Walter Edward Davidson - Governor of Seychelles and Newfoundland

Governor of Seychelles and Newfoundland

In mid 1904 he was appointed as Governor of the Seychelles, which had become a separate colony from Mauritius in 1903. On 21 October 1907 he married Margaret Agnes Feilding, who was the daughter of General Sir Percy Feilding. As Governor Davidson involved himself in the development of the new colony and made regular visits throughout the colony to increase the visibility of his role. During his administration he was responsible for the construction of the Le Niol Reservoir, the Carnegie Library and also for the design of the Colonial State House of which he was the first occupant. In 1911 he received the King George V Coronation Medal. He served until his promotion in 1912.

On 15 January 1913 he was appointed as Governor of the Dominion of Newfoundland. For his long service, in 1914 he was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG). During the First World War, Davidson helped direct Newfoundland's military effort in his role as Chairman of the Newfoundland Patriotic Association, and was very influential in public affairs. As Honorary Colonel of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and as Commander-in-Chief of the Newfoundland Forces, he played an active role in recruitment and organisation. His term expired and he left Newfoundland in 1917 just as the financial situation for Newfoundland was in sharp decline, and the political consensus over which he and the prime minister, Sir Edward Morris, had presided since 1914, was breaking down.