The Dictionary of Australasian Biography/Davis, James Davidson

by Philip Mennell

Layout 2

Davis, James Davidson, is deserving of mention as the author of the first "Bibliography of New Zealand" (Lyon & Blair, Wellington, N.Z.). It is admirably compiled and annotated, affording evidence of painstaking research and scholarly tastes. Mr. Davis was a native of Hastings, England, and emigrated for the benefit of his health. He obtained an appointment on the staff of the Auckland Star and entered as a student of the University College of that city. Consumption, however, cut off a promising career in 1887. Mr. Davis was author of a brochure upon "Social Life in England in the Sixteenth Century."