This post is not about a whale. Unlike some of my other posts, it is also not about a William. This entry is about an Englishman named Sir Thomas Davey. Through the years of 1813 to 1817, Sir Thomas Davey served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, the Australian island that is now called Tasmania. I personally found the historical accounts of this individual intriguing. And it’s not because of the story that while living in England, he failed to mention his appointment to Tasmania to his wife and then threw a tantrum when he boarded the ship only to find her there waiting for him. Even if this tantrum involved him tearing his wig off his head and throwing it against the wall. It’s also not because of another rumour that he spilled a bottle of port on her bonnet in response to her uninvited presence. It isn’t even because historical records suggest the grown man had another fit after being told his baggage was ‘lost in transit’ when they landed in Sydney’s port. Before you get all judgy about what a sook (that’s Australian for whiney little b*&%) he was, there are a few things to note. One, is that we do not know how annoying Thomas Davey’s wife was. The other is that what many historical records fail to mention is that the man’s baggage largely consisted of his extensive and exotic liquor collection. Honestly? If that happened to me, I’d probably throw a tantrum too. All stories aside, history has documented Sir Thomas Davey as one of the most ineffectual governors in the colony’s history. Which got me asking the question. Why?
In truth, depending on your moral compass, there is or isn’t a lot to like about this historical figure. Since my moral compass tends to point a little south, I personally love him. Lord Macquarie however, that was Davey’s boss, is documented as stating that he was ‘honest and well meaning’ but was ‘dissipated, thoughtless, volatile’ and ‘too weak’ to accomplish anything under his appointment. Most records of his term do not credit the governor with any accomplishments but instead harp on his inability to bring about any change. But realistically, the man was tossed into office during the height of anarchy with bushranging a rampant regional pastime and wasn’t provided any military protection to help offset this. He was also continuously having to arbitrate squabbles between the white and Aboriginal communities where tensions were exponentially increasing. It was a tough position to be in. And although the governor didn’t take a political stance on many things, he did insist that Aboriginals and colonists should be treated as equals under the law. While this stance might have ruffled some feathers, surely it couldn’t be the only reason the governor was so detested. Could it?
What else did the ruling bodies despise about Sir Thomas Davey?
Politics aside, officials and the wealthy aristocrats at the time baulked at the idea that he ‘went out boozing with low-class locals.’ Known by these locals as “Mad Tom Davey”, apparently, Tasmania’s Lieutenant-Governor really liked to party.
“Mad Tom’s” ‘loose moral temperament’ did not however result in him being disliked