West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 20 February 1933, page 9


MR. T. A. L DAVY DEAD

TRAGIC SUDDENNESS. Widespread Regret Expressed.

With tragic suddenness, the Attorney-General and Minister for Education and the North-West (Mr. T. A. L. Davy) col-lapsed and died in the Savoy Hotel about,

11.15 p.m. on Saturday. With his wife,he had been' visiting friends newly arrivedfrom England, and, after dinner, the party sat down to play cards. Suddenly, Mr. Davy put his head down on the table, and a moment later it became apparent to the horrified party that he was dead. The cause of death was angina pectoris, and Dr. Juett, whom Mr. Davy had pre-viously consulted, granted a certificate without the formality of a post-mortem examination. At intervals since he suf-fered an attack of pleurisy about six years ago, Mr. Davy had complained of cardiac pain, and, lately, he had suffered several times at night, and had consulted more than one specialist. A characteristic dis-inclination to discuss such matters had kept everyone but his most intimate friends ignorant that anything was amiss with his health, and, even to them, he had made light of the matter. Thomas Arthur Lewis Davy was born: on May 1, 1890, at Auckland, New Zea-land, where his father— the late T. G. Davy, M.A., M.D., was in medical practice. Within a few years of his birth the family came to Western Australia, whereDr. Davy practised, first in Coolgardie and then in Fremantle. The late Attorney-General's first educational experience was: at a school in Fremantle kept by a Mr. Briggs, and thence he passed to the High School, Perth, the name of which was recently changed to Hale School largely at his instignation, and on the Board of Governors of which, he held a seat at the time of his death. In 1925 and 1926 he was chairman of the Board of Governors of the school which he had attended about twenty years earlier.

Thence Mr. Davy went to the Univer-sity of Western Australia, from which, in 1909, he was chosen as Rhodes Scholar for -the State. At Oxford he went into resi-dence at Exeter College, and entered upon a brilliant University career. He was called to the Bar of Gray's Inn in 1913, and to the West Australian Bar in 1914, joining the firm of Northmore, Hale, Davy and Leake, of which he was a partner- at the time of his death. In February, 1915, Mr. Davy joined the Royal Field Artillery and served in France from May of that year until September of 1916. Then, with the rank of captain, he was sent to India in charge ot his battery, and served there for the remainder of the war. Parliamentary Career. When the war ended, he returned- to his legal practice in Perth, and, in M34r entered Parliament as member for West Perth. Re-elected for the constituency;' in 1927 and 1930, he attained Ministerial rank' in the latter year, when the present -Got vernment took offiee, becoming AttorneyGeneral. In the following year, upon Mr. Keenan's resignation from the Ministry,* Mr. Davy took over the portfolio of Education, and last year, he was also made Minister for the North-West. H* also, 'took eilk' in 1932, thus becoming -one of the youngest King's Counsel in the ?his-tory of the State, as well as one of the youngest Ministers. ^-:~L Among the many public offices held by Mr. Davy at the time of his death W,ece membership of the Board of Governors^ Hale School, of the Rhodes Scholarship' -Selection Committee, and of the Zoological Gardens Board. He was also City SoJicK tor of Perth. ? .4^

Mr. Davy married a daughter flf the late Mr. H. W. Sholl. His^widow land two daughters and a son (aged, respectively, 15, 13 and 11 years) survive hnnn.The attractive personality, complete -lacl; of ostentation, and forthright smMritytpi the late Minister endeared him to all with whom' he came into contact. He 'hart friends throughout the State, and he hiaiV -no personal enemies. Hb political oppgn' ents, however violently they nvp'it (lifefrom his views and criticise his politic?' actions, accorded him perroiu! ir-v --j;.-y^ warm regard. A man who worked witli an almost passionate ze-rt. he yet 'had time, always, to spare for the lowly ^and the. unfortunate, and his 'only real detestation were dishonesty and humbug. (Recognising this, people of all types and classes were endeared to him, and notjthe most splenetic found it possible to .hate him. iL-'». As the news of his death circulated ^yesterday— the absence of people from the' city on Sunday making it travel slowly— those who knew him best were aghast thatvso promising a career should so suddenly hivebeen cut short. Citizens of all degrees, having recognised in him a young man who lad lived up to the ideals ot Cecil Rhodes, unsparing of himself in the service of the State and unswerving inlhis fidelity to what he believed right, felt a sense of personal loss. The LieutenantGovernor and Chief Justice (Sir John Northmore), the Premier; (Sir James Mitchell), the Leader of the Country Party (Mr. C. G. Latham) and the Leader of the . Opposition (Mr. P. Collier) and Mr. N. Keenan, K.C., MXA, all spoke* of their sense of personal loss and of loss'^to the State. 7!T