Henry Davison (judge) explained

Sir Henry Davison
Order1:	Chief Justice of the Madras High Court
Term Start1:	1859
Term End1:	1860
Predecessor1:	Sir Christopher Rawlinson
Successor1:	Sir Colley Harman Scotland
Birth Date:	16 March 1805
Birth Place:	London, England
Death Date:	4 November 1860
Death Place:	Ootacamund, British India^[1]
Occupation:	lawyer, judge
Profession:	Chief Justice

Sir Henry Davison (16 March 1805 – 4 November 1860)^[2] was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Madras from 1859 to 1860.^[3]

The fourth son of Thomas Davison, of St Bride's, Fleet Street,^[4] City of London, Davison was educated at Trinity College, Oxford (B.A. 1829, M.A. 1834), and called to the Bar from the Middle Temple in 1834.^[2]

Having been a puisne judge at Madras (sworn in 16 March 1857),^[5] Davison was appointed Chief Justice in March 1859,^[6] but did not serve for long, dying at Ootacamund on 4 November 1860.^[7] William Makepeace Thackeray affectionately dedicated his historical novel The Virginians (published from 1857 to 1859) to Davison.^{[8] [9]}

Davison was married and had issue; his daughter, Emily Jane, married the organist Philip Armes in 1864.^{[10] [11] [12]}

Notes and References

1. Accounts and Papers thirty-eight volumes 11: East India- Progress and Condition, Session 6 February - 7 August 1862, vol. 39, House of Commons, 1862, p. 211
2. Alumni Oxonienses, 1715-1886, later series, A-D, ed. Joseph Foster, Parker & Co., 1888, p. 352
3. Web site: The former Chief Justices. hcmadras.tn.nic.in. June 28, 2018.
4. Modern English Biography, Frederick Boase, Netherton & Worth, 1892, pp. 831-2
5. Journal of Indian History, vol. XVII, parts I-III, Department of History, University of Kerala, 1939, p. 284
6. The Madras University Calendar, 1859, printed by D. P. L. C. Connor, The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1858, p. 22
7. East India- Statement regarding the moral and material progress and condition of India, during the year 1860-61, Part I, India Office, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 14 May 1862, 'Annual Report on the Administration of the Madras Presidency, during the year 1860-61', p. 211
8. The Madras Presidency, with Mysore, Coorg, and the associated states, E. Thurston, Cambridge, 1913, 'The Roll of Honour', p. 242
9. The Nilgiris, Madras District Gazetteer, W. Francis, Logos Press, 1908 (reprint 1984), p. 360
10. The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review, vol. 216, ed. Sylvanus Urban, 1864, p. 247
11. Web site: Philip Armes. www.duresme.org.uk.
12. Dictionary of National Biography (1912 supplement), ed. Sidney Lee, vol. I, 1912, pp. 53-54