David Davies (18 December 1818 – 20 July 1890) was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1874 and 1886. Davies was often known as David Davies Llandinam (from the place of his birth, Llandinam in Montgomeryshire). He is best remembered today for founding Barry Docks.
Early life and education
Davies was the son of farmer David Davies and his wife Elizabeth and the eldest of nine children. He attended the day school at Llandinam but was primarily self-educated. He began work as a sawyer and went into agriculture, working alongside his father, who died when David was aged 20, leaving him to take charge of the family. He was successful from an early age and in 1848 took over a larger farm called Tynymaen, which later became the home farm of the Plâs Dinam estate. Two years later he took over a further holding, Gwerneirin.
Religion
A Calvinistic Methodist by upbringing, Davies was teetotaller and firm about his Sunday observance. He became an influential figure in Calvinistic Methodism, which had over 13,000 members in Cardiganshire alone, and funded the building of numerous chapels.
Political career
Beginnings: the 1865 Cardiganshire election
David Davies first sought election to Parliament at the 1865 General Election when he ran for the Cardiganshire county seat. Prior to the election, the sitting member, Colonel Powell of Nanteos, had indicated his intention to retire and Sir Thomas Davies Lloyd of Bronwydd, a Whig landowner, had announced his intention to stand as a Liberal. However, when Powell reversed his decision, Lloyd issued an address stating that he would not oppose the sitting member. The result was that both Davies and Henry Richard offered themselves as alternative Liberal candidates. A selection meeting was arranged to be held at Aberaeron, but shortly before this took place, Powell again announced his retirement. Lloyd now stated that he would now fight the seat after all and Richard withdrew in his favour. David Davies did not withdraw. Lloyd won the seat with a majority of 361 votes.
Davies had a number of advantages, including the fact that his railway building enterprises benefited the county and created additional, if temporary, employment opportunities. However, his defeat was attributed to the strong opposition of landowners, including the overwhelming influence of the Pryse family of Gogerddan at Aberystwyth, and the failure of nonconformists to unite behind his candidature. However, his intervention represented a direct challenge to the traditional hegemony of the county's landed gentry over the political representation of the county. Ieuan Gwynedd Jones describes the election as 'a contest between two kinds of wealth, the affluent railway contractor pitting his ready cash and ruthless commercial methods against the sedate and comfortable but strained resources of the rural gentry." This was symbolised by Davies depositing £10,000 in an Aberystwyth bank as "ale money for the battle". Davies presented himself as a businessman who brought employment to the county and scarcely referred in his speeches to radical policies, including the secret ballot.
As a Calvinistic Methodist deacon, Davies had envisaged strong support from the nonconformist community. However, there were numerous examples of prominent nonconformists who were lukewarm, or even opposed, to Davies's candidature. The reasons included a reluctance to offend landowners who held the leases to land on which some chapels had been built.
When the result was announced, Davies had polled 1,149 votes against 1,510 for Lloyd. Davies had a large majority in the Tregaron area, which was attributed to the coming of the railway and his Calvinistic Methodist connections. He was also ahead in the Lampeter district. However, he lost the other four districts, including Cardigan, where Lloyd polled 360 votes against a mere 65 for Davies.
Following his 1865 defeat in Cardiganshire, it appears that Davies initially intended to contest the seat again. After the election, he made significant contributions to chapels in the north of the county where Lloyd had won by a small margin. During the months leading up to the 1868 election became clear that Sir Thomas Lloyd did not wish to bear the costs of another contested election. A meeting of prominent Liberals at Aberaeron in late May saw an invitation issued to Davies to contest the county seat if Lloyd declined to do so (with Lloyd been offered the Cardigan Boroughs constituency where he was likely to be returned unopposed). However, Davies declined the invitation and appears to have offered Lloyd, his erstwhile opponent, a gift of £500 to contest the seat.