Louis Henry Davies

Sir Louis Henry Davies, PC, KCMG (May 4, 1845 – May 1, 1924) was a Prince Edward Island (PEI) lawyer, businessman and politician. 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.

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, 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 knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897.

As of 2006, he is the only Prince Edward Islander to serve on the Supreme Court. The PEI Supreme Court building in Charlottetown is named in his honour.

External links

* [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=7805 Biography at the "Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online"]
* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=15941&s=M Synopsis of federal political experience from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.scc-csc.gc.ca/aboutcourt/judges/davies1845/index_e.asp Supreme Court Biography]