Shirley Davidson (September 23, 1874 – August 5, 1907) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player for the

Montreal Victorias The Victoria Hockey Club of Montreal, Quebec, Canada was an early men's amateur ice hockey club. Its date of origin is ascribed to either 1874, 1877 or 1881, making it either the first or second organized ice hockey club after McGill University. ...

during the late 19th century. He was a member of several

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

Championship teams in the 1895, 1896 and 1897

AHAC The Amateur Hockey Association of Canada (AHAC) was an amateur men's ice hockey league founded on 8 December 1886, in existence until 1898. It was the second ice hockey league organized in Canada, after one in Kingston, Ontario started in 1883. ...

seasons.

Playing career

Shirley Davidson was a noted hockey and football player, and an accomplished sailor. He was also the brother of noted player and teammate Cam Davidson. Shirley played his entire career for the Montreal Victorias. He began by playing three seasons with the junior club before moving up to the senior team in the 1892–93 AHAC season. Shirley attended

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

for an engineering degree, while playing for the junior Vics. Shirley was known as a fast skater, good checker and good puck handler who never would have a bad game. Records indicate that he stopped his regular season playing career after the 1895–96 AHAC season, although he participated in the Stanley Cup challenge games in the latter part of 1897. Shirley won two Stanley cups in the 1894–95 and 1896–97 seasons, but can be credited with four championships since challenge game victories occurred in December 1896 (Challenge against

Winnipeg Victorias The Winnipeg Victorias were an amateur senior-level men's amateur ice hockey team in Winnipeg, Manitoba, organized in 1889. They played in the Manitoba Hockey Association (MHA) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Victorias won the ...

) and his team also won a lopsided victory against the Ottawa Capitals in December 1897.

Death

Shirley went missing while sailing near

Varennes Varennes may refer to: Canada * Varennes, Quebec * Varennes, Winnipeg, a neighbourhood of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada * Varennes County, a county established 1881 in the disputed District of Keewatin, Canada France Varennes is the name of sev ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on August 5, 1907, along with his fiancée Aileen Hingston, daughter of Sir William Hingston (a noted Canadian surgeon and senator). The accident was said to be inexplicable because Shirley was an accomplished sailor. Their bodies were recovered and the funeral was held on August 10, 1907. Thousands attended the funeral, including several former Victoria players. It is alleged that Shirley died in a suicide pact with Aileen Hingston as his father, Sir

Charles Peers Davidson Sir Charles Peers Davidson (January 1841 – January 29, 1929) was a Canadian lawyer and judge. Biography Born in Huntingdon, Lower Canada to Captain Alexander Davidson and Marion Peers, Davidson was educated at McGill University where he rec ...

(Chief Justice of the Quebec supreme court), refused to approve their marriage because she was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Sadly, Aileen would not live to see her first book published; ''Pere Jean, and other stories'' which was made in print in 1910. Further tragedy was to befall the Davidson family shortly after this event as Shirley's brother Thornton died in the ''

RMS Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that Sinking of the Titanic, sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking Iceberg that struck the Titanic, an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York Ci ...

'' disaster in 1912.

Career statistics

;Notes: :*Statistics are adapted from Coleman, Charles (1964), Trail of the Stanley Cup, Vol I., Kendall/Hunt, :*Statistics do not include non-regular season tournaments. Stats for 1893-94 and 1897-98 are not fully available. Some season statistics are incomplete and may not represent all games and goals scored. Assists were not recorded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Shirley 1874 births 1900s missing person cases 1907 deaths 1907 suicides Canadian ice hockey forwards Formerly missing Canadian people Missing person cases in Canada Montreal Victorias players Stanley Cup champions Suicides in Quebec

Playing career

Death

Career statistics

See also

References