Margaret Davies (conservationist)
Margaret Davies CBE (nee Dunlop)[1] (30 September 1914[2] - 6 October 1982)[3] was an English conservationist and archaeologist. She was the first chair of the Welsh Committee of the Countryside Commission, was also president of the Cardiff Naturalists Club and on the Council of the National Museum of Wales.
Margaret Davies CBE | |
|---|---|
| Born | Margaret Dunlop 30 September 1914 |
| Died | 6 October 1982 |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Conservationist and archaeologist |
Early life and education
Davies was born in Bury, Lancashire in 1914. She attended Bury Grammar School and subsequently Manchester University, where she read Archeology. She wrote her MA thesis on 'The distribution of Bronze Age objects and implements in France, with special reference to British and more distant connections'.[1] She worked on Bronze Age sites in France and investigated megalithic monuments in the Irish Sea and North Channel coastlands for her Ph.D. dissertation, 'The megalithic monuments of the coastlands of the Irish Sea and North Channel' that was published in the Antiquaries Journal.
Career
She became involved in natural history and was a competent field botanist. She was concerned with nature conservancy, and served on the National Parks Commission, the Countryside Commission (including as chair of the Welsh Committee), Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Planning Committee and the Milford Haven Conservancy Board. Other fields of interest were the shieling, the farming communities in Wales, Celtic field systems, the drovers, the English and Welsh languages, plants and animals
She was on the editorial board of Collins's New Naturalist series and revised H.J. Fleur's Natural History of Man in Britain.[3] She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1973.
Personal life
She married Elwyn Davies, later chief inspector for the Welsh Education Office, in 1940. After World War II ended, she and her husband moved to Cardiff.
She died at Wittybush hospital on 6 October 1982.[2]
Legacy
The Times recorded in her obituary that, as an English woman, she had been accepted by the Welsh "in a way few non-natives are".[2]
At her funeral it was stated that she "gave much in a quiet and unobtrusive way."[2]
Further reading
"Dr. Margaret Davies : Conservation of the Welsh Countryside," Times magazine (16 October 1982)
References
- "Elwyn and Margaret Davies Papers, - National Library of Wales Archives and Manuscripts". archives.library.wales. Retrieved 2020-04-20.
- Maddrell, Avril (2011-06-20). Complex Locations: Women's Geographical Work in the UK 1850-1970. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4443-9958-5.
- Haines, Catharine M. C.; Stevens, Helen M. (2001). International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950. ABC-CLIO. p. 83. ISBN 978-1-57607-090-1.