C. G. Finch-Davies
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soldier, ornithologist and painter who produced a series of paintings of birds of South Africa in the early part of the 20th century.
Life history
He was born in DelhiDelhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, the third child and eldest son of Major-General Sir William and Lady Elizabeth B. Davies née Field. His father later became Governor of Delhi and was awarded the Order of the Star of India
Order of the Star of India
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria in 1861. The Order includes members of three classes:# Knight Grand Commander # Knight Commander # Companion...
, while his mother was said to be an expert on Indian snakes. At the age of six, in keeping with the custom of the time, Davies was sent to school in England, where his scholastic performance was unenthusiastic.
Having finished his schooling, Davies joined the Cape Mounted Riflemen
Cape Mounted Riflemen
The Cape Mounted Riflemen were South African military units. There were two separate successive regiments of that name. Some military historians distinguish between them by labelling the first as "imperial" and the second as "colonial"....
in 1893 at their recruiting office in London. In that same year his regiment saw service in Pondoland in South Africa. They were sent there to keep the peace after that territory had been annexed by the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
. As a professional soldier Davies was posted to various remote places in the Eastern Cape, and this fostered an interest in natural history and in particular, birdlife. Within a year or two, he was collecting bird specimens and starting sketches and paintings. In his field sketchbooks he provided copious notes about each species he illustrated - at first his own field observations, but later augmented by information culled from books and scientific journals. His style of painting rapidly evolved to show great detail in the plumage while retaining a life-like appearance. By 1905 he had produced some 200 paintings of consistently high quality.
1897 - 1913
In 1897 Private 1st Class CG Davies, with 15 others of his regiment, was sent to London to attend the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and was promoted to corporal on his return to South Africa. The outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War shortly after, put his birding interests on hold, but on the positive side, afforded him the opportunity of extensive travel in southern Africa. Even without the leisure time to paint, he continued to observe, make notes and collect the odd specimen. With the end of the War in 1902, he returned to Pondoland and promotion to sergeant. The next twelve years of relative peace saw Davies' improvement as artist and ornithologist. He explored the Eastern CapeEastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
thoroughly and produced paintings at the rate of about one a week. His completed sketchbooks were sent to his mother in England for safe-keeping, and she transcribed his pencilled notes and had unidentified species
labelled by the British Museum (Natural History). He began contributing to scientific journals - his first article on Pondoland birds in the initial volume of the newly formed South African Ornithologists' Union, of which he was a founder member.
The President of the Ornithologists' Union at that time was Alwin Haagner
Alwin Karl Haagner
Dr Alwin Karl Haagner was a South African ornithologist.Haagner worked in the Transvaal Museum from 1906, where he started the museum's great ornithological collection...
, who was an assistant at the Transvaal Museum
Transvaal Museum
""The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa....
. He and Davies came to know each other through the many bird specimens he sold and donated to the Museum. Haagner used Davies' illustrations to accompany several articles describing new forms and species. At about this time Davies made the acquaintance of Major Boyd Horsbrugh
Boyd Robert Horsbrugh
Boyd Robert Horsbrugh was an English ornithologist and military man, best known for his 1912 book The Gamebirds and Waterfowl of South Africa, a collaborative work with Claude Gibney Finch-Davies.-Early life:...
who was searching for a competent artist to illustrate a book he had been working on. This collaboration led to the publishing of The Game-Birds and Waterfowl of South Africa in 1912, which besides the colour plates by Davies, incorporated many of his observations.
In 1910 with the formation of the Union of South Africa, Davies' regiment, now called the 1st South African Mounted Riflemen, was reposted to Matatiele in East Griqualand. Here he fell under the spell of the raptors
Bird of prey
Birds of prey are birds that hunt for food primarily on the wing, using their keen senses, especially vision. They are defined as birds that primarily hunt vertebrates, including other birds. Their talons and beaks tend to be relatively large, powerful and adapted for tearing and/or piercing flesh....
and devoted his entire twentieth sketchbook, and seven more of his final ten, to this group of birds. He consulted career ornithologists such as William Robert Ogilvie-Grant
William Robert Ogilvie-Grant
William Robert Ogilvie-Grant was a Scottish ornithologist.-Career:Ogilvie-Grant was educated at Cargilfield and Fettes College, Edinburgh, where he studied zoology and anatomy. In 1882 he became an Assistant at the Natural History Museum. He studied ichthyology under Albert C. L. G...
at the British Museum about difficulties. This productive period of his life was once more interrupted by a declaration of hostilities - the First World War.
1914 - 1920
Davies' regiment was despatched to Port NollothPort Nolloth
Port Nolloth is a town and domestic seaport in the Namaqualand region on the northwestern coast of South Africa, 89 miles northwest of Springbok....
near the southern border of German South-West Africa
German South-West Africa
German South West Africa was a colony of Germany from 1884 until 1915, when it was taken over by South Africa and administered as South West Africa, finally becoming Namibia in 1990...
. After an initial skirmish, the regiment's orders were to patrol the border, part of which ran along the Kalahari Desert
Kalahari Desert
The Kalahari Desert is a large semi-arid sandy savannah in Southern Africa extending , covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, as semi-desert, with huge tracts of excellent grazing after good rains. The Kalahari supports more animals and plants than a true desert...
