Davidson, John Ewen   (1841 - 1923)

Born on 2 March 1841 in London, UK; died on 2 September 1923 at Oxford, UK.

He was educated Harrow School and Oxford, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1862.

After a trip to the West Indies and British Guiana he came to Australia in 1865.

He began as a sugar planter at Bellenden Plains on the Murray River north of Cardwell in Far North Queensland.

According to his own diary entries, Davidson was involved in frequent mass shootings of Aboriginal people in this area as he tried to establish his sugar plantation.

After his plantation at Bellenden Plains was destroyed by a flood in late 1866, Davidson sold out of the area.

He relocated to Mackay in 1867 and set-up the cotton and sugar plantation 'Alexandra' together with Thomas Henry Fitzgerald. He investigated new varieties of sugar cane and methods of production and visited many other areas in the world over his career. Building the first iron mill in the district in 1868, they proved sugar commercially viable.

Around 1900, he returned with his family for his retirement to England, and died there at his Oxford home on 2 September 1923.

Although there appears to be no records in AVH of him collecting herbarium specimens, he is of interest for presumably having the genus 'Davidsonia' named in his honour by Fedinand von Mueller in 1867.

In Latin Mueller (1867) wrote:

"Generi tam ad Spiraeopsidem quam ad Gumilleam accedenti assigno nomen praeclari cultivatoris Davidson, qui primus in loco detectionis plantationes sacchari extensas paravit."

"To the genus, which is related to both Spiraeopsis and Gumillea, I assign the name of the illustrious cultivator Davidson, who was the first to prepare extensive sugar plantations at the place of discovery."

Source: Extracted from:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/davidson-john-ewen-5902
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ewen_Davidson
Pers.Comm. A.Monro - M.Fagg (12/1/2026)
Pers.Comm. A.Schmidt-Lebuhn - M.Fagg (20.6.2025)
Portrait Photo: Cairns Post Friday 24 December 1923 A SUGAR PIONEER via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ewen_Davidson