Sir Matthew Henry Davies (1 February 1850 – 26 November 1912) was an Australian politician, who served as

Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly The Speaker of the Victorian Legislative Assembly is the Speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Victorian Legislative Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria. The presiding officer of the upper house of the Parliament of Vict ...

. He was also a leading figure in the Victorian Land Boom, ending with his bankruptcy in 1894 and subsequent trial on fraud charges. Davies was the son of Ebenezer Davies and his wife Ruth, daughter of Mark Bartlett, of Bracknell, Berkshire, England, and grandson of the Rev. John Davies, of Trevecca College, South Wales. He was born at Geelong in 1850, and educated at the Geelong College. He matriculated at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1869. He was admitted a solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria in 1876, and married Elizabeth Locke Mercer, eldest daughter of the Rev. Peter Mercer, D.D., of Melbourne, a Presbyterian minister. They produced a family of seven — Arnold Mercer Davies (1876), Marion Agnes Davies (1877), Henry Gascoigne Davies (1879), Beatrice Elizabeth Davies (1880), Muriel Kate Davies (1882), and Olive Blanche Davies (1884), Cecil Harwood Locke Davies (1886). For five years, Davies was honorary secretary of the Council of the Law Institute of Victoria, and was a

Justice of the Peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

for the central bailiwick. He was mayor of the

City of Prahran The City of Prahran was a local government area about southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1855 until 1994, when it was merged with the City of Malvern to create the ...

from 1881 to 1882. Davies represented St Kilda in the

Victorian Legislative Assembly The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The presiding ...

from 1883 to 1889. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Transfer of Land and Titles to Land in 1885, and, from 1886 to 1887, held a portfolio in the Gillies– Deakin Government as a minister without office. In 1886, as a member of the Victorian government, he visited England in connection with the

Colonial and Indian Exhibition The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was held in South Kensington in London with the objective to (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majes ...

. He was chairman of the Royal Commission on Banking in 1887, and was elected

Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Speaker of the Legislative Assembly is a title commonly held by Speaker (politics), presiding officers of parliamentary bodies styled Legislative Assembly, legislative assemblies. The office is most widely used in state and territorial legislatures ...

in October of that year. Marking the Golden Jubilee year of Queen Victoria's reign, he gave 10,000 pounds to the Imperial Institute and other public institutions. He was returned unopposed for Toorak in 1889, and unanimously re-elected Speaker in the same year. He was knighted in 1890. Beginning in 1877, Davies had become a major land speculator, taking advantage of the spectacular increase in land values in Victoria during the boom decades that followed the

Victorian Gold Rush The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. It led to a period of extreme prosperity for the Australian colony, and an influx of population growth and financial capita ...

of the 1850s. Ten years later, he controlled a network of 40 companies, in which Victorian and overseas interests had invested millions of pounds. Like many other public figures, he was caught in the crash of early 1892, and his companies suspended payments in March. Davies resigned from Parliament and sailed to London to try to arrange finance to rescue his business empire, but was unsuccessful. He returned to Melbourne to face insolvency. In January 1893, Davies was committed for trial on charges of conspiracy to defraud by means of a false balance sheet. The trial was delayed until May, at which point the Attorney-general, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen, withdrew the charges. Davies again travelled to London but, on the orders of the new Attorney-general,

Isaac Isaacs Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs (6 August 1855 – 11 February 1948) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge who served as the ninth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1931 to 1936. He had previously served on the High Court of A ...

, he was arrested in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and brought back to Melbourne. After several trials, he was acquitted of the charges, but was declared bankrupt in 1894, with personal debts of 280,000 pounds. The losses of his companies totalled over 4 million pounds — one of the largest corporate defaults in Australian history. Davies returned to his legal practice, and gradually restored his reputation through community service. He died in November 1912.

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