David Christopher Davies (1827 – 19 September 1885) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

geologist and mining engineer.

Life and career

He was born and grew up in the

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads. The town was the administrative headquarters of the Borough of ...

area, and began his career as the apprentice of a local ironmonger, John Minshall. As a member of the

Naturalists' Field Club he developed an interest in the geology of the area, and the age of 30 set himself up as a mining engineer, working mainly in north Wales, but also in France and Germany. His geological writings include his "Guide to Llangollen" (which had reached its 3rd edition by 1864), "A Treatise on Slate and Slate Quarrying in North Wales" (1878 and 1880), "A Treatise on Metalliferous Minerals and Mining" (1880), "A Treatise on Earth Minerals and Mining" (1884), and a number of papers published in the ''Geological Magazine'', the ''Proceedings of the Geologists' Association'', and the ''Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society''. Davies was a

Fellow of the Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

. Following the example of John Minshall who had supervised his apprenticeship, Davies was active in the local

Congregational Church Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

. A became a lay preacherand published a volume of his sermons, ''The Christ for all the Ages''. His son, George Christopher Davies (1849 – 1922), was credited as being "The Man who Found the Broads".

Death

He died on his way home from Norway in 1885.

Legacy

After his death, his daughter Mary Broughall (1855-1932) – known in the family as Polly – published with her brother George an account of their life in Aveyron, '' Our Life in Aveyron'', where they had lived while David was working at a local silver-lead mine.

Life and career

Death

Legacy

References

Further reading