Thomas Davis abt 1820 - 1905

Thomas Davis (abt 1820 - 1905)

Thomas Davis was born about 1820, apparently in Sydney NSW, however we have been unable to find any record of his birth. All of our information about Thomas comes from his obituary and death certificate. His death certificate notes his parents as Clement and Sarah - Clement is a carpenter - but there are no record of a Clement Davis anywhere in the colony in that period.

On his death certificate he is noted as having married in Victoria in 1854 to Jane Bygrave. Jane was the illegitimate daughter of Dr Thomas Bygrave and Eliza Jane Ham.

This assertion does raise some questions. Jane arrived in the Port Phillip in September 1853. In August 1854 she is recorded on the birth certificate of her son - Francis - as having married Francis MacDowel in the Roman Catholic church in Melbourne - although her erstwhile husband - Francis - is noted as being deceased at the time of the childs birth and we have been unable to find a marriage certificate for Jane and Francis, or a death certificate for Francis. Their sole child was

• Francis MacDowell Born 18 Aug 1854 Geelong, VIC; Christened 2 Oct 1854 St Mary's RC Geelong; Died Mar 11 1899 Casino, NSW

She would have had to have moved fast to meet and marry Thomas within the 1854 window. We have been unable to identify marriage certificate for Thomas and Jane, however Jane's eldest son took on the Davis name and was known throughout his life (and his death certificate) as Francis MacDowell Davis.

Again from Francis's death records the family disappears from records, although we know that they moved around a fair bit from Thomas death certificate which notes that they lived for "few years" in Victoria - most likely chasing gold; they would have travelled from Victoria via the inland route to Toowoomba where they spent an "unknown period" before settling around Tenterfield some time after 1865. Based on Jane's death certificate, they had 3 more children, none of whom appear to have made it onto BDM records

• ? Davis Born ? Died bef. 1877
• Louisa Jane Davis Born 1865 Married Patrick McDermott 1882 Died 1942
• ? Davis Born ? Died bef 1877

There are two children born to a Thomas and Jane Davis in Pleasant Creek - Mary 1856 and John 1858. The timing of these work, but there is no ability to confirm records at this point. If this is in fact 2 of there children, there is a seven year gap to Louisa who was born in Toowoomba.

There is a notation in the Government Gazette under the heading of UNDEFINED PRE-EMPTIVE LEASE for a Thomas Davis Tenterfield - we are unable to confirm if this is our Thomas or not.

We do know that in 1876 the family were living in Bryan's Gap (7km from Tenterfield) as it is here that Jane passes away in January 1877.

Thomas again disappears off the radar until he turns up in Goonellabah in 1901.

In 1900 NSW introduced an Old Age Pension. Before being eligible for the pension, individuals had to satisfy that they:

• were over 60 (for women) and 65 (for men)
• were of good character (having led a sober and respectable life for the previous 5 years)
• had lived in the NSW for at least 25 years
• satisfied a strict means test

From 1902 until his death in 1905, Thomas is recorded as recieving the Old Age Pension in the amount of £26 per annum - which meant that he owned property worth less than £390. Only 39% of people over 65 were deemed eligible. It is hoped that 

Thomas died of senile decay at Ipswich Hospital on 2 December 1905 - he is noted as being 85 at the time. He was interred at North Lismore Cemetery

Thomas did leave a will, but we are yet to secure a copy of that.

Possible Scenarios

The inability to find any record of Thomas is challenging, especially given that Australian record keeping - as a penal colony - in this period was very good. There are range of scenarios that could account for this, This leads us to think that some of Thomas claims may be less than authentic, and that there are a couple of different possible scenarios:

• Thomas is the son of Sarah Davis or Sarah Clement a convict, and was born at the Sydney Female Factory and raised in the Orphan Schools
• Thomas Davis and Francis MacDowall are in fact the same person and for some reason Thomas changed his name
• Thomas Davis was not born in Australia but was rather a convict OR a deserted ships crewman and for some reason lied about his origins for the purposes of respectability
• Thomas Davis is an alias for an unknown individual
• Thomas is the son of Clement Davis and Sarah and was NOT born in Australia, but rather arrived in Victoria in the 1850s with his brother - See Thomas Davis of New Hampshire below
• Thomas is the son of a Clement and Sarah, but not Clement and Sarah DAVIS - there is no reference to DAVIS next to his parents name on his death certificate

Thomas Davis son of Sarah (a convict) born in Female Factory and raised in Orphan Schools

Thomas Davis and Francis MacDowall are the same person

Thomas Davis was not born in Australia, but was a convict or deserted ships crewman

Thomas Davis of New Hampshire

The only records of a Clement Davis and Sarah in this time frame are out of New Hampshire in the US (see below). There is a possibility that this could be his parents, except for the absence of a Thomas in their child listing.