Davidson was born in Siston parish, Gloucestershire, England on 21 June 1812, and he died in New Farm, Brisbane on 7 November 1881, aged 69.
He was son of the landed proprietor of Warmley House, George Madgwick Davidson and his wife Elisabeth Francis.
Following the death of his wife Phoebe Georgiana Simmonds, Davidson, who had been proprietor of the Warmley Tower Potteries in Gloucestershire, migrated to Queensland.
He spent much of his time engaged in humanitarian aid and Christian (Anglican) mission amongst Melanesians and Aborigines in Brisbane and Moreton Bay district.
Henry Reynolds described him as "a persistent and passionate advocate for justice for the aborigines" and "an unrelenting opponent of the Pacific Island labour trade."