David Davies (Welsh priest) facts for kids

David Davies (born in 1742, died in 1819) was a Welsh clergyman and writer. He was a priest in the Church of England. He is best known for studying how poor people lived in his time.

Who Was David Davies?

David Davies was born on February 9, 1742, in Machynlleth, Wales. His parents were Welsh. His father's name was Richard Davies.

Early Life and Education

David Davies went to college in two different places. First, he studied at Codrington College in Barbados. After that, he went to Jesus College, Oxford in England. Later, in 1781, he became the Rector (a type of priest) of Barkham in Berkshire, England. He stayed there until he passed away.

Studying Poverty in England

David Davies was very interested in the lives of poor working people. He carefully studied their living conditions. He wrote down facts and figures about how much money they earned. He also recorded the cost of food in different parts of England and Scotland.

At that time, the cost of helping the poor (called "Poor Law costs") was rising quickly. This caused many discussions. Davies wanted to understand why. He decided to collect information from families across the country. He gathered details about their income (how much money they made) and their expenses (how much money they spent). For example, he collected information from families in places like Llandegla and Llanarmon in Wales.

His Important Book: Cases of Labourers

In 1795, David Davies published a very important book. It was called Cases of Labourers in Husbandry Stated and Considered in Three Parts. This book is still important today for understanding social history.

In his book, Davies used what are thought to be the first "household surveys." These surveys asked families about their daily lives. He said he collected many surveys from almost every county in the kingdom. He got help from his friends to do this. From these surveys, he found that poor families spent about 75% of their money just on food.

What Davies Wanted to Change

Through his book, David Davies called for better living conditions for farm workers. He showed that the "Poor Rates" (money collected to help the poor) were sometimes used to keep wages low. He also showed that workers had to work much longer to buy food. For example, he calculated that in the 18th century, a worker had to work twice as many days to buy a certain amount of wheat compared to the 14th century.

Davies believed that there should be a minimum wage. This means a basic amount of money that workers must be paid. He thought this would help poor workers earn enough to live.

David Davies died on February 6, 1819, in Barkham.