Valerie Todd Davies (born 29 September 1920 in Makirikiri, near Wanganui, New Zealand, died 29 October 2012 in Brisbane, Queensland) was an arachnologist who described many species of spider.[1][2]

Early life

Valerie Ethel Todd (later Valerie Davies after her marriage) was born 29 September 1920 in Makirikiri, near Wanganui, in New Zealand.[1] She attended Wanganui Girls' College and then studied her BSc at Victoria University in Wellington in 1939. She continued her studies toward a MSc at Otago University in Dunedin, graduating in 1943.[3] Her thesis researched trap-door spiders. Upon graduation she worked as a research assistant and later an assistant lecturer in zoology at Otago University.[2]

Todd was awarded a post-graduate travelling scholarship in science to Somerville College, Oxford, where she completed her PhD.[4][2] She returned to Dunedin in 1948 to marry George Davies, who was a lecturer in dentistry at the University of Otago.[1][5][2]

Move to Australia

The Davies family moved to Brisbane in 1963 when George was appointed professor of social and preventive dentistry at the University of Queensland. Valerie Davies tutored part-time in the department of zoology, at the University of Queensland from 1964 to 1972. They built a house in 1965, designed by architect Maurice Hurst, on the banks of the Brisbane River at Fig Tree Pocket – Awanui.[1][6]

In 1972, Davies was appointed curator of arachnids at the Queensland Museum and, during her time there, she built up the collection by organising and attending numerous expeditions and systematically sorting and identifying each specimen.[7] She was later promoted to senior curator at the Queensland Museum until her retirement in 1985 but continued working as an honorary consultant at the museum until the age of 82.[1][2]

Awards and legacy

The genera Toddiana and Daviesa as well as 15 new species of arachnids, including Austrachaea daviesae were named for her.[9] The spiders she collected and indexed during many expeditions to north Queensland form the basis of the arachnid collection at the Queensland Museum. 100 new species of spider and 17 new genera were collected during her many expeditions to Cape York, Mount Finnegan, Mount Bellenden and Hinchinbrook Island.[5][10]

Davies was a member of the International Federation of University Women (IFUW) and from 1978 to 1982 was deputy chair of the Queensland Rhodes Scholarship selection committee.[1][10]

Personal life

Valerie Todd married George Davies, who she had known from girlhood in 1948.[11] She died on 29 October 2012 and was survived by their three children.[1]

Publications

Davies authored over 40 publications[7] with the most substantial being:

  • Davies, Valerie Todd, 1920- 2012 & Queensland Museum. (1986). Australian spiders (Araneae) : collection, preservation and identification. Brisbane : Queensland Museum

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Davies, Rosemary (7 January 2013). "Leading light in world of arachnids: Valerie Davies, 1920–2012". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McKay, Judith, 1949-; Queensland Museum (1997), Brilliant careers : women collectors and illustrators in Queensland, Queensland Museum, p. 65, ISBN 978-0-7242-7693-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "The graduates". Evening Star. 12 March 1943. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  4. ↑ "University of Otago". Daily Times. 13 May 1944. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 Centre, The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research. "Davies, Valerie Ethel – Biographical entry – Encyclopedia of Australian Science". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
  6. ↑ University of Queensland Library, Fryer Library (2015). "UQFL211 Lund Hutton Ryan Morton Collection Finding Aid" (PDF). FRYER LIBRARY Finding Aid.
  7. 1 2 Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology. "Davies, Valerie Ethel - Person - Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation". www.eoas.info. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  8. ↑ "International Society of Arachnology: Simon Award". arachnology.org. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  9. ↑ Yuri M. Marusik; Danniella Sherwood (27 June 2022). "Matronymic genera in spiders (Araneae) named for arachnologists". Arachnology. 19 (sp1). doi:10.13156/ARAC.2022.19.SP1.150. ISSN 2050-9928. Wikidata Q113667188.
  10. 1 2 McKay, Judith, 1949-; Queensland Museum (1997), Brilliant careers : women collectors and illustrators in Queensland, Queensland Museum, p. 66, ISBN 978-0-7242-7693-6{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Davies, Jennifer Smyth and John (25 February 2010). "The dentist who professed that prevention was far better than cure". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 May 2019.


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