Maurice Coleman Davies

Description

Biographical informationMaurice Coleman Davies was born in London in 1835. He moved with his family to what then Van Diemen's Land in 1840. In 1851 he moved to Victoria and then Adelaide where he engaged in merchant shipping. He was a partner in Baillie, Davies & Wishart in South Australia and won various government contracts including the construction of railways.

In 1875 he applied for a lease of 1920 acres (777 ha) of forest in Bunbury district. In 1876 he set up a steam sawmill in the Collie Ranges, about twenty miles (32 km) from Bunbury. The Collie mills operated successfully for eight years. He was also a shareholder in the Jarrahdale and Rockingham Timber Co.

By 1877 he was interested in the timber between Cape Hamelin and Augusta in south-west Western Australia. He took up a licence to cover the area and began cutting in 1879 in what became the Karridale estate. In the 1880s and 1890s he built several large mills, townships, roads, railways and jetties. He shipped timber from Hamelin Bay on the west coast, and Flinders Bay on the south coast. He employed Chinese labourers.

He employed Dan Meng Tun and Liom Si Sun as cooks and Ah Hing (22) and Sing Tong as labourers.

He died in 1913 and was buried in the Jewish section of Karrakatta cemetery.Other nameMaurice Davies, Date of birth1835Date of death1913

Person

AH HING (22)

DAN MENG TUN

LIOM SI SUN

SING TONG

Document

AAC-Box-007-0070

Connections

Subject (person)DAN MENG TUNLIOM SI SUNAH HING (22)SING TONGSubject (place)KarridaleHamlin BaySubject (topic)Timber industryRelated collectionCelebrating 200 Years - National Foundation for Australia-China Relations ProjectAnne Atkinson Collection

Item information

ContributorSchool of Social SciencesSource of informationAustralian National Biography

UWA Collected

Maurice Coleman Davies

THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA