William Davies (master mariner)

Born in Bristol, Davies was the son of Thomas Seth Davies, master mariner, originally from Pembrokeshire, Wales, and his wife Julia. In 1871, the family was living in Fremantle Square, Cotham, and Davies and his younger brother Joseph were at school.^[1]

In June 1885, Davies's father died at sea.^[2]

Davies went to sea in 1875, shipping as a boy in a Welsh barque. He got his Master's Certificate in 1885 and his Extra Master's Certificate in 1887, bringing with it the title of master mariner. He quickly specialized in the new business of moving bulk oil across the Atlantic and around the world, which led to his observations on the expansion of oils in tankers. In 1903 he published his work, with other seafaring information, for the use of his fellow tanker officers.^[3][4]

By 1902, Davies was Marine Superintendent of the City of London shipping firm of Lane and MacAndrew.^[5]

Davies's book Petroleum Tables went into many editions.^[6] In 1915, The Petroleum World commented on it "We draw special attention to Capt. William Davies's Petroleum Tables, which is now stocked at the offices of The Petroleum World. This is the standard book for computations and conversions."^[7] It remained the best-known publication on the subject until the 1930s.^[8]

During the First World War, Davies worked closely with the Admiralty on tanker transportation, taking charge of all tanker movements at Le Havre. For this service, he was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire.^[9]

In 1922, Davies went into partnership with a City of London tanker broker, Frank Newman, in a privately held shipping company called Davies and Newman,^[3] to carry on business as shipbrokers, oilbrokers, and tanker managers.^[10] They took over the interests of Lane and MacAndrew, of which Newman had been a director, which had become insolvent,^[11] and soon became a major force in the world of petroleum, while also operating in other areas of shipping.^[10]

In 1934, Davies was Chairman of the London General Shipowners Society, and in October 1934 he was a speaker at celebrations to mark the centenary of Lloyd's Register of Shipping.^[12] At the time of his death, he was also a member of the Tanker Pool Committee and had been connected with the bulk oil trade for almost fifty years.^[3]