DAVIS, RICHARD (1790-1863) was born in the village of Piddletrenthide, Dorsetshire. As a boy he assisted his father on the family farm at Sturminster-Newton and he received the poor education which was usual with the sons of tenant farmers. This he gradually remedied by reading and study which extended to the Scriptures in Hebrew, geology, mechanics, mathematics and surveying. At the age of 20 Davis was led to consider his way of life and by the time of his marriage to Mary Crocker (in 1812) he was thoroughly established in religious observance. He became an overseer of the poor in the parish of Stourton Candle, Dorset. In association with the Rev John Noble Coleman, M.A., he spent some years teaching the parish school and in other activities of a semi-religious character. The Church Missionary Society wished to find a pious agriculturist to send to the mission in New Zealand. The regulations precluding his appointment, Coleman organised a missionary association at Bridgewater for the express purpose of getting him recommended. He was eventually accepted and with his family left for New Zealand in The Brothers on 26 Nov 1823. After spending a few weeks at Parramatta with Marsden, the family crossed to New Zealand in the Governor Macquarie (Aug 1824). After spending a week with the Williams family at Paihia, Davis proceeded to Gloucester Town, Kerikeri, where he found Kemp growing wheat, barley and oats on land that had been broken up seven years. He fixed on a spot 20 miles inland that would be suitable for farming, but for the first few years he remained at Paihia. In 1827 he was sent to Sydney to confer with the committee and to see through the press portion of the Scriptures which had been translated into Maori. At Paihia Davis created a valuable garden in which he grew most vegetables and English trees. He shared in the alarms and dangers of the mission from warring tribes, especially after the death of Hongi, which removed the greatest restraint that had existed in favour of the missions. At length in 1831 Davis moved to Waimate, where he established a farm which was the admiration of Darwin and other visitors.

After the arrival of Bishop Selwyn (1842) Davis was recommended for ordination (which occurred in 1843). He was now appointed to the charge of Kaikohe, which involved a good deal of travelling. In 1852 Davis was ordained priest. His death occurred on 28 May 1863. Davis was married three times. Several of his daughters married missionaries. (See JOSEPH Matthews, W. Puckey, Henry Burr, E. M. WILLIAMS and JAMES KEMP). Charles Davis, who accompanied Davis to New Zealand and remained for two or three years, was not a relative. He returned to England and, having married, came back to New Zealand but, with his wife, was lost in the brig Haweis, in which they sailed from New South Wales late in 1829.

Carleton; Marsden, L. and J. and Lieuts; J. N. Coleman, A Memoir of the Rev Richard Davis, 1865; Ramsden; Stock; Sherrin and Wallace.

Reference: Volume 1, page 115

🌳 Further sources