'John Davies was convicted of fraud at the Middlesex Court on 6 December 1830 and sentenced to transportation for seven years. In August 1831 he arrived at Hobart Town in the Argyle...' Davies was sent to New South Wales (where his father, John Davies, was also serving a term as a convict). Davies worked in various jobs after his release in 1837 including police constable, reporter for the Port Phillip Gazette and actor on the Melbourne stage.
Davies moved to Van Diemen's Land in 1850. Two years later, 'in partnership with Auber George Jones', he established the
Hobarton Guardian. The
Guardian was incorporated into the
Hobarton Mercury in 1854. 'With Davies as sole proprietor it became a daily in 1858 and by 1860 had absorbed four other papers, the
Colonial Times,
Tasmanian Daily News,
Daily Courier and
Hobart Town Courier. In 1859 and 1864 he published Tasmanian almanacs. In October 1871 two of his sons,
John George and
Charles Ellis, took over the
Mercury, then Hobart's only newspaper.'
Davies was a 'part-proprietor' of Hobart's Theatre Royal. He was also 'notorious for settling disputes by physical violence'. Various assault charges and consequent imprisonments did not prevent Davies being elected to the House of Assembly as the representative for several Van Diemen's Land seats.
Source: F. C. Green, 'Davies, John (1813-1872)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davies-john-3374/text5101
Sighted: 17 April 2013.
