DAVIS, HENRY WILLIAM CARLESS, C.B.E. (1874 1928), British historian, a son of H. F. A. Davis of Stroud, Gloucestershire, was born on Jan. 13, 1874 and educated at Weymouth college and Balliol college, Oxford. He was a fellow of All Souls (1895-1902), and of Balliol (1902-21). During the World War he served in the War Trade Intelligence Depart ment, and after attending the Peace Conference, directed the Overseas Trade Department. In 1921 Davis was appointed pro fessor of modern history at Manchester and in 1925 he returned to Oxford as regius professor of modern history. He became, in addition, curator of the Bodleian Library in 1926. He was made director of the Dictionary of National Biograpky, when, in 1902, the copyright of that work passed to the Clarendon Press. Davis's historical work was chiefly done in the mediaeval field and found expression in his England under the Normans and Angevins (1905), Mediaeval Europe (191 1), a revised edition of the Select Charters of William Stubbs (1913) • and Mediaeval England (1924). The calendar of Anglo-Norman Royal Charters, 1066 11 S4, was not completed, owing to the difficulty of obtaining literary assistance during the World War. Davis was able to finish only the first volume (1913).
The considered judgment, exact scholarship and constructive imagination shown in his England under the Normans and Angevins brought him into prominence as an authority on medi aeval history. This work was remarkable for its appreciation of the true position held by England in the period dealt with, and marks a definite advance in historical scholarship. His Mediaeval Europe, though showing a masterly knowledge of the period, was written rather for the general public than for the serious student. After the outbreak of war, Davis's writings on subjects connected with modern political thought (The Political Thought of Treit schke [1914], and various articles) demonstrated his skill in the delineation of character and the exposition of policy, and he brought to this work in a very different field the same character istic ability and thoroughness which had made his mediaeval studies famous. He was exceptionally gifted as a tutor, par ticularly for those who, themselves, intended to become teachers. Davis died of pneumonia on June 28, 1928, in Edinburgh, where he had gone to conduct an examination.
He contributed several articles to this Encyclopedia.