By Erin Knutson,
The Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History

 

Angus Ward Davis Sr. was born into a prominent Montreal family of Welsh origins on March 1, 1878.

He entered McGill University in the year of 1897; around the time hard rock mining was starting to make headlines in British Columbia.

Davis Sr., with some prompting from a fellow classmate, entered mining engineering. Following graduation in 1898, the curious and dauntless 20-year-old, headed to British Columbia for a taste of adventure and to make his way in the exploratory and gritty world of mining.

He was to become an instrumental force in the industry, a likeable figure, who tried his hand at all facets of the mining experience, earning his place among the early giants of the industry.

“No mining engineer commanded greater respect nor gained more popularity in British Columbia than the late Angus Davis Sr. Upon his graduation from McGill University, he proceeded to the Rossland gold-copper camp and, with the exception of his meritorious service overseas in World War I, spent the rest of his life in British Columbia,” The Western Miner, 1949-1950.

Before his death on January 24, 1949, he completed a book of memoirs, chronicling his life as an engineer. It covers his momentous career across British Columbia and the U.S. and was published by the Western Miner and serialized in 1949 and 1950.

Davis Sr. was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and two bars (the DSO is a military decoration of the United Kingdom and is awarded for distinguished service by officers in the armed forces, often in direct combat).

He ascended to the rank of major in the Canadian military, during the First World War. It was a defining moment in a prolific career that spanned decades. He was the first commanding officer of the Canadian 3rd Tunneling Company.

“During his career, he managed mining operations in all parts of the province and at various times engaged in consulting practice. He was equally well known to the prospector, miner, operator, and promoter,” The Western Miner, 1949.

He joined the Royal Canadian Engineers in 1914 and was part of several key operations. Following his discharge from the military, he worked briefly for the provincial government and a multitude of companies before settling with the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Ltd. (Cominco).

Cominco was a familiar entity to Davis who worked for the company in 1910, before the First World War, managing their Red Rose tungsten property in Hazelton. He also worked as an exploration engineer, eventually becoming President of the Chamber of Mines of Eastern British Columbia.

One thing he makes a note of in the extensive accounting of his life is that he was willing to stick it out.

Davis Sr. got into a mix up with one of his employers at the Republic Mine (circa, 1899), early on in his mining adventures, and he mentions the advice of a co-worker. It was a sentiment that stuck to the wall for the entirety of his career and perhaps given, as a gesture to impart some wisdom to readers.

“Play the string out kid,” he said, “a quitter’s no good.” It appears he took that advice to heart and it served him well.

As a family man, Davis Sr. was a father to several children through two marriages (with a second marriage to Maria Giovanna Quadrallo, following the death of his first wife). There was a 25-year age gap between him and Maria, a beautiful Italian immigrant nurse, with a compelling story of her own.

“I think his first wife died, and then he met my mother, and they married in the 1920s. She was a nurse, who worked at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. She was in the graduating class of 1925, and her first daughter Mary (resulting from the union with Davis Sr.) was in the first class of St Paul’s in 1950,” said Angus Davis Jr., president of the board of directors for the Columbia Basin Institute of Regional History, and fourth born son of Angus and Maria.

Maria was a woman who had been born out of wedlock in northern Italy, and she had been adopted into a Canadian family. After experiencing trouble at home, she fled to a residential school in Kamloops, where she was taken in by the Catholic nuns. They encouraged her to study nursing, once she grasped the English language, and eventually, she excelled in her field, according to Davis Jr.

“My mother had a strong character. She had a rough time, but eventually she became a nurse,” he said. “Boy she was loud, but she was neat.”

It was because of Maria’s occupation that she met Angus. An engineering friend of Davis Sr. who had been a patient of hers told him that he had found the woman for him. Intrigued, Davis Sr. went to see this mysterious woman for himself. They were formally introduced, went out on a date at a restaurant called the Homesman, and they fell in love.

Two weeks later they were married (c. 1922-1925). The union produced four children with Davis Jr., being the youngest and now at 87 years old, the patriarch of the family.

“She married an old man (Davis Jr. was born in 1937, and Davis Sr. was 60), and during the Second World War, he was sent to Hazelton by Cominco to run the Red Rose mine, for the war effort. They needed a lot of tungsten, and he was there for four years, while my mother stayed in Nelson.”

Davis Sr. was insecure, knowing that his beautiful young bride was alone, and when he returned she had some news to share with him. This made him nervous, until his charming young wife, who had purchased an expensive baby grand piano in his absence and who was also apprehensive of her husband’s reaction to the purchase, confessed her transgression. They were both relieved, and then he said… “Is that all?”

Known to be a great storyteller, Davis Sr. was fond of telling tall yarns to all who would listen, especially his young son Davis Jr. (Davis Sr. passed away when Davis Jr. was only 11-years-old, in 1949).

“I remember being five or six and my dad told stories like when they were in a mining camp they needed a fourth card player for bridge and they would invite a grizzly bear up to the camp to be the fourth. He would just make up stories, and they would go on, and we would love to hear them. He was a neat guy; he was always full of stories.”

Davis Sr. also had a penchant for swearing, like all the good engineers of his day, and it was considered an infectious and charming affectation by those who knew him best.

“He could do it like a science, and he was one of those people who could get away with it. You’ve got to learn how to swear, but it just fit on him. ‘Son of a bitch’ was a favourite among engineers, and it suited him.”

It was advantageous for Davis Sr. that his connections in the mining industry helped propel his career forward when it seemed to be lacking in direction.

“He was going from one job to another job, and Selwyn G. Blaylock (then president of Cominco) happened to be a former classmate from McGill University. He helped my dad get a position with Cominco…Blaylock led a more devoted life in the fact that he didn’t drink a lot…he took over a ratty thing in Trail and built it into a worldwide operation, and he and my dad were friends.”

Drinking was a big part of Angus Sr.’s life until his death in 1949, and he squandered much of his earnings on this habit.

“I think he was hard on himself, more than he was good to himself. You can’t go through World War I, crawling around those hell holes with explosives, and not come out of there unscathed,” said Davis Jr.

His legacy will be remembered by his family and the memoirs he wrote, an important historical document, outlining the history of mining in British Columbia. It is a memoir told with insight, honesty, and humour on the trials, tribulations, and adventures of early hard rock mining, from the perspective of a legendary engineer, who experienced it firsthand.

– This piece was originally published by Columbia Basin Institute; click the link to see more images

e-KNOW

---

Article Share

---