Thomas Davis was a Church of England

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...

 clergy

Clergy

Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....

man and hymn writer.

Life

The son of the Rev. Richard Francis Davis DD

Doctor of Divinity

Doctor of Divinity is an advanced academic degree in divinity. Historically, it identified one who had been licensed by a university to teach Christian theology or related religious subjects....

 (ca. 1766–1844), by his marriage to Sarah Stable, Davis was born at Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

, where his father had been Rector

Rector

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

 since 1795, and was educated at Queen's College, Oxford, graduating 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...

 in 1832. He later proceeded Master of Arts

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

. In 1833 Davis was ordained a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 and became his father's curate

Curate

A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...

 at Worcester, and in 1840 he was appointed Vicar

Vicar

In the broadest sense, a vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior . In this sense, the title is comparable to lieutenant...

 of Roundhay

Roundhay

Roundhay is a large suburb and City Council ward of north-east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, largely within the LS8 postcode. The ward boundary is the A6120 ring road on the north and the A58 Wetherby Road on the south and east. The boundary follows Gledhow Valley Road to the west before heading...

 near Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. Davis's father died at the age of seventy-eight on Christmas Day, 1844, of "a violent cold".

On 10 December 1839, at Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...

, Davis married Christiana Maria Hobbes, a daughter of Robert Hobbes, attorney-at-law, and between 1843 and 1851 they had six children, Christiana F., Arthur Sladen, Henry Champney, Mary Sarah, Harriet Albina, and Emily Judith. Davis died on 11 November 1887 at Heslington

Heslington

Heslington is a suburban village and civil parish within the City of York, in North Yorkshire, England, south-east of the centre of York. Prior to 1974, it was a village in the Derwent Rural District, which was part of the East Riding of Yorkshire...

, Yorkshire, aged eighty-three, while his widow survived him until 1899.

Davis's daughter Harriet Albina (1850–1892) married Francis Martineau Lupton of Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, whose daughter Olive Christiana Lupton (1881–1936) was the grandmother of Michael Francis Middleton, father of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Pippa Middleton

Pippa Middleton

Philippa Charlotte "Pippa" Middleton is an English party planner, socialite and younger sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge...

.

Publications

• Devotional Verse for a Month, &c. (1855)
• Songs for the Suffering (1859)
• Endless Sufferings not the Doctrine of Scripture (1866)

Davis's notable hymns include Sing, ye seraphs in the sky and O Paradise eternal!