Reginald Percy Basil Davis KC (14 December 1881 – 6 December 1948) was a South African judge and Judge President of the

Cape Provincial Division The Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa (previously named the Cape Provincial Division and the Western Cape High Court, and commonly known as the Cape High Court) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the ...

of the Supreme Court.

Early life and education

Born in London, Davis moved with family to the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

at a young age and the family settled in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

. He received his schooling at the

Diocesan College The Diocesan College (commonly known as Bishops) is a private, English medium, boarding and day high school for boys situated in the suburb of Rondebosch in Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The school was established o ...

School from 1892 until 1894 and in 1895 went to

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

in London, England. In 1900 he returned to Cape Town and began working as an articled clerk, when he was persuaded to take the matriculation examination. He achieved first place in the Cape Colony in the examination, after which he decided to become an advocate. In 1901 he then gained second place in the intermediate examination and in 1903 he obtained an honours

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Classical Languages and won the Porter Scholarship. Davis entered

New College, Oxford New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...

in 1904 and the following month became a member of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional association for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practice as a barrister in England and Wa ...

in London. In June 1907 he obtained an honours B.A. in

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

, after which he took the bar examination at the

Inns of Court The Inns of Court in London are the professional associations for barristers in England and Wales. There are four Inns of Court: Gray's Inn, Lincoln's Inn, Inner Temple, and Middle Temple. All barristers must belong to one of them. They have s ...

Career

At the beginning of 1908, Davis was admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

as a member of the

. He returned to South Africa shortly afterwards and in February 1908 became an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

of the Supreme Court of the Cape of Good Hope and a member of the Cape bar council. He

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1924. In October 1935 Davis was appointed a judge of the

and became an acting judge of appeal in 1944. He continued as an acting judge until 1947 and in 1948, he was appointed judge president of the Cape Provincial Division of the Supreme Court. Simultaneously with his judicial career, Davis also lectured and was responsible for legal journals and the compilation of court reports. He was editor of the ''South African Law Journal'' from 1913 to 1922 and a lecturer in law at the

South African College The South African College was an educational institution in Cape Town, South Africa, which developed into the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the South African College Schools (SACS). History The process that would lead to the formation of th ...

from 1914 to 1917 and at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

from 1918 to 1923. From 1924, Davis was general editor of the law reports published by Juta & Co. in Cape Town.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Reginald 1881 births 1948 deaths 20th-century South African judges Alumni of Diocesan College, Cape Town People educated at Harrow School South African Queen's Counsel British emigrants to the Cape Colony