Otto Davis

donto:Person

Otto Davis (H/C or 1/4C, of Girragale)

Girragale; Yarrabah; Kenilworth (1920 exemption); Innisfail (1922 marriage)

H/C or 1/4C (half-caste or quarter-caste)

May Bignell/Bignal/Bigmah (H/C or 3/4C, of Yarrabah)

Maggie (unnamed) — married 1922 Innisfail

Pansy Marguerite Davis (b. 16 Aug 1909, Yarrabah)

Edgar Davis (baptised 14 Mar 1915 Yarrabah; b. 1917; d. 31 Jul 1989, BDM 1989/56106)

11 September 1908, St Alban's Church, Yarrabah

Cooktown (per Yarrabah marriage register 1908, age 21)

Cooktown, Queensland (per Yarrabah marriage register 1908)

c.1887 (age 21 at marriage 11 Sep 1908; age 32 at exemption 1920)

Otto Everson (alternate surname recorded in sandra-davis-mabb-dossier)

Girragah (also rendered Girragale) -- possibly a variant or sub-group name related to the Girramay people of the Herbert River/Cardwell area, north Queensland

Married May Bignell on 11 September 1908 at St Albans Church, Yarrabah. Officiated by Rev. E R Gribble. Witnesses: Rosie Murray, Gresham W Morrison. Otto listed as bachelor, age 21, born Cooktown. May listed as spinster, age 21, born Normanton.

Certificate of Exemption granted 1920 at Kenilworth, Queensland. Age listed as 32 (consistent with birth ~1887-1888). Kenilworth is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, Mary River valley, ~1000 km south of Cairns. This exemption freed Otto from the Aboriginals Protection Act 1897, allowing him to live independently but requiring him to sever ties with non-exempt Aboriginal people.

Otto Davis still listed as holding exemption from 1920 at Kenilworth in the 1947 exemptions register

Under Queensland's Aboriginals Protection Act 1897, s.33, the Minister could issue a Certificate of Exemption to any half-caste, freeing them from the Act. Colloquially known as a 'dog license' or 'dog tag'. It allowed the holder to open bank accounts, receive pensions, own land, purchase alcohol, access education and employment. However, it required severing ties with non-exempt Aboriginal people, not living on reserves, not speaking language, and carrying the certificate at all times. Could be revoked at any time. Queensland was the first state to introduce exemption legislation (1897), first granted in 1902.

Married Maggie (surname unknown) at Innisfail in 1922. Recorded in the CPA Marriage Register 1908-1936.

In 1921, four children of Otto Davis and May Bignell were removed from Edmonton (suburb of Cairns) to Mona Mona (Seventh-day Adventist mission near Kuranda, 25km from Cairns). Children removed: Pansy Davis (age ~11), Hazel Davis (age ~10), Edgar Davis (age ~5), Kathleen (age ~2.5). Reason stated: 'For their own good'.

ex:person

Otto Davis

Otto Davis married Maggie Davis at Innisfail, 1922 (CPA Marriage Register). Maggie may be May Bignell/Margaret Bignall — same person, civil registration of their earlier 1908 Yarrabah mission marriage.

ctx:genes/otto-davis-identity/iri/girragah-outstation

H/C or 1/4C (half-caste or quarter-caste)

Cooktown

circa 1887 (aged 21 in September 1908)

ctx:genes/otto-davis-identity/iri/may-bignell

11 September 1908

Unknown European man surnamed Davis (probable)

ctx:genes/otto-davis-identity/iri/pansy-marguerite

ctx:genes/otto-davis-identity/iri/edgar-davis-son-of-otto

Otto was born c.1887 in Cooktown, was living at Girragah outstation within Yarrabah Mission by 1908. He was designated H/C or 1/4C (half-caste or quarter-caste), married May Bignell (born Normanton, H/C or 3/4C) on 11 Sept 1908, had daughter Pansy Marguerite (baptised 6 March 1910). Also father of Edgar Davis (died 31/07/1989, mother listed as May Bigmah on death cert). The surname Davis was likely inherited from a European father or employer in the Cooktown area in the 1880s.

Aboriginal people commonly received European surnames from employers, station owners, or missionaries. AIATSIS confirms surnames were often assigned by European employers. Given Otto was born in Cooktown c.1887 and designated H/C or 1/4C, Davis was likely the surname of his European father or an employer in the Cooktown district.

Rosie Murray and Gresham W Morrison

E R Gribble (Ernest Richard Gribble, Yarrabah Mission superintendent)

HYPOTHESIS: Otto Davis (b. Cooktown ~1887, also known as Otto Everson) and George Edgar Davis (b. Cooktown ~1883) may be HALF-BROTHERS — both H/C, both Davis surname, both born Cooktown, both at Yarrabah 1908-1915. If George Davis Sr (Irish Cooktown councillor) fathered both men by different Aboriginal women, Otto is George Edgar's half-brother. This would make Otto's descendants cousins to the main Davis line (Sandra → Sanita-Ann). Family oral history insists on investigating Otto Davis — they may know this connection. Charlie Evanson (Laura, d. 1942) may be another relative — Everson/Evanson alias + Laura = same area as Rosie Robinson (George Edgar's mother). Edgar son-of-Otto lived at Oak Forest near Innisfail 1956, married Violet Davis — same area as George Edgar's family.

QLD BDM Marriage 1922, District of Cairns, Reg 2840. Otto Davis, Widower, born Cooktown QLD, Labourer, age 35, residing Gaondi. Father: FREDERICK DAVIS. Mother: [difficult to read — possibly Louey/Lucy Fuller or Pinomah]. Married Maggie, Spinster, born Gaondi QLD, Domestic Servant, age unknown, parents both Unknown. Married 16 October 1922 at The Salvation Army Barracks at Innisfail. Rites of the Salvation Army. Registered 31 October 1922 by Arthur Henry Scott, District Registrar. Officiant: D.G. Hawkins. Witnesses: A.E. Clanfield, G McMore/McWore. Both signed with X mark.

Frederick Davis

Cooktown, Queensland

~1887 (age 35 in October 1922)

Widower at time of 1922 marriage — May Bignell died before 1922

16 Jun 1970

Kuranda Cemetery, Kuranda QLD, Section Plot K 95

KEY QUESTION: Family oral history says Otto was Edgar's brother, but no proof exists. The marriage cert shows Otto's father as FREDERICK Davis, while Edgar's biological father is proven as OWEN REYNOLDS (Irish publican). They are NOT biological brothers through the same father. The 'brother' claim could mean: (1) classificatory/kinship brothers (Aboriginal system), (2) raised together at same employer/station, (3) both acquired 'Davis' surname from the same source (employer, station, mission), (4) their mothers were sisters or from same kinship group in Cooktown/Laura area, (5) simply close friends at Yarrabah who were called brothers. Otto died 16 Jun 1970, buried Kuranda Cemetery Plot K 95. Known children: Pansy Marguerite (1909), Hazel (~1911), Edgar (1917-1989), Kathleen (1917). All removed to Mona Mona 1921. Edgar son-of-Otto married Violet Davis, lived Oak Forest nr Innisfail 1956. NO KNOWN LIVING DESCENDANTS IDENTIFIED — this is the gap preventing DNA confirmation.