. Quite by chance, Davies could once more indulge in a population of bird species which were, for the greater part, new to him. By another stroke of good fortune his Medical Officer was Dr. Louis Clifford Thompson, a fellow birding enthusiast and the owner of a small library which Davies frequently consulted. During this period Davies started corresponding with Austin Roberts
Austin Roberts
Austin Roberts was a South African zoologist. He is best known for his Birds of South Africa, first published in 1940. He also studied the mammalian fauna of the region: his work The mammals of South Africa was published posthumously in 1951...
of the Transvaal Museum. The regiment returned fleetingly to the Orange River Colony
Orange River Colony
The Orange River Colony was the British colony created after this nation first occupied and then annexed the independent Orange Free State in the Second Boer War...
to suppress a minor rebellion, after which they were ordered to Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay , is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies...
. On arrival Davies was promoted to lieutenant. The German troops surrendered on 1 July 1915. Shortly after the German surrender, Davies travelled to Cape Town for medical attention, returning to South West Africa early in 1916. It is more than likely that he met his future wife Aileen Singleton Finch, daughter of Captain W Finch, who was head of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, on the Cape Town visit, because he returned there and married Aileen on 4 August 1916. From that date on they were known as Finch-Davies.
By 1918 Finch-Davies was publishing papers on the birds of the towns of Okahandja
Okahandja
Okahandja is a town of 14,000 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the Garden Town of Namibia. It is located 70km north of Windhoek on the B1 road...
and Outjo
Outjo
Outjo is a city of 6,000 inhabitants in the Kunene Region of Namibia. It is the district capital of Outjo Constituency...
in what is now Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
. He was still supplying specimens to the Transvaal Museum in exchange for access to their journals and preserved specimens, despite the difficulties due to his remote posting. The good news that his regiment was soon to return to South Africa, prompted him to take a month's leave so that he could visit Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay
Walvis Bay , is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies...
, to study the profusion of coastal birds there.
By early 1919 he was stationed at Roberts Heights just outside Pretoria. By now the couple had two children - a son and a recently born daughter. Despite Aileen's chagrin at his preoccupation with birds, Finch-Davies continued to put in long hours at the Transvaal Museum library. In January 1920 the Museum found that Finch-Davies had removed some 230 plates from reference books which he had consulted. In May 1920 Breijer, director of the Transvaal Museum, received a letter from Louis Péringuey
Louis Péringuey
Louis Albert Péringuey was a South African entomologist who specialised in Coleoptera and prehistorian.He was Director of the South African Museum in Cape Town from 1906 to his sudden death in 1924....
, director of the South African Museum in Cape Town, in which he disclosed that some 130 plates were missing from their reference books. Despite the Museum's not preferring charges, the incident became public knowledge. Finch-Davies' paintings were held as security by the Museum until such time as he could pay for the replacement of the damaged books. Even though his actions were considered impulsive and that his judgement had been clouded by his obsession with illustrating birds, the damage done to his reputation was irreparable. Finch-Davies was transferred to Cape Town where Aileen, who had produced a second son in June 1920, joined him. It was evident to all who knew him, that Finch-Davies was suffering severe emotional distress. On the morning of 4 August 1920 he was found dead in his bed by his orderly. The cause of his death was recorded as angina pectoris. He was accorded a military funeral and interred at Maitland Cemetery in Cape Town.
Austin Roberts
Austin Roberts
Austin Roberts was a South African zoologist. He is best known for his Birds of South Africa, first published in 1940. He also studied the mammalian fauna of the region: his work The mammals of South Africa was published posthumously in 1951...
edited Roberts Birds of South Africa in 1940 and Our South African Birds
Our South African Birds
Our South African Birds is an album of South African birds published in 1941. Printed in English and Afrikaans, it was issued with spaces for 150 cigarette cards distributed by a consortium of tobacco companies....
in 1941, and it is readily apparent http://www.sabirdstamps.com/Articles/claude_gibney_finch%203.htm that the illustrations in these books are copies of the Finch-Davies plates held by the Transvaal Museum
Transvaal Museum
""The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa....
.
Books
- Roberts Birds of South Africa (1940) - Austin Roberts (editor); uncredited use of plates by Finch-Davies
- Our South African BirdsOur South African BirdsOur South African Birds is an album of South African birds published in 1941. Printed in English and Afrikaans, it was issued with spaces for 150 cigarette cards distributed by a consortium of tobacco companies....
(1941) - Austin Roberts (editor); uncredited use of plates by Finch-Davies - The Paintings of Norman Lighton for Roberts Birds of South Africa - A. V. Bird (editor); 'Lighton acknowledges influence of Finch-Davies', otherwise uncredited use of plates by Finch-Davies
- Gamebirds and Waterfowl of South Africa - Major Boyd Horsbrugh & Claude Gibney Davies (Winchester Press, Johannesburg 1978) ISBN 0-620-03017-8
- The Birds of Prey of Southern Africa - C.G. Finch-Davies and Dr.A.C. Kemp (Winchester Press, Johannesburg 1980) ISBN 0-620-04578-7
- The Birds Paintings of C.G. Finch-Davies - Introduction by Dr.A.C. Kemp (Winchester Press, Johannesburg 1984) ISBN 0-620-07459-0
- A Celebration of Birds (Natural History Books, Johannesburg 1990) ISBN 0-620-14819-5