Born at Birmingham, c.1825.
Enlisted at Birmingham for "unlimited service" on the 16th of November 1843.
Age: 18.
Height: 5' 6".
Trade: Brass tool-maker.
Sent money from the Crimea to his mother, Ann Davis, living in Birmingham.
For his comments on RSM Wooden, see the record of 1004, Thomas Morley, 17th Lancers.
He was at the General Depot, Scutari, from the 10th of November to the 25th of December 1855,
Embarked for India from Cork aboard the S.S. "Great Britain" on the 8th of October 1857.
Invalided to England on the 13th of July 1858, but died "At Sea" on the passage home on the 22nd of September 1858.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with the clasps for Alma, Balaclava, Inkerman, ansd Sebastopol, and the Turkish medal.
Can find no trace on the Mutiny medal roll.
Further medal information archived.Died, "At Sea", on the 22nd of September 1858.
From a private source, it is known that two letters were written by friends of Davis who were with him in India. One is addressed to his mother and the other to his brother, and together they contain the information concerning the circumstances of his death. That sent to his mother, and also containing a lock of his hair which he (Davis) had requested to be sent a few days before his death, was dated from Maidstone, the 30th of January 1859. The signature is not very clear, but it could be from a Corporal G.A. Gettings, 3rd Dragoon Guards. It said:
"Private Davis was ordered home on a medical certificate dated the 18th of June and embarked on the Transport ship 'Caduceus' on the 13th of July 1858. His health worsened on the voyage and he died on the 22nd of September 1858, about six weeks out from Gravesend."
That addressed to his brother was dated from St. Mary's Barracks at Chatham on the 30th of November 1858 and is signed by John Birch, 3rd Dragoon Guards. A few days before his death, Davis had written out his will, leaving everything to his mother. This document, signed and witnessed, is also preserved. The signatures of those who witnessed the will were as follows, Robert George Kerr (or Kern) Sergeant 3rd D.G., Henry Ellis, Sergeant 33rd Regiment and R.C. Miles, Asst Surgeon, 3rd Dragoon Guards.
Also on record are the letters from the War Office to Davis's mother. The first, dated the 9th of September 1859, indicates that:
""Mrs. Davis will receive the sum of Five pounds, ten shillings and four pence, being the amount due on the settlement of her son's accounts and including the amount produced by the sale of his effects..."
The second letter was dated the 27th of September 1859 and encloses his "Four clasp Crimean medal to be kept by you to commemorate his gallant conduct during the campaign in the Crimea".