DAVIES, WILLIAM CADWALADR (1849 - 1905), educationist

Name: William Cadwaladr Davies
Date of birth: 1849
Date of death: 1905
Spouse: Mary Davies (née Davies)
Parent: William Davies
Gender: Male
Occupation: educationist
Area of activity: Education
Author: John Edward Lloyd

Born at Bangor, 2 May 1849, son of William Davies, clerk, and the nephew of John Davies (Gwyneddon, 1832 - 1904). From Garth elementary school he went to the office of the North Wales Chronicle, the local weekly, and his progress was such that at the age of 20 he succeeded his uncle as editor of Cronicl Cymru, a subsidiary paper. On its decease in 1872 he became the representative of the Chronicle at Llandudno, where he gave substantial assistance to Owen Jones (Meudwy Môn, 1806 - 1889) in the production of Cymru, 1875. He then removed to London to assist Sir Hugh Owen in the office of the new University College opened at Aberystwyth. In 1876 he was once more in Bangor, to follow his uncle again, this time as manager of the branch there of Messrs. Pugh Jones and Co.'s bank.

In the establishment of the North Wales Scholarship Association, set on foot by Sir Hugh Owen in 1879, to fill the gap between elementary and higher education, he took an active part. But it was in the movement which led to the creation of the University College of North Wales that he left his deepest mark upon the public life of Wales. He threw himself zealously into the preliminary work of 1883, when an endowment fund of over £30,000 was raised, and became the inevitable secretary and registrar of the new college (opened in 1884). For eight years he watched over its fortunes; it was his friendship with Dr. Evan Thomas of Manchester which in 1890 brought a legacy of £47,000 into its coffers. In 1892, ill health forced him to resign; for the next thirteen years he led a less strenuous life, and was the recipient of many honours from college and university.

He had married, in 1888, Mary Davies (1855 - 1930), widely known on the concert platform; in 1891 he became a barrister of the Inner Temple. He contributed the first four chapters to the history of the University of Wales and its colleges, published in 1905. He died at Worthing on 25 November of that year and is commemorated in his college by a bronze bust, the work in 1902 of Sir William Goscombe John.

Author

Sir John Edward Lloyd, (1861 - 1947)

Sources

North Wales Chronicle, 1 December 1905

Additional Links

Wikidata: Q20734579

Published date: 1959

Article Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-RUU/1.0/