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Louis Henry DaviesSir Louis Henry Davies (May 4, 1845-May 1, 1921) was a Prince Edward Island lawyer, businessman and politician. He served as lead counsel for the Prince Edward Island Land Commission, which was established in 1875 to settle the problem of absentee land ownership and to provide tenants of the Island with clear title to their lands. Davies was first elected to the House of Assembly as a Liberal in 1872 just prior to PEI entering Canadian confederation. With the issue of confederation resolved and the land question setteled as a result of Canada's promise to fund land reform the major issue remaining on the island was that of school funding and whether the school system should be entirely secular and public or whether separate schools for Catholics should be permitted. The issue divided both parties and had led to the collapse of at least one government. Following the defeat of the Conservative government of Lemuel Cambridge Owen in 1876, Davies established a coalition government of Protestant Liberals and Conservatives with himself as Premier and Attorney-General. The Davies government was formed to enact a Public Schools Act which made scholl attendance compulsory and created a nonsectarian public school system. The act was passed in 1877 and, with the issue around which the coalition had been formed having been resolved, the coalition itself began to unravel. Davies' government reformed the civil service and brought in financial reforms before being defeated by the Conservatives in a Motion of No Confidence in 1879. Davies won a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1882 federal election as a Liberal. When the Liberals formed government after the 1896 election under Sir Wilfrid Laurier, Davies became minister of marine and fisheries until 1901 when he was appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1918 he became Chief Justice and held that position until his death in 1921. Davies was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1897. Davies, Louis Henry Davies, Louis Henry Davies, Louis Henry Davies, Louis Henry Davies, Louis Henry
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