John Mark Davies

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Sir John Mark Davies KCMG (8 February 1840 – 12 September 1919) was a British-born Australian politician.

Born in Halstead, Essex, England in 1840, Davies was the fifth eldest of the six boys and six girls of and Ruth Bartlett. Two of the younger boys were educated at Geelong Grammar School. John was articled in 1852 and in 1863 was admitted to the Supreme Court of Victoria as a solicitor. He worked as a partner in a law firm for some years, and was President of the Law Institute of Victoria in 1885–86; he was made the group's first honorary life member in 1919.[1]

Political career[]

Davies served in the Victorian Legislative Council from 1889 to 1919, representing first the South Yarra Province (1889–1895)[2] then Melbourne Province (1899–1919).[3] and was Minister for Health for two months in 1891. He was the Solicitor-General under both Allan McLean (1899–1900) and William Irvine (1902–1903), and later Irvine's Minister for Public Instruction (1903) and Attorney-General (1903–1904). Under Thomas Bent, he was both Attorney-General (1903–1909) and Solicitor-General (1904–1909), although John Mackey was briefly Solicitor-General in 1908. Davies was the President of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1910 to 1919.[3] He resigned from the Parliament on 6 July 1919, after suffering a stroke and dies a few months later aged 79.[4]

Honours[]

Davies was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in January 1918. He was given a state funeral.[5]

Residence[]

The home he had purchased in 1892, Valentine's Mansion, became the site of Malvern Grammar School (now the Malvern Campus of Caulfield Grammar School), and was placed on the Victorian Heritage Register in 1975.[6] The Davies family lived in Valentines until 1919 when they moved to Little Valentines in Wattletree Road, Glen Iris.

References[]

  1. ^ Law Institute of Victoria (2006). History of the Law Institute of Victoria Archived 23 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 June 2006.
  2. ^ Mennell, Philip (1892). "Davies, Hon. John Mark" . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
  3. ^ a b "Sir John Mark Davies". re-member: a database of all Victorian MPs since 1851. Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. ^ Freeman, R D. "Davies, Sir John Mark (1840–1919)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  5. ^ "Funeral of Sir John Davies". The Argus. 15 September 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 17 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Michael Macgeorge (2004). The Lives of Valentines. Michael Macgeorge. ISBN 0-646-43710-0.

 

Victorian Legislative Council
4th member added Member for South Yarra Province
1899–1895
With: 3 others 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member for Melbourne Province
1889–1919
With: 3 others (1889–1904)
1 other (1904–1919)  		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Legislative Council
1910–1919 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Solicitor-General of Victoria
Dec 1899 – Nov 1900 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Solicitor-General of Victoria
Jun 1902 – Feb 1903 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Attorney-General of Victoria
1903–1909
Solicitor-General of Victoria
1904–1908 & 1908–1909
With: John Mackey as Solicitor-General
Feb–Sep 1908  		Succeeded by
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