Felix Arthur Davis was born in Molesey, Surrey, the ninth of the ten children of Frederick Davis (1826-1899) and Eliza Davis née Falcke (1825-1898). His birth was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1863 in the Kingston registration district.
The 1871 census shows him living at 14 Wimpole Street, Marylebone, with his parents, eight siblings: Charles Davis (1849-1914), Laura Victoria Davis (1852-1919), Gertrude Davis (b.1854), David J. Davis (b.1856), Hannah Davis (b.1858), Florence Belinda Davis (b.1859), Isaac Edward Pinder Davis (1861-1936), Anne Maud Davis (1869-1951), together with four female domestic servants including a cook, a housemaid and a nurse. His father's occupation was listed as an importer of works of art.
In the 1881 census he is shown as a boarding scholar at 'Bealeigh House', Waldron Road, Harrow, Middlesex, the home of Joseph Chotzner, a German Professor of Languages, and his family.
In the 2nd quarter of 1888 in the Marylebone registration district he married Viola Mariquita Carlotta Marie Webber (1865-1947) . They had three children, including Frederick Mowbray Davis (1889-1940) and Brian Charles Davis (1899-1918).
The 1891 census shows him as a barrister-at-law living at 33 Marlborough Hill, Marylebone, with his wife, their son Frederick, his mother-in-law Charlotte Augusta Webber née Lee (1835-1916), together with a parlour-maid, a cook and a nurse. Electoral registers from 1890 to 1895 show him listed at this address but from 1896 to 1915 he was shown at 12 Upper Hamilton Terrace, Marylebone.
In the 1901 census he is listed as a barrister residing at 12 Upper Hamilton Terrace, Marylebone, with his wife, their two sons, a parlour-maid, a cook, a housemaid and a nurse and the 1911 census confirms his occupation as a barrister-at-law, occupying 12 Upper Hamilton Terrace, Marylebone, with his wife, their two sons, a parlour-maid, a cook, a housemaid and a lady's maid. The census shows that his wife had three children who were born alive but that only two were still living.
Electoral registers from 1893 to 1915 show that he was also able to vote in local elections as occupying premises at 2 Harcourt Buildings, Middle Temple Lane, London. Similarly, he was also able to vote between 1901 and 1915 as he held a share of a freehold house with two of his brothers, Charles and Edward Pinder Davis, at 180 New Bond Street, Westminster.
Probate records confirm that he died, aged 53 years, on 19 October 1916 at 12 Upper Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood and that when probate was granted to his widow on 11 December 1916 his effects totalled £10,640-13s-7d.
Credit for this entry to: Andrew Behan.
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