Major Charles Edward Davis was an architect active, particularly in Bath, England, from the mid-19th until the early-20th century.
He was born on 29 August 1827 near Bath, the son of Bath architect, Edward Davis and his wife, Dorothy (née Walker), a widower.
His career began as his father's pupil and by 1863 he was appointed city architect and surveyor to the corporation of Bath, a post he held for close to forty years.
He was especially noted for his work on the mineral baths, for blending the right amount of antiquarian spirit with utility, and advised other English corporations who owned similiar natural spas.
In addition to his work for the corporation of Bath, Davis also had a private practice from which he designed and restored several Somerset churches and also worked on local area schools and hotels.
In 1883 he published his Mineral Baths of Bath: the Bath of Bathes Ayde in the Reign of Charles II and The Excavations of the Roman Baths at Bath (9th edn, 1887; first published in Transactions of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, 8, 1883–4, pp. 89–113) as well as several pamphlets on the topic. He died at his home, Dinmore, 18 Bathwick Hill, Bath, on 10 May 1902 and was survived by his wife, Selina Anne (nee Howarth), whom he had married in 1858, and with whom he had no children.
Bibliography
Cunliffe, Barry, 'Major Davis : architect and antiquarian'. Bath History, 1 (1986), pp. 27-60.
Dictionary of Scottish Architects, DSA Architect Biography Report , 'Charles Edward Davis' <http://www.codexgeo.co.uk/dsa/architect_full.php?id=M002625> [accessed 8 January 2008]
Waterhouse, Paul, ‘Davis, Charles Edward (1827–1902)’, rev. John Elliott, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) <http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32745> [accessed 8 January 2008]