David Davies (author) dating history

Details

David Davies (1741 - 1819) was a Welsh author. He was born in the Machynlleth area, and later studied at Jesus College, Oxford (hence some confusion with his namesake, Dr. David Davies, who did likewise). His father was Richard Davies. David Davies is known to have been ordained, and for 37 years to have held the position of Rector of Barkham, Berkshire. A controversial rapid rise in Poor Law costs at the time (especially in rural parishes) instigated debates on the issue, and inspired Davies to compile statistics from which he produced tables of the income and expenditure of representative families in the country (including three families in the parishes of Llandegla and Llanarmon (Denbighshire), and two families in the parishes of Llanfor and Llanycil (Merioneth). As a result, he produced the publication, 'The Case of Labourers in Husbandry', which was published in 1875, and which, he hoped, would demonstrate that the 'Poor Rates' were employed as a means to augment inadequate wages (and himself advocated the principle of a minimum wage as a remedy), calling for, as an urgent necessity, a significant improvement in the standard of living of the agricultural labourer.