Papers of Captain H. Leighton Davies (1894-1980)

Scope and Content

Church in Wales; Justice of the Peace; Swansea Pilotage Authority; Local Government; miscellanea; Baldwins Ltd. and Richard Thomas and Baldwins; Welsh Tinplate Industry; Welsh Tinplate and Sheet Trades Joint Industrial Council; the Steel Company of Wales Ltd; South Wales Siemens Steel Association; Industry in South Wales; Wales and Monmouthshire Industrial Estates Ltd; Welsh Industrial Estates Management Corporation; Welsh Board for Industry; British Petroleum Company; Trade and Transport in Wales; Iron and Steel Industry; British Iron and Steel Corporation Ltd; Iron and Steel Institute; British Iron and Steel Research Association; British Iron and Steel Federation; the Tinplate Industry; Filing Boxes

Administrative / Biographical History

Captain H. Leighton Davies, the son of Sir John and Lady Davies, was born in Griffithstown (co. Mon.), in 1894. Sir John Davies, who began his working life as a furnaceman, rose to become Managing Director of Baldwins Ltd, a position into which he was to be followed by his son. This collection of papers reflects not only Captain Leighton Davies's role as a leading Welsh industrialist for almost 50 years but also his involvement in the life of the local community of Swansea and Gower. Appointed General Manager of the steel and tinplate divisions of Baldwins Ltd. in 1921, he became General Manager of Richard Thomas and Baldwins Ltd. in 1945. On the formation of the Steel Company of Wales in 1947, Captain Leighton Davies was appointed to the Board of Directors with the position of Assistant Managing Director. From 1955 to 1965 he was Chairman of the Welsh Board for Industry, and from 1960 to 1964 Chairman of the Welsh Industrial Estates Management Corporation. At a wider level he was closely involved in the activities of the Iron and Steel Institute and was President for a time. A member of the Church of England, Captain Leighton Davies took a keen interest in the work of St. John's church, Gowerton, and was appointed to the Swansea and Brecon Diocesan Board of Finance in 1936. A J.P. from 1928 onwards, he was Chairman of the Hundred of Swansea and Gower Petty Sessional Division from 1949 to 1968. For a number of years, he was Chairman of the Swansea Pilotage Authority, and from 1937 to 1970 served as Chairman of the Swansea and District Employment Committee.

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