William Eric Davis , (27 June 1908 – 29 April 1996), better known by his professional name David Davis, was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

radio executive and broadcaster (voice actor or storyteller). He was the head of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Children's Hour ''Children's Hour'', initially ''The Children's Hour'', was the BBC's principal recreational service for children (as distinct from "Broadcasts to Schools") which began during the period when radio was the only medium of broadcasting. ''Childre ...

''.

Story-telling

Born in

Malvern, Worcestershire Malvern is a spa town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It lies at the foot of the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The centre of Malvern, Great Malvern, is a historic conservation area, which grew dra ...

and educated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

, Davis began a teaching career at Dunchurch Hall Preparatory School, but soon moved on to

Bembridge School Bembridge School was a British independent school in Bembridge on the Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and seco ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. He then applied successfully for a job at the BBC advertised in '' The Listener,'' and joined Children's Hour at the beginning of 1935 as a staff accompanist, but it was soon found that he had the ideal voice for radio story-telling. In the years that followed, he recorded many stories including

Anna Sewell Anna Sewell (; 30 March 1820 – 25 April 1878)''The Oxford guide to British women writers'' by Joanne Shattock. p. 385, Oxford University Press. (1993) was an English novelist. She is known as the author of the 1877 novel ''Black Beauty'', her ...

's ''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was composed in the last years of her life, during which she was bedridden and seriously ill.Merriam-Webster (1995). ...

'',

Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...

's ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets ...

'' and

Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much o ...

's ''

Just So Stories ''Just So Stories for Little Children'' is a 1902 collection of origin stories by the British author Rudyard Kipling. Considered a classic of children's literature, the book is among Kipling's best known works. Kipling began working on the ...

''. In 1961, Davis was appointed head of children's sound broadcasting at the BBC, but by that time children were deserting radio for television and the separate children's radio department closed in 1964."Obituary: David Davis"

Leonard Miall Rowland Leonard Miall (6 November 1914 – 24 February 2005) was a broadcaster and administrator at the BBC for 35 years, from 1939 to 1974. In retirement, he became a research historian, studying the history of broadcasting. Early life Miall ...

. ''The Independent''. 2 May 1996.

Wife

On 28 December 1935, Davis married Barbara Grace de Riemer Sleigh (1906–1982) at St. Peter's Church,

Dunchurch Dunchurch is a large village and civil parish on the south-western outskirts of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, approximately southwest of central Rugby. The civil parish which also includes the nearby hamlet of Toft, had a population of 4,12 ...

. She was the daughter of the artist

Bernard Sleigh Bernard Sleigh (1872 – 7 December 1954) was an English mural painter, stained-glass artist, illustrator and wood engraver, best known for ''An Ancient Mappe of Fairyland, Newly Discovered and Set Forth'', which depicts numerous characters fro ...

and niece of John de Riemer Phillp, joint proprietor of Dunchurch Hall, where Davis had taught.

Barbara Sleigh Barbara Grace de Riemer Sleigh (1906–1982) was an English children's writer and broadcaster. She is remembered most for her Carbonel series about a king of cats. Family and career Barbara Sleigh was born on 9 January 1906 in Birmingham, the da ...

was employed by ''Children's Hour'' at the time, and she resigned according to BBC policy against married couples working in the same department. She continued to work for radio as a freelance writer and became a well-known writer of children's fiction.

References

External resource

Davis reading a passage from "The Wind in the Willows" in 1950
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, David 1908 births 1996 deaths Alumni of The Queen's College, Oxford British radio people Children's Hour presenters