Fellowships

Sir Victor Caddy Davies was born in New Plymouth on 3 May 1887 and was the fifth child of William Bolland Davies, a farmer and seedsman and his Canadian born wife, Arabella Belinda James. Victor left Frankley Road School, on the outskirts of New Plymouth, at the age of 14 and was apprenticed, at 5/- per week, to James Duncan, a local nurseryman who at that time grew hedging, fruit trees and popular shrubs. Due to an accident (diving), James Duncan had lost a large part of his hearing and so it was left to Victor to attend to the customers at the nursery and visitors at shows and exhibitions. Once his apprenticeship was complete, Victor was engaged as a journeyman and soon became foreman with a winter staff of 12 with choice trees, shrubs and New Zealand natives being sent to various parts of New Zealand.

The business thrived and in 1910 Victor became a partner and the company became known as Duncan and Davies Nurserymen, New Plymouth. In 1914 the business was formed into a limited liability company, Duncan and Davies Ltd with both partners having an equal share. James Duncan died later that year and Victor took over the running of the firm as James Duncan's sons were too young to do so. In due course the sons did take over their father's interest in the company.

Victor was a keen territorial soldier and he served as a sergeant in the 3rd New Zealand (Rifle) Brigade in France in 1918 and as warrant officer with the army of occupation in Germany, where he lectured on horticulture for the New Zealand occupied area. This position gave great opportunities to study afforestation work in the German and French zones, and the experience was of great value in later years. In Victor's absence, Duncan and Davies Ltd was managed by Mr Bob Davies (Victor's brother), with the assistance of the secretary, Miss Dorothy Ella Ruebe.

Victor returned home in 1919 to build up an export businesss in both indigenous and exotic plants. Duncan and Davies Ltd soon began to export large consignments of seeds and plants, including a 3.5 tonne consignment of Pinus radiata seeds and a train-load of Phormium tenax (flax) roots, to botanical gardens and merchants in Britain, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland and many other parts of the world.

On 21 February 1922, at St Mary's Church, New Plymouth, Victor Caddy Davies married Dorothy Ella Ruebe, the daughter of a Prussian father and an Irish mother. They had three daughters and two sons, Brenda, Colleen, Trevor, Ngaire and Neville, both boys following their father into the firm. A staunch Anglican, Victor had close association with St Mary's, his paternal grandparents who had arrived in New Plymouth in 1841 were buried in the churchyard and Victor supervised the maintenance and planting of trees in its grounds.

Victor was responsible for selecting many of the best cultivars of New Zealand indigenous flora, including the yellow Pohutukawa and Chelsea Flower Show winning Leptospermums. He was a foundation member of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust (1951) and through his membership of the Barrett Doman Board, the Rotary Club of New Plymouth and the Taranaki Scenic Reserves Board he encouraged the planting of shrubs and trees throughout the New Plymouth and the Taranaki district. Among the most notable plantings was that of 200 giant American Coastal Redwoods at Lucy's Gully, near Oakura on the slopes of Mt Egmont (Taranaki). In 1936 Victor arranged for each primary school in Taranaki to plant a Kauri tree to mark Arbor Day. Three times president of the New Zealand Horticultural Trades Association (now known as the “New Zealand Nursery Industry Association”), Victor also belonged to the Californian Nurserymens Association, the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture, the New Plymouth Floral Festivals Inc and was a board member on the Saratoga Horticultural Foundation. In the 1940's Duncan and Davies expanded and the total nursery area was approximately 100 acres with a winter staff of over 100 employees. Apprenticeship exchanges were frequent with Kew Gardens in London and also many Australian institutions.

In 1946 Victor bought the Duncan family shares and the company then became a Davies family owned company. Duncan and Davies continued to flourish under Victor's management. In the 1970's the nursery moved to its present site approximately 10km north of New Plymouth.

Victor received a number of honours during his lifetime. He was made an OBE in 1954 and was awarded life memberships of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association and the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticuluture. In 1966 he received the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society, London and in 1968 he was awarded the Loder Cup for his work in protecting and cultivating New Zealand native flora. Duncan and Davies had been the inaugural winner of this award in 1929 for an exhibition of 500 New Zealand plants named and labelled with their appropriate growing conditions.

Victor retired in 1964 but remained a governing director of the firm. By 1973 it had over 170 employees working on 240 acres and growing 2.5 million plants, and had become the largest exporter and importer of shrubs in Australia and New Zealand. Victor was made a Knight Bachelor in 1977. He died in New Plymouth on 26 March 1977, survived by his wife and children. In November of that year the Sir Victor Davies Foundation for Research into Ornamental Horticulture was established to further the work of the horticultural industry. In New Plymouth he is commemorated by the Sir Victor Davies Park in the middle of the city, a gesture instigated by the local Rotary clubs.

In 1975/76 Trevor Davies retired from Duncan and Davies due to ill health. Neville Davies then took over as Managing Director of the company, being responsible for its operations. In the early 1980's outside corporate shareholders bought into the company and eventually Neville Davies left the company in 1985. The Davies family shares were then sold to the remaining company shareholders.

Victor Davies was New Zealand's foremost nurseryman and authority on trees and shrubs of his era and his influence on tree growing and horticulture was considerable. Horticulturists trained by his firm adopted his methods and attitudes especially his commitment to quality production when they began their own enterprizes.