The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Davy, Edward
Davy, Edward, son of Thomas Davy, a surgeon practising at Ottery St. Mary, Devonshire, and Elizabeth (Boutflower) his wife, was born at Ottery on June 16th, 1806, and was brought up to the medical profession, becoming M.R.C.S. in 1829. Having been deceived into buying a chemist's business in the Strand, London, under the idea that he was purchasing a medical practice, he made the best of his disappointment, and traded as an operative chemist under the style of "Davy & Co.," dealing mostly in scientific apparatus of his own invention, such as "Davy's blowpipe" and "improved mercurial trough." He also patented "Davy's diamond cement," for mending glass and china. In 1836 he published "An Experimental Guide to Chemistry". He also commenced experiments in electric telegraphy, which entitle him to be regarded as one of the pioneers of the science, inventing the "relay," or, as he called it, the "electric renewer." In 1836 he issued "Outline of a New Plan of Telegraphic Communication." The next year he laid down a mile of copper wire around the inner circle of Regent's Park, by means of which many successful results were developed. In May of this year he opposed the grant of a patent to his rivals, Cooke and Wheatstone, but failed in the attempt. In 1837, too, a working model of his improved apparatus was shown at the Belgrave Institution and at Exeter Hall, where his invention of the needle telegraph excited much attention. In 1838, despite much opposition, he succeeded in patenting his "electro-chemical recording telegraph." Fortune and fame seemed now to await him, but he chose this very juncture to go to Australia as medical superintendent of an emigrant ship, sailing on April 15th, 1839. During his absence his schemes collapsed, and his invention being bought up by the old Electric Telegraph Company, was quietly allowed to drop. In Australia Mr. Davy started farming and then turned to journalism, contributing to the Melbourne Argus from 1843 to 1845, and was then engaged as editor of the Adelaide Examiner. From 1848 to 1851 he managed some smelting works at Yatala, in South Australia. He took charge of the Government Assay Office in Adelaide in 1852, and was then tempted away to Melbourne to take charge of a similar establishment, where he was paid £1,500 a year. The latter engagement only lasted from July 1853 to Dec. 1854, when the post was abolished in a fit of Government economy. He again tried farming, but could not make it pay. He then reverted to his original calling, and practised as a surgeon at Malmesbury, in Victoria. At the close of his career the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians made him an honorary member (Nov. 1884). He died on Jan. 27th, 1885, at Malmesbury. Justice was done to him in his lifetime by Mr. Fahie; and since his death his nephew, H. Davy, M.D., has published a memoir of him.