Edward Davy

Edward Davy (June 16, 1806 - January 26, 1885), was an English physician, scientist and inventor.

In fact

Davy had actually sued Wheatstone and Cooke in May of 1837 in an attempt to stop the granting of a patent to them as above-mentioned, since it was he who actually made the first demonstrations at Regent's Park, etc. (Confer: * Stephen & Lee's edition of the DNB, vol. 5, p. 636, cited infra).

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To further quote from Munro's Heroes of the Telegraph Chapter 1 ...

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:"From 1837-8, Edward Davy, a Devonshire surgeon, exhibited a needle telegraph in London, and proposed one based on the discovery of Arago (Argon?), that a piece of soft iron is temporarily magnetised by the passage of an electric current through a coil surrounding it. This principle was further applied by Morse in his electro-magnetic printing telegraph."

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APPLIED by Morse, not invented, experimented with, postulated, etc.; Morse was simply "in the right place, at the right time" when Davy disheartened, but in an interesting "twist" on the saying "the poetry of justice," Davy ended up being elected the Mayor of the town of Malmesbury, Victoria, Australia three times, whereas Morse wasn't even elected one time the Mayor of the town for which he chose to run: the City of New York.

Related Topics:
Malmesbury - Victoria - Australia

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Back to the main ODNB quote ...

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:" Fahie, a historian of the telegraph, initiated a campaign to have Davy's contribution recognized, and in November of 1884 the Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians (later the Institution of Electrical Engineers) made him an honorary member."

Related Topics:
Fahie - Society of Telegraph Engineers and Electricians - Institution of Electrical Engineers

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:"While in London, Davy married Mary Minshull ; they had one son, George Boutflower Davy, who was born before 1837. By 1838 their marriage had irretrievably broken down, and Mary Davy tried unsuccessfully to divorce her husband. Her extravagance and Davy's lack of business sense led to mounting debts, which he settled with help from his father. To free himself from his wife Davy decided to emigrate. He left his son in the care of his family, and in April 1839 set sail for Australia intending to take up a small-holding. He soon abandoned farming to settle in Adelaide, South Australia, where he engaged in various pursuits. He edited the Adelaide Examiner from 1843 to 1845, built up a small medical practice, and for a time managed the Yalta copper-smelting works, where he developed a process for copper refining. He patented the process ... and an English patent was granted ... In 1852 he was appointed head of the government assay office in Adelaide which he ran very successfully. ... Davy again took up farming near Malmsbury, Victoria, but soon settled in the town itself, where he engaged in local politics, serving for twenty years as a justice of the peace and for three terms as mayor. He developed his medical practice, and acted for twenty years as the first honorary health officer of the borough. ..."

Related Topics:
ODNB - Dictionary of National Biography - DNB - George Boutflower Davy - Adelaide - South Australia

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:"Davy married twice while in Australia ; it is not clear whether his first marriage had ended (by divorce or his wife's death) or whether these marriages were bigamous. By 1845 he had married Rebecca Soper, with whom he had five sons and two daughters. After her death in 1877 he married Arabella Cecil, the daughter of Stephen Tunbridge Hardinge, postmaster-general of Tasmania. They had four children, two of whom, a son and a daughter, survived him. Davy died on 26 January 1885, at Mollison Street East, Malmsbury ..."

Related Topics:
DNB - Stephen Tunbridge Hardinge - Tasmania

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