David Davies (industrialist)

David Davies (18 December 1818 – 20 July 1890) was a Welsh industrialist and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1874 and 1886. Davies was often known as David Davies Llandinam (from the place of his birth, Llandinam in Powys), to differentiate him from others of the same name. He is best remembered today for founding Barry Docks.

Davies was the son of David Davies and his wife Elizabeth and the eldest of nine children. He attended the day school at Llandinam but was primarily self-educated. He began work as a sawyer and went into agriculture, working alongside his father who died when David was twenty, leaving him to take charge of the family. He was successful from an early age and in 1848 took over a larger farm called Tynymaen, which later became the home farm of the Plasdinam estate. Two years later he took over a further holding, Gwerneirin.

His first enterprise was the building of a bridge over the Severn at Llandinam. He soon built a reputation as a contractor and was responsible for the building of numerous roads and bridges. From 1855 he was involved in the construction of the Llanidloes and Newtown Railway, which eventually opened in 1859. This line was unusual in that at neither terminus did it connect with any other railway, and the engines and carriages had to be carried on specially constructed wagons from Oswestry, 36 miles away. Together with partners such as Thomas Savin, Davies built the Vale of Clwyd Railway (opened in 1858 ), the Oswestry and Newtown Railway (1861), the Newtown and Machynlleth Railway (1862) and the Pembroke and Tenby Railway ( 18630, which was extended to Whitland in 1866. His greatest achievement was the section of the Manchester and Milford Railway from Pencader to Aberystwyth, which opened in 1867. This included the very difficult crossing of Tregaron Bog in the construction of the line between Lampeter and Aberystwyth in 1866. It is reputed that he bought up the entire year's production of sheep fleeces in Ceredigion to lay as a foundation for the railway line on the bog. He later became a director of the Brecon and Merthyr Railway.

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