Robert Davies (antiquary, died 1728)

Robert Davies (1685/86 – 22 May 1728) was a Welsh antiquary and son of fellow antiquary, Robert Davies.

Early life and education

Davies was born on 1685/6 as the son of Robert Davies of Llannerch and his wife, Letitia (née Vaughan). Davies matriculated from Brasenose College, Oxford University on 27 June 1702, aged 16. His father died on 8 July 1710,[1][2] with his Llannerch and Gwysaney estates passed on to Davies.[3] Davies became High Sheriff of Flintshire.[3]

Personal life and death

Davies married Anne, daughter of John Brockholes of Claughton, Lancaster. Two portraits exist of Davies in Gwysaney.[3] He died on 22 May 1728.[3][2]

After his death, a notable effigy of him was sculpted by Henry Cheere and placed in St Mary's Church, Mold. The full-length effigy shows Davies in Roman clothing,[2][4] described as "superb" by Thompson Cooper, a writer for the Dictionary of National Biography.[4] Davies' son, Robert Davies (1710–1763), was a scholarly patron, like his grandfather. He was a warm friend of the Welsh poet Evan Evans, who composed an elegy for Davies III. Davies' grandson, Peter Davies, never married. He died without a will in 1785, and the family's estate and library were divided and inherited by his two sisters.[2]

References
  1. "Dabbe-Dirkin". Alumni Oxonienses, 1500-1714. Oxford: University of Oxford. 1891. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  2. Roberts, Brynley F. (23 September 2004). "Davies, Robert (1685/6–1728)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/7258. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  3. Jenkins, David (1959). "DAVIES-COOKE family, of Gwysaney, Flintshire, successors of the DAVIES family, of Llannerch, Denbighshire, and Gwysaney.". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  4. Cooper, Thomas (1888). "Davies, Robert (1684-1728)" . In Stephen, Leslie (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 14. London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Further reading
  • Usher, G. A. (1964). Gwysaney and Owston: A History of the Family of Davies-Cooke of Gwysaney, Flintshire and Owston, West Riding of Yorkshire.
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