Aldroughty estate, in Morayshire, Scotland. In 1933 he left the area and gifted the estate and Aldroughty House to the University of Aberdeen in perpetuity. He died in Edinburgh on 15 Mar 1957, and was survived by his wife, Mary Jean Jackson, whom he had married c 1938.

Further details about the Davies family and Aldroughty House will be found in Grant G. Simpson, Aldroughty in Moray; A University Chequers of the North, in Aberdeen University Review, 51 (1985 - 1986), 438 - 455.

None observed - the papers have not been fully listed.

Open, subject to signature accepting conditions of use at reader registration sheet

Deposited by Edward Davies' daughter, Miss Evelyn Davies, via Dr G. Grant Simpson, c 1992

Very brief collection level description available on Aberdeen University Library Catalogue, accessible online http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/library/

No copies known

Subject to the condition of the original, copies may be supplied for private research use only on receipt of a signed undertaking to comply with current copyright legislation.

Permission to make any published use of material from the collection must be sought in advance from the Head of Special Libraries and Archives (e-mail: speclib@abdn.ac.uk) and, where appropriate, from the copyright owner. Where possible, assistance will be given in identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

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Records of and relating to Aldroughty House (GB 231 MS 3677). Aldroughty House was donated to the University of Aberdeen by R.W. Davies (see Administrative History, above)

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