Hugh Davies was a Welsh

Welsh people

The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

 botanist and Anglican

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 clergyman. He spent most of his professional life on the island of Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

 and published a treatise on the flora of the county, which was the first volume to cross-reference plant names in the Welsh language

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

 with their scientific names.

Life

Davies was born in the parish of Llandyfrydog

Llandyfrydog

Llandyfrydog is a village in Anglesey, in north-west Wales....

, Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, where his father was the rector

Rector

The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...

 of St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog

St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog

St Tyfrydog's Church, Llandyfrydog is a small medieval church, in Llandyfrydog, Anglesey, north Wales. The date of establishment of a church on this site is unknown, but one 19th-century Anglesey historian says that it was about 450...

. He was educated at Beaumaris grammar school

Ysgol David Hughes

Ysgol David Hughes is the largest Secondary School in Anglesey, Wales. It was founded in 1603, originally as a free Grammar School in Beaumaris. In 1963, with the local authority leading the way in introducing the comprehensive system, the school moved to Menai Bridge as a mixed comprehensive...

 and then went to Oxford, studying at Jesus College

Jesus College, Oxford

Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...

 as his father had done. He matriculated

Matriculation

Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...

 in 1757 and was awarded his Bachelor of Arts

Bachelor of Arts

A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree in 1762. After being ordained, he was a curate at Llangefni

Llangefni

Llangefni is the county town of Anglesey in Wales and contains the principal offices of the Isle of Anglesey County Council. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, the population of Llangefni was 4,662 people and it is the second largest settlement on the island...

 (1763–1766), Llanfaes

Llanfaes

Llanfaes is a small village on the island of Anglesey, Wales, located on the shore of the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from the north Wales coast.- History :...

 and Penmon (1766–1785) and Penmynydd

Penmynydd

Penmynydd is a village on Anglesey situated on a slight hill on the B5420 road between Menai Bridge and Llangefni, at...

 (1775–1778), all in Anglesey. He then became rector of Llandegfan

Llandegfan

Llandegfan is a village on the south of Anglesey, North Wales.The original village Hen Llandegfan was on the ancient way from the crossing of the Menai Strait at Porthaethwy via Pentraeth to Beaumaris...

 with Beaumaris in 1778, before his appointment as rector of Aber

Aber

Aber may refer to:in geography:* Aber * Abergwyngregyn, popularly known by the short form "Aber"* Aberystwyth, popularly known by the short form "Aber"* Aber Village in South Walesin transport:...

, Caernarvonshire in 1787. He resigned in 1816, although he had lived in Beaumaris because of his health since 1801. He died in Beaumaris in 1821 and was buried in the churchyard.

Botany

Davies was friends with Thomas Pennant

Thomas Pennant

Thomas Pennant was a Welsh naturalist and antiquary.The Pennants were a Welsh gentry family from the parish of Whitford, Flintshire, who had built up a modest estate at Bychton by the seventeenth century...

 from the time of his curacy in Llanfaes and Penmon, and would send him specimens. He travelled to the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

 in 1774 with Pennant, returning the following year by himself for a further review of the plant life on the island. He thereafter assisted authors with details of the natural history of Anglesey and Caernarvonshire, contributing material to Pennant's books British Zoology, Indian Zoology and Journey to Snowdon, William Hudson

William Hudson (botanist)

William Hudson FRS was a British botanist and apothecary based in London. His main work was Flora Anglica, published in 1762. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1761.- Life and work :...

's Flora Anglica, English Botany by James Sowerby

James Sowerby

James Sowerby was an English naturalist and illustrator. Contributions to published works, such as A Specimen of the Botany of New Holland or English Botany, include his detailed and appealing plates...

 and James Edward Smith

James Edward Smith

Sir James Edward Smith was an English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society.Smith was born in Norwich in 1759, the son of a wealthy wool merchant. He displayed a precocious interest in the natural world...

, Flora Britannica by Smith, and The Botanist's Guide through England and Wales by Dawson Turner

Dawson Turner

Dawson Turner was an English banker, botanist and antiquary.-Life:Turner was the son of James Turner, head of the Gurney and Turner's Yarmouth Bank and Elizabeth Cotman, the only daughter of the mayor of Yarmouth, John Cotman. He was educated at North Walsham Grammar School, Norfolk and at Barton...

 and Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Lewis Weston Dillwyn

Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Member of Parliament.He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn and Sarah Dillwyn...

. He was elected a Fellow

Fellow

A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...

 of the Linnean Society in 1790, with four of his papers being published in the society's journal. His main work was Welsh Botanology in 1813, which was the first work to cross-reference the names of plants in Welsh

Welsh language

Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

with their scientific names. Its treatment of the flora of Anglesey was also the first detailed consideration of the flora of a Welsh county, as opposed to the more common approach of that time of uncoordinated plant investigations. The book also contained what is still regarded as the most complete list of plant names in Welsh. Davies was commemorated by the genus Daviesia (Leguminosae), named after him by Smith in 1798.