Davey, Frederick John

DAVEY, Frederick John (1850–1913) was born at Illogan, Cornwall, England, only son of Thomas Davey, a rope and later powder manufacturer, and Anna A Heynes. He trained as an architect before migrating at a young age to New Zealand. At Auckland he worked for the Harbour Works Board and married Robinah Jane Hooper in 1872. After he moved to Sydney, he is said to have worked for James Barnet, the New South Wales Colonial Architect. Suffering from ill-health he was advised to quit office work and settle in the country. He moved to the Tweed district where he entered partnership with his brother-in-law Henry Pery on a cane plantation at Tumbulgum. After losing heavily, he moved to Terranora in c1883 where he was an early architect practising on Queensland’s border with New South Wales. Remaining at his property Mighbynfor the rest of his life, he was active in public affairs with the Tweed Heads and Terranora Progress Association, and as an expert wood carver, a contributor of illustrated stories to England magazines, and as an expert photographer of wildflowers which he submitted to JH Maiden, curator of the Sydney Botanic Gardens for classification. His work in the Tweed district included an early landmark, the Tweed Heads Literary Institute. Davey probably also designed buildings across the border at Coolangatta, Qld.