Louis Henry Davies

The Right Honourable Sir Louis Henry Davies PC, KCMG, QC
The Right Hon. Sir Louis Henry Davies
3rd Premier of Prince Edward Island
In office 1876–1879
Lieutenant Governor	Sir Robert Hodgson
Preceded by	Lemuel Owen
Succeeded by	William Wilfred Sullivan
Member of the General Assembly of Prince Edward Island
In office 1872–1879
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Queen's County
In office 1882–1883 Serving with John Theophilus Jenkins
Preceded by	James Colledge Pope Frederick de Sainte-Croix Brecken
In office 1883–1884 Serving with Frederick de Sainte-Croix Brecken
In office 1884–1887 Serving with John Theophilus Jenkins
In office 1887–1896 Serving with William Welsh
Succeeded by	The electoral district was abolished in 1892.
Member of the Canadian Parliament for West Queen's
In office 1896–1901
Preceded by	The electoral district was created in 1892.
Succeeded by	Donald Farquharson
Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada
In office September 25, 1901 – November 23, 1918
Nominated by	Wilfrid Laurier
Preceded by	George Edwin King
Succeeded by	Pierre-Basile Mignault
6th Chief Justice of Canada
In office October 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924
Nominated by	Robert Borden
Appointed by	Duke of Devonshire
Preceded by	Charles Fitzpatrick
Succeeded by	Francis Alexander Anglin
Personal details
Born	May 4, 1845(1845-05-04) Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Died	May 1, 1924(1924-05-01) (aged 78) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Other political affiliations	Prince Edward Island Liberal Party
Relations	Benjamin Davies
Cabinet	Attorney General (1876-1879) Solicitor General (1869) Minister of Marine and Fisheries (1896-1901)

Sir Louis Henry Davies, PC, KCMG, QC (May 4, 1845 – May 1, 1924) was a Prince Edward Island (PEI) lawyer, businessman and politician, the third Premier. He served as lead counsel for the Prince Edward Island Land Commission, which was established in 1875 to settle the problem of absentee land ownership and to provide tenants of the Island with clear title to their lands.

He was born in Charlottetown, the son of Benjamin Davies and Kezia Attwood Watts. He read law at the Inner Temple in London and later called to bar in England in 1866.

Davies was first elected to the House of Assembly as a Liberal in 1872 just prior to PEI entering Canadian confederation. With the issue of confederation resolved and the land question settled as a result of Canada's promise to fund land reform and the passage of the Land Purchase Act, the major issue remaining on the island was that of school funding and whether the school system should be entirely secular and public or whether separate schools for Catholics should be permitted. The issue divided both parties, and had led to the collapse of one government.

Following the defeat of the Conservative government of Lemuel Cambridge Owen in 1876, Davies established a coalition government of Protestant Liberals and Conservatives with himself as Premier and Attorney-General. The Davies government was formed to enact a Public Schools Act which made school attendance compulsory, and created a non-sectarian public school system. The act was passed in 1877 and, with the issue around which the coalition had been formed having been resolved, the coalition itself began to unravel. Davies' government reformed the civil service and brought in financial reforms before being defeated by the Conservatives in a Motion of No Confidence in 1879.

Davies won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1882 federal election as a Liberal. When the Liberals formed government after the 1896 election under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Davies became minister of marine and fisheries. In 1901, he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1918, he became Chief Justice, and held that position until his death in Ottawa in 1924.

Davies was named a Queen's Counsel in 1880 and knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897.

As of 2011, he is the last Chief Justice of Canada to have previously served in elected office. He is also, as of 2011, the only Prince Edward Islander to have served on the Supreme Court. The PEI Supreme Court building in Charlottetown is named in his honour. Also named for him is Davies Point, at the meeting of Hastings and Alice Arms on Observatory Inlet in British Columbia; the naming was done at the time of his appointment to the Supreme Court, as was also Davies Bay, at the head of Work Channel just east of Prince Rupert.

Family

Sir Louis Henry Davies, married Lady Davies, a daughter of Dr. A. V. G. Wiggins in July, 1872. She was a member of the Humane Society, the Women's Canadian Historical Society, and similar organizations. The couple lived with their children at 236 Metcalfe Street, Ottawa, Ontario.

External links

• "Louis Henry Davies". Dictionary of Canadian Biography (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. 1979–2005. 
• Louis Henry Davies - Parliament of Canada biography
• Supreme Court of Canada biography