Arthur Everitt Val Davies
Arthur Everitt Val Davies (1883-1949)
1950 Obituary [1]
"ARTHUR EVERITT VAL DAVIES, who was born at Grahamstown, South Africa, in 1883, was well known in South Africa as a prominent consulting engineer. He received his education at the Royal Technical College, Glasgow, and served his apprenticeship in that city with Messrs. Mayor and Coulson, Ltd (sic)., and Messrs. Duncan and Stewart, Ltd., between 1901 and 1905. After gaining further experience as shift engineer at the power station in Mexico City, he returned to South Africa, and was employed on the erection of gas engine plant. He then joined the staff of the City Deep Mine, as electrical engineer, and, a year later, was appointed city electrical engineer at Laurenco Marques.
In 1911 he became assistant maintenance superintendent to the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, Ltd., and, after holding this position for seven years, took up an appointment as assistant city electrical engineer, at Cape Town. In addition, he acted as consultant to the Port Elizabeth Town Council. He relinquished these appointments in 1924, and, going into business on his own account as a consulting engineer in Johannesburg, speedily established a large connection, being, eventually, adviser to no less than seventy-two municipalities in the Union and Northern and Southern Rhodesia. He was responsible for the construction of the first major electric power station in Rhodesia, and also for one of the first semi-automatic hydro-electric installations in the Union. Furthermore, he contributed greatly to the building up of the supply of electricity to districts not reached by other networks. Mr. Val Davies retired from active practice in 1945, and his death occurred on 6th July 1949. He was elected an Associate Member of the Institution in 1921, and was transferred to Membership four years later. He was also a Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers."