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Mansell Allan Davis
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Educator, realtor.
Born at Wiarton, Ontario on 10 March 1884, son of Thomas George Davis (1858-1907) and Miriam Patience Estella Earl (1864-1959), he grew up on the family farmstead and, at the age of 19, enrolled at Hamilton Normal College. Upon graduation, he moved to Manitoba and attained his first-class teaching certificate in 1905. He taught at Selkirk School (1905, Assistant Principal), Richard School (1906), and Rathwell School (1906), after which he was Principal of Baldur School (1906-1907) and Oakwood School (1907).
He moved to Winnipeg and took up legal studies for one year before entering the real estate sector. Around this time, he briefly returned to the classroom, teaching night school (1909) at Cecil Rhodes School in the Winnipeg School Division and was a Commissioner for Affidavits (1909) for the Province of Manitoba. He lived at 827 Dorchester Street in Winnipeg (c1910-1911) and married Elizabeth Jane “Bessie” Lakie (1884-1914, adopted daughter of Francis Albert Schultz) at Baldur on 15 June 1910. They sold their Winnipeg residence in October 1911 and traveled towards Alberta, visiting family in Saskatchewan along the way. Within 10 months, they returned to Baldur for the birth of their daughter, Margaret Enid Davis (1912-2009, wife of John B. Hromadka).
Returning to Winnipeg, he acquired a residence at 365 Yale Avenue and worked as the Managing Director of the Buildings Mortgage and Finance Company Limited (1912) and was President (and co-founder, with Ralph P. McGreevy) of the firm Davis & McGreevy (later the McGreevy Land Company) in 1911, in addition to being a founding member of the Western Canada Mortgage Company Limited (1912). He also involved himself in civic affairs, running in December 1913 for a seat on the Winnipeg city council (Ward One) but was defeated by Arthur L. Bond. Following the election, when city administration proposed hosting a party for Members of the Legislative Assembly, he went though the legal process of obtaining a court injunction against the proposed expenditures. The contested suit was elevated to the Court of Appeals, at which he lost the decision and was assessed court costs. Around the same time, his firm of Davis & McGreevy was taken to Police Court on the charge of faking a property deed. Limited data suggests that his local business interests were abandoned into 1915.
By 1919, he emigrated to the United States and lived in California, where he died on 15 February 1972.
Birth and marriage registrations, Manitoba Vital Statistics.
Ontario birth and death registrations, Ancestry.
1901 & 1911 Canada censes, Library and Archives Canada.
“Teachers’ exams,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 December 1905, page 2.
“Personal [M. A. Davis],” Winnipeg Tribune, 17 April 1906, page 10.
“Locals [Mr. Davis of Rathwell],” Baldur Gazette, 2 August 1906, page 8.
“Locals [Otto Schultz],” Baldur Gazette, 16 May 1907, page 8.
“Locals [Principal M. A. Davis],” Baldur Gazette, 23 May 1907, page 8.
“Many new commissioners,” Winnipeg Tribune, 5 July 1909, page 8.
“Many attend night school,” Winnipeg Tribune, 19 October 1909, page 17.
“Wanted,” Winnipeg Tribune, 6 May 1911, page 13.
“Davis & McGreevy,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 July 1911, page 17.
“Personals [M. Allan Davis],” Manitoba Free Press, 28 October 1911, page 25.
“Agreements for sale purchased,” Winnipeg Tribune, 27 January 1912, page 15.
“Letters Patent to new corporations [Western Canada Mortgage Company],” Manitoba Free Press, 14 October 1912, page 9.
“The nominations,” Winnipeg Tribune, 2 December 1913, page 1.
“Your vote and influence are solicited for M. Allan Davis,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 December 1913, page 2.
“After Ward One honours,” Winnipeg Tribune, 3 December 1913, page 5.
“Mayor urges citizens to vote,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 December 1913, page 1.
“Injunction asked in connection with civic banquet,” Winnipeg Tribune, 11 February 1914, page 1.
“That civic banquet,” Winnipeg Tribune, 13 February 1914, page 9.
“Obituaries [Elizabeth Jane Davis],” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 March 1914, page 6.
“Launch work October 1, is plan,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 23 May 1914, page 1.
“‘Civic banquet’ suit costs are hung on kicker,” Winnipeg Tribune, 9 January 1915, page 1.
“LaPlume gets $1,500 refunded,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 14 January 1915, page 3.
“Accuses local realty men of faking a deed,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 3 February 1915, page 1.
“Two real estate men under arrest,” Manitoba Free Press, 4 February 1915, page 4.
“Case adjourned on Counsel's remark,” Manitoba Free Press, 9 March 1915, page 14.
“Realty men get remand,” Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 10 February 1915, page 3.
“Manitoba - The Real Property Act,” Manitoba Free Press, 15 March 1916, page 3.
“Questions jurisdiction,” Manitoba Free Press, 18 March 1915, page 14.
Manitoba Court of Appeal indexes and files (ATG 0168), #7/1914 - M. A. Davis vs. W. Wright, GR0727, Archives of Manitoba.
Manitoba Court of Appeal indexes and files (ATG 0168), #64/1914 - M. A. Davis vs. Winnipeg City, GR0727, Archives of Manitoba.
Social Security data [Mansell A. Davis], BillionGraves.
United States Obituary collection, Margaret Enid Hromadka, Ancestry.
United States Naturalization records, Margaret Enid Davis, Ancestry.
JKJKL family tree, Ancestry.
This page was prepared by Nathan Kramer and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 29 November 2022
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