Davies Gilbert (born Davies Giddy) (6 March 1767 – 24 December 1839) was a British engineer, author, and politician. He was elected to the Royal Society on November 17, 1791 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1827 to 1830.^[1]

Biography

Davies Giddy was born, the only child of Edward Giddy, curate of St Erth church, and Catherine Davies, daughter of Henry Davies of Tredrea. Davies Giddy would later adopt Gilbert as his surname, the maiden name of his wife.^[1]

He was educated at Penzance Grammar School and by his father, and by Rev Malachy Hitchens ^[2], the mathematical astronomer. He went up to Pembroke College, Oxford, from whence he graduated with a M.A. on June 29, 1789.^[1]

Davies was High Sheriff of Cornwall from 1792 to 1793. He served in the House of Commons as Member of Parliament for Helston in Cornwall from 1804 to 1806 and for Bodmin from 1806 to 1832.

The Dictionary of National Biography article says of him:

"Gilbert's importance to the development of science in the early nineteenth century lay in his faith that science provided the best means to tackle practical problems and in his facility as a parliamentary promoter of scientific ventures."

He also had a great respect for the history and culture of Cornwall. For instance, he moved a celtic cross from near Truro, on the Redruth Road (where it had found new use as a gatepost), to a place of respect in a Churchyard in his new home of Eastbourne.^[3].

He assembled and published A Parochial History of Cornwall and collected and published a number of Cornish Carols.^{[4] [5]}

He edited for publication a Cornish Language poem about the Passion: Passyon agan Arluth, as Mount Calvary (1826).^[6] He was elected to the Society of Antiquaries in 1820.^[1] Gilbert was the President of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall from its foundation in 1814 until his death.^[7]

Marriage and family

On April 18, 1808 he married Mary Ann Gilbert, and in 1817 he took his wife's surname, Gilbert, to perpetuate it. This enabled the couple to inherit the extensive property in Sussex of her uncle, Thomas Gilbert, who had no male heir.^{[1] [8]}

Three daughters and a son survived him. Their son, John Davies Gilbert (December 5, 1811 – April 16,1854) was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in April, 1834 ^[9] but he does not seem to have published any scientific work.

Their eldest daughter, Catherine, married John Samuel Enys (b. 1796) on 17 April 1834 ^[10] . She was the mother of the notable New Zealand naturalist, John Davies Enys (October 11, 1837 – November 7, 1912).^[11]

Their second daughter, Annie, married Rev. Henry Owen, rector of Heveningham, Suffolk on 4 December 1851^[12].

The other daughters were Mary Susannah and Hester Elizabeth ^[8]

Publications

Books and publications written or edited by Davies Gilbert include:^[13]

• Plain Statement of the Bullion Question (1811)

• Some ancient Christmas Carols, with the Tunes to which they were formerly sung in the West of England. Collected by D. Gilbert. London : J. Nichols and Son, (1822).)^[14]

• Some ancient Christmas Carols, with the tunes to which they were formerly sung in the west of England. pp. x. 79. J. Nichols and Son: London, 1823

• "On the vibrations of heavy bodies in cycloidal and in circular arches, as compared with their descents through free space; including an estimate of the variable circular excess in vibrations continually decreasing." By Davies Gilbert, .. London : printed by William Clowes, [1823] 15,[3]p. 'Extracted from the Quarterly Journal, Vol. XV'.

• A Cornish Cantata. [Names of places in Cornwall arranged in the form of verses.] [Privately printed? East-Bourn?] 1826.

• Mount Calvary; or, the History of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, written in Cornish (as it may be conjectured) some centuries past. Interpreted in English, in ... 1682, by J. Keigwin . Edited by D. Gilbert. pp. xxii. 96. Nichols and Son: London, 1826.

• "On the expediency of assigning Specific Names to all such Functions of Simple Elements as represent definite physical properties; with the suggestion of a new term in mechanics; illustrated by an investigation of the Machine moved by Recoil" ... From the Philosophical Transactions. pp. 14. [Privately printed:] London, 1827.

• "Some Collections and Translations respecting St. Neot, and the former state of his Church." In : Hedgeland (J. P.) A Description ... of the ... decorations ... in the Church of St. Neot, etc. 1830.

• A Cornish dialogue between Tom Pengersick and Dic. Trengurtha. East-Bourn : Davies Gilbert, [ca. 1835](In verse.)

• The Parochial History of Cornwall, founded on, <nowiki>[or rather including, the manuscript histories of Mr. William Hals and Mr. Thomas Tonkin; with additions and various appendices, by D. G. [including copious extracts from J. Whitaker, D. and S. Lysons, &c. and geological notices by Dr. Boase]. 4 vol. London, 1838.

References

External links

• Davies Gilbert Biography in hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com website
• Obituary in The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol.13 (New series) 1840 Jan - June, Page 208-211. ([[Google Books])