Simon Davson

???? - 1856

Claimant or beneficiary

Biography

Resident in Berbice, dying there c. 1856. He acted as attorney for London merchants in the colony, and received a number of smaller awards in his own name. The business he established grew in post-Emancipation British Guiana. He was the father of Sir Henry Katz Davson (1830-1909), a London-Guyana sugar merchant who left £66,000, and grandfather of Sir Edward Rae Davson 1st bart. (1875-1937) and of Sir Charles Simon Davson (1857-1933), a colonial judge who served as Chief Justice of Fiji 1914-1922 (the third bart., Sir Christopher Davson, married the great-great-great grand-daughter of William Wilberforce). In 1828 as the holder of a protested bill of exchange from L.F. Gallez, Simon Davson triggered the sequestration of the Ithaca estate and enslaved people.

  1. 'DAVSON, Edward Rae: Sugar Estate Proprietor; son of Sir Henry Katz Davson, Deputy Chairman, West India Committee; partner in London firm of H.K. Davson & Co., Director of S. Davson & Co., Ltd., Berbice, the Blairmont Sugar Plantation, Ltd., the Guiana Gold Co., Ltd., and the West Indian Produce Association, Ltd.; contributor to "Empire Review" and other publications more especially on Imperial questions; has visited the interior of the colony on several occasions, and keeps in close touch with the affairs of the colony which he visits often.'

  2. The British Guiana Colonists Index gives a Simon Davson born c. 1785, married to Anne Lindrier, died 07/06/1856.


Sources

London Gazette 18516 21 October 1828 p. 1916.

  1. 1909 Argosy Directory of British Guiana.

  2. British Guiana Colonists Index, https://www.vc.id.au/tb/bgcolonistsD.html [accessed 25/01/2019].

We are grateful to John Schofield for his assistance with compiling this entry.


Further Information

Spouse
Married but no further details

Associated Claims (8)

£325 4s 11d
Awardee
£163 14s 10d
Awardee
£133 19s 10d
Awardee
£1,871 8s 9d
Awardee
£136 9s 11d
Awardee
£63 0s 1d
Awardee
£109 17s 11d
Awardee
£9,864 1s 3d
Unsuccessful claimant (Attorney)

Associated Estates (2)

The dates listed below have different categories as denoted by the letters in the brackets following each date. Here is a key to explain those letter codes:

  • SD - Association Start Date
  • SY - Association Start Year
  • EA - Earliest Known Association
  • ED - Association End Date
  • EY - Association End Year
  • LA - Latest Known Association
1831 [EA] - 1831 [LA] → Attorney
1831 [EA] - 1831 [LA] → Attorney

Legacies Summary

Commercial (1)

Founding Partner
S. Davson & Co.
West India merchant