M. C. Davies

Born in London, he emigrated to Tasmania with his family as a child, and later moved to Blackwood in the Victorian goldfields, then to Melbourne and Adelaide.

His venture was a financial success, and by 1867 he was operating as a general commission agent and merchant in Adelaide, specialising in the supply of hardwood timber to the railway and construction industries.

Davies was involved in the difficult task of contracting for timber, and during this time he became interested in the large forests of jarrah and karri in Western Australia.

In 1875, he applied for a lease of 1,920 acres (780 ha) of forest in Bunbury, and the following year was granted a licence to cut timber.

He eventually obtained timber rights in 1882, and over the following years he consolidated with numerous additional land purchases and licences.

Jetties were built to enable loading of ships in Hamelin and Flinders Bays, and the town of Karridale was established to house the hundreds of workers employed by Davies.

South African demand for timber had been seriously affected by the Second Boer War, and other overseas markets were flooded with jarrah and karri.

[1] He died at his home at St Georges Terrace, Perth on 10 May 1913 and was buried in the Jewish section of Karrakatta Cemetery.