George Maitland Lloyd Davies

Who was George Maitland Lloyd Davies?

George Maitland Lloyd Davies, formerly George Maitland Temple Davies. was a Welsh pacifist and Member of Parliament for the University of Wales.

Davies was born in Liverpool, the grandson of a noted Welsh preacher, John Jones, Talysarn; his family was wealthy - his cousin was David Davies, a Welsh industrial and political magnate. At 24 he became secretary of a Liverpool bank; when his health demanded a temporary rest, he was sent with a large salary to a post in Wrexham. He later sought a complete change and took up agricultural work, then went on to be secretary of a housing scheme, and warden of a home for disturbed children, trying to put into practice his belief in the goodness of human nature.

As a Liberal non-conformist he disparaged the National Service League's demand for conscription, and believed the answer was to volunteer militarily, so he took an officer's commission in the Territorial Army. By early 1914, however, he came to realise that military force was incompatible with his deepening Christian devotion, and resigned. When the First World War began soon afterwards, he withdrew to sheep farming in the hills of Carnarvonshire.