By Alva “Bobbie” Davies

Early Years

The grandfather of William James Davies who came to Australia was William Henry Davies who married Martha Backhouse. He was a very well-respected man and a pigeon fancier. His occupation is listed as a “Letter Carrier” in the Archives of Ancestry.com.

William Henry was a much-loved grandfather of his grandson, William James. He spoke of him often to his children and grandchildren. Apparently William James spent quite a lot of his childhood years with his grandparents, because his mother was not well after the birth of a daughter, Priscilla (known as “Sissy”) who died of measles within months of being born.

William Henry was born in Wales. (His father, John Davies was a miner in Wales. He had a huge white beard, according to family history and it is believed that his father, before him, William Davies, came from Norway or Sweden.)

Marriage and Family

William Henry married Martha (“Patty”) Backhouse. He had one sister Ann Maria Davies (b 1859) who came to Australia and lived in Bendigo. She was the first of the Davies clan to arrive in Australia. William Henry’s children were:

—John Henry Davies (b1884) M. Florence E. Townsend
—Pheobe Davies (b1890) (adopted) M. Thomas Baker

Employment

He initially worked for his father in a mine in Wales, and later worked as a Postman, a Sorting Clerk, and a Postmaster. When he was a postman it was said that he used to visit people in their homes and read the letters to them (many were illiterate). Later on in life, he was the Manager of hotel Waterloo Inn Waterloo St., Tipton. After the hotel business slumped, he went to live with his adopted daughter Pheobe who lived at 39 Bright St., Wolverhampton.

As a postal employee, William Henry was very well known in Tipton, England. As noted he also went into the management of a hotel, where, his grandson told us, his wife, Martha (nicknamed “Patty”) used to draw such large pints of beer that the locals used to wait until she was in charge of the bar to have their drink. Alas, for the profits.

The 1881 England and Wales Census [1] reveals that his father John Henry had died, aged 35, and his mother, Martha, was Head of the family.

Name Age Gender BirthYear Birthplace Relationship Marital Status Occupation Address

Wm H Davies, 19, Male, 1862, Tipton, Son, Single, Letter Carrier, 84 Dudley Port
Mary Mills, 53, F, 1828, Tipton, Head,
Ann M Davies, 21, F, 1860, Tipton, Daughter, Single, Draper’s assistant

The1901 England, Wales & Scotland Census gives his address as 53 Horseley Heath, Tipton, Dudley, Staffordshire [2]

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Gender Age Birth year Occupation Birth place
William H Davies, Head, Married, Male, 39, 1862, Sorting & Telegraph Clerk, Tipton, Staffordshire, England
Martha Davies, Wife, Married, Female, 39, 1862, —, Dudley, Worcestershire, England
John Henry Davies, Son, Single, Male, 17, 1884, Pig Iron Moulder, Tipton, Staffordshire, England
Phoebe Davies, Daughter, Single, Female, 11, 1890, —, Smethwick, Staffordshire, England
Mary Holden, Mother-In-Law, Widow, Female, 73, 1828, —, Tipton, Staffordshire, England

The 1911 England, Wales & Scotland Census lists his address as 88a Dudley Port, Tipton Staffordshire [3] In this census he is living with his grandchildren and daughter in law.

First name(s) Last name Relationship Marital status Sex Occupation Age Birth year Birth place

William Henry Davies, Head, Married, Male, Sorting And Telegraph Clerk, 49, 1862, Tipton Staffs
Martha Davies, Wife, Married , Female, — , 48, 1863, Dudley Worch
John Henry Davies, Son, Married, Male, Goods Porter, 27, 1884, Tipton Staff
Phoebe Davies, Daughter, Single, Female Telephone Operator, 21, 1890, Smethwick Warwickshir
Florence Emma Davies, Daughter In Law, Married, Female, —, 26, 1885, Tipton Staffs
William James Davies, Grandson, —, Male —, 6, 1905, Tipton Staffs
Gertrude Davies, Grand Daughter, —, Female, —, 1, 191, Tipton Staffs

Later Life

In the ARCHIVES BOX is a medal belonging to W. H. Davies from the Tipton Post Office staff. William Henry was about 6' tall, had blue eyes, and darkish hair which went bald. William Henry died on 14th August 1934.

In the ARCHIVES BOX there is a copy of The Herald, Saturday 18th August 1934 paying tribute to William Henry Davies:

“A Post office servant for 43 years, during the whole of which time he was stationed at Tipton, the death has taken place, as reported elsewhere, of Mr. William Henry Davies, of Toll End Road. It is some 20 years since Mr. Davies retired from his employment, and his passing recalls the lot of the postman in the old days when their duties did not end with the delivery of the missives as they were usually called upon to read the people's letters for them. Mr. Davies had two deliveries a day in the Ocker Hill and Toll End district, and he was often wont to recount, with a smile, how people frequently invited him into their homes to have a cup of tea and even stay for breakfast. "I knew everybody in the district and, being called upon to read the letters, knew pretty much of everything that was going on" he told one of our reporters who interviewed him twelve months ago when he and his wife were celebrating their golden wedding. The march of education during the past half century has gradually brought this practice to an end, although even now one hears of instances of postmen being requested to delay their round awhile, so as to transcribe letters for old folk who cannot read. One postman almost looks forward to imparting to a certain old lady the monthly budget of news from her son in Canada”.

In the same newspaper is the following report:

AN ESTEEMED RESIDENT. Death of Former Tipton Post Office Worker

“In our issue of August 12th 1933, we were offering congratulations to Mr. William Henry Davies and his wife, of 226 Toll End Road, Tipton, on the celebration of their golden wedding, but now we have to extend our sympathies to Mrs Davies, for death has claimed her husband only two days after their married partnership had existed over a period of 51 years.

Mr Davies, who was in his 73 year, was employed at the Tipton Post Office for 43 years before ill health caused his retirement about 20 years ago. When he began work as a telegraph messenger the Post Office was at the bottom of Church Lane, but it was later removed to the top of John's Lane and subsequently to the present site in Horseley Heath. For some years Mr Davies served as postman in the Toll End and Ocker Hill district, but at the time of his retirement was a sorting clerk and telegraphist. Although not having enjoyed the best of health for a long time, Mr Davies' demise came as a profound shock to his large circle of friends, for the stroke which brought his end at 10.30 am on Wednesday of last week only seized him about eight hours previously, whilst on the Monday, accompanied by his wife, he had attended the family gathering at his son's home in Horseley Heath in celebration of the 51 years married life, and had then been in his usual bright and cheerful spirits”.

PIGEON FANCIER
Well-known in homing circles, Mr. Davies had been a great pigeon fancier all his life and many were the awards he gained in his favourite hobby. Two years after his retirement from the Post Office, Mr. Davies took over the license of the Waterloo Inn, Waterloo Street, Tipton, but having done nine years in the business, he and his wife went to live with a married daughter at Wolverhampton. They subsequently went to reside at Sedgley but at the first opportunity took the house at Toll End Road so as to be once more back among their many Tipton friends.

Mr. Davies was highly esteemed and respected and his passing is widely mourned. The Funeral took place on Saturday, the Rev. R. J. Doidge conducting the service at the Tipton Cemetery, where postmen in uniform, members of the Post Office clerical staff and former colleagues of the deceased were in attendance.

The family mourners were: Mrs M. Davies (widow) Mr and Mrs J. H. Davies (son and daughter-in-law) Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Baker. (son-in-law and daughter) Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Breeden, Mrs. Layton, Mrs. Price and Mrs. Kendrick. There were a large number of beautiful floral tributes.