Gwynne Henton Davies (1906-1998)
Artist: Robert Buhler (1916-1989)
Gwynne Henton Davies was born in Aberdare, Glamorgan, on 19th February 1906. He was born into a Welsh speaking family, his father, John Davies, a colliery accountant, and his mother, Edith Henton, who came from a family of tailors. Growing up his family were members of Calfaria Welsh Baptist Church, where Davies was baptised aged seventeen. He gained a scholarship to Aberdare Grammar School before studying Hebrew at Peres School, a private institution in Cambridge. His academic potential was clear, leading him to gain an offer to study philosophy at Queen’s College Cambridge. However, Davies’ father, who was his guarantor, ran into financial difficulties and was forced to file for bankruptcy. As a result, Davies enrolled at the University College Cardiff in 1924 and read philosophy. Just one year later he was accepted into the Baptist College in Cardiff and changed his subject field to Hebrew, in which he attained a first-class honours degree. In 1928 he was awarded a master’s degree with distinction for his thesis entitled ‘Origin and Development of the Idea of Theocracy in Israel’. In 1931 the Dr Williams Trust and the Baptist Union of Great Britain awarded Davies a scholarship to undertake a B.Litt. Degree at Oxford University. He completed his degree at Oxford in 1933 with a thesis entitled ‘The Covenant in the Old Testament’. He went on to briefly study in Marburg, Germany, where he refused to give the Nazi salute, as was expected at the beginning of lectures, a totemic indication of his resolution. Davies returned to Wales in 1935 to complete his B.D. gaining a distinction in Church History. This concluded his formal education, although he was awarded an honorary D.D. from both Glasgow and Stetson University, as well as an M.A. from Oxford University which was granted to him in 1958 so that he could teach students there. Other honours bestowed onto Davies included the fetschrift entitled Proclamation and Presence: Old Testament Essays in honour of Gwynne Henton Davies, published in 1970 and written by contributors from eleven countries.
After finishing his education, he married Annie Bronwen Williams at Woodville Road Chapel, Cardiff, in September 1935. They remained married until Annie’s death in 1992. Together they had two daughters, Yona Wynfron Henton and Edith Elaine Henton, and co-wrote an educational book titled Who’s Who in the Bible. Davies enjoyed a long and distinguished career involving several prominent positions in Baptist preaching and education. His first role was as minister of West End Baptist church, Hammersmith, London, a position he held from 1935 to 1938. In 1938 Davies started in his new position at Bristol Baptist College as tutor of Hebrew and Old Testament, a position he held until 1951. After this, Davies became the first professor of Old Testament Studies at Durham University, doing this for seven years before becoming principal of Regent’s Park College, Oxford, in 1958.
Davies’ fourteen year principalship at Regent’s Park College was taken under the condition that he be able to open up the college to non-ministerial students. His vision of a harmonious college of ministers and lay people was influential and set the college on a new trajectory. Davies also saw the college expand in size with the purchase of new land and the building of the Balding Block and the south side of the quad.
Although not prolific in terms of output, Davies published several works, including articles for the Society for Old Testament Study, a society which he became president of in 1966. He was also the president of the Baptist Union of Great Britain from 1971–2. Davies may have published more if he had not excelled as much as he did as a teacher, lecturer, and preacher. One colleague of his at Regent’s Park College said of his sermons ‘it was as if spiritual lightning had struck’. Davies continued to travel in order to preach and lecture right up until his death. It was during his thirty-second trip to America when he died in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the 22nd October 1998. His ashes were scattered in Broad Haven, South Wales.
The portrait of Davies was completed in 1972 and presented by Dr Wilbur and Mrs Esther Saunders. The artist, Robert Buhler, was a member of the Royal College of Art, London. Eight months after the portrait was unveiled it was noted that certain members of the college were not satisfied with the likeness of Davies captured by the artist. Several correspondences were exchanged with Buhler in which the possibility of modifications to the painting were suggested, although it does not seem that any were made.