L(l)eyson Hopkin Davy (1782– 28 September 1872) was a decorated captain in the

Honourable East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

, political representative of the British government, brewer and early inventive industrialist. Captain Leyson Hopkin Davy - Puke Ariki Library Image

Early life and family

Davy was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, to Jonathan Davy and Mary Hopkins. Jonathan was a shopkeeper (grocer, hopfactor and wine merchant), and Mary was the niece of

Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer and pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the F ...

of Tynton.

As a soldier with Honourable East India Company

India

Davy joined the East India Company as a cadet in 1799 and arrived in India as an ensign on 7 January 1801 (sailed on the Melville Castle). He served with distinction for the 22nd Native Infantry in India and was awarded the Army of India medal with rare clasps including those for the Battle of Deig and Capture of Deig. He was shot in the head during the Siege of Bhurtpore (1805), but survived the battle.

Time in Java

Following his service in India, Davy joined and actively participated as a Captain in the 4th Bengal Volunteer Battalion during the

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of Java and overthrow of the Dutch occupiers. He had knowledge of the Malay/Javanese languagesRicklefs MC and Voorhoeve P (1977) Malay and Indonesian Manuscripts -

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

and worked at the request of Sir Samuel Gibbs (then a Colonel) as his SecretaryF. de Haan (1935) Personalia der periode van het Engelsch bestuur over Java 1811-1816, in: Bijdragen tot de taal-, land-en volkenkunde dl 92 p. 533-534 and also an interpreter and translator for Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...

. Duties included being sent as part of an envoy to the

Yogyakarta Yogyakarta is the capital city of the Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by Hamengkubuwono, a monarchy, Yogyakarta is regarded as an importan ...

sultanate prior to the takeover of that city. Following the success of the British he was given the title of Acting Deputy Commissioner and served as Resident, Treasurer and Magistrate in Surabaya, Bangkalan (at the request of the Sultan of Madura whose friend he was) and

Cirebon Cirebon (, formerly rendered Cheribon or Chirebon in English) is a port city on the northern coast of the Indonesian island of Java. It is the only coastal city of West Java, located about 40 km west of the provincial border with Central J ...

. He was notorious in Cirebon for levying a heavy land rent. Davy translated and donated documents from this period to the

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. He left Java in 1815.

Activities following his military career

Wales

Upon his retirement from the military, Davy returned to the UK and built a house near Bridgend named "Sarn Fawr" (whose estate the village of Sarn, Bridgend is now built on) and was involved in early development of railways in this area.

New Zealand

In 1841 Davy purchased land from the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

and emigrated to

New Plymouth New Plymouth () is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, in Devon, from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Pl ...

, New Zealand. Whilst in New Plymouth, Davy established a farm called "Glenavon" (now a suburb of the town) and built several buildings including a retail store and the first brewery, malt house and public house in the township (the Ship Hotel). A beer brewed by Captain Davy known as "Davy's Stout" is mentioned in a "Song for Taranaki" written in 1844. Artifacts from the brewing enterprise, including some copper jugs, are retained in the

Puke Ariki Puke Ariki is a combined museum and library at New Plymouth, New Zealand, which opened in June 2003. It is an amalgamation of the New Plymouth Public Library (founded in 1848) and the Taranaki Museum (founded in 1919). Its name, Māori for "hil ...

museum in New Plymouth. Davy then returned to the UK to attend to his daughters education, leaving his two eldest sons Charles and Edwin (both surveyors) to manage affairs in New Plymouth.

Devon

Upon returning to the UK, Captain Davy partnered with his son-in-law, W. Wilkins in building the Shipley Bridge naptha works and Zeal Tor Tramway (which used wooden rails). These Naptha works were the first of their kind in the United Kingdom and the venture was in some way tied in with an early town gas works at nearby Ashburton. A contract for delivering 500 tons of peat weekly to nearby smelting works in South Brent was also entered into Relicts of the tramway path can still be followed and now form part of a popular walk through Dartmoor National Park. Buildings from the peat charcoal works still exist and adjoin the Shipley Bridge car park.

Later life

Davy retired to Clifton, Bristol, close to his daughter Ellen and her husband Fr Alan Greenwell He died there on 28 September 1872.

Descendants

Captain Davy has several notable political and sporting descendants in New Zealand including Edwin Davy, Albert Davy and Florence Harsant and Dame Diane Robertson

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davy, Lleyson Hopkin 1782 births 1872 deaths