Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Davis, Delos Rogest
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1846-1915
History
Delos Rogest Davis was born on 4 August 1846 in Maryland, USA, to enslaved parents. He and his family escaped to freedom in Canada and settled in the New Canaan district of Colchester Township, Ontario, in 1850. He finished his schooling in 1863 and worked as a sailor and paper mill labourer before becoming a teacher in 1867 and marrying Nancy Jane Mitchell in 1868. In the 1870s Davis began to study law through the University of Toronto, becoming a paralegal in 1871 and notary public in 1873. The Ontario legislature had to pass a special act in 1884 to enable Davis to write his bar exam without articling, and he aid a local MPP, Davis passed the bar exam on 19 May 1885. and in 1886 Davis was called to the Bar of Ontario, becoming the second Black person in Canada to do so.
Specializing in criminal and municipal law, Davis established a practice based in Amherstburg, Ontario, and practised more widely in Essex County as well. This included serving as Solicitor for the Town of Amherstburg and Solicitor for the Township of Anderdon. For a time he served as clerk, treasurer, and/or auditor for the Township of Colchester North. Davis’ son Frederick Homer Alphonso also studied law, and joined his father’s practice (now known as Davis & Davis) in 1900. On 10 November 1910, Delos Rogest Davis was officially appointed King’s Counsel, making him the first Black person in the British Empire to be granted this recognition of exceptional merit and contributions to the legal field. He was also the first King’s Counsel in Essex County.
Delos Rogest Davis was a member of the British Methodist Episcopal Church, President of the district Sunday School Convention, and President of Wilberforce Educational Institute of Chatham. He married his second wife, Mary Jane Banks, on 14 July 1907. Davis passed away on 13 April 1915, and was buried in the hamlet of New Canaan, in Essex County.
Sources:
“Davis, Delos Rogest,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography Volume XIV (1911-1920), http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio.php?BioId=41444; “Delos Davis,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, (2014), https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/delos-davis ; “From Athlete to Judge,” Faculty of Law, University of Windsor, https://www.uwindsor.ca/law/234/athlete-judge. (All accessed 15 March 2022). Also contents of fonds.