Edward William Davies

In July 1876, Davies appeared in court on a charge of seduction brought against him by William Thorpe, a farmer, on behalf of his daughter Rosina.

He eventually resigned as rate collector in August 1888 after protesting that "from the very illiberal manner his demands had received in many quarters since starting in July, in consequence no doubt of the general depression, he felt that his talents were not equal to the occasion.

With the onset of a gold rush in Western Australia 1893, Davies’ property investments paid dividends and he was elected to Fremantle Municipal Council.

In July 1894 he was also elected to the colony's Legislative Council, and in 1897 his profile appeared in W. B. Kimberly's History of West Australia: A narrative of her past, together with biographies of its leading men.

Davies carried out his initial public duties without attracting comment, but on the night of 17 May 1901, he delivered a furious outburst to a Fremantle Municipal Council meeting.

Then in May 1903, Davies tried to send a long telegram to Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies in London, explaining his Royal origins and claiming the throne of England and a multi-million-pound fortune.

The jury, however, were unanimous in finding Davies of unsound mind, but in deference to Sherard's instructions they gave the date of his first insanity as 14 June 1903.

The foreman explained to the Master after they presented their finding that ‘he and others of the jury were among Mr Davies’ old friends’, and that they were anxious that he be treated in a private hospital, not the lunatic asylum.

His obituary mentioned only his business successes, his election to public office, and that he died at his residence in Beaconsfield on 25 January after a long illness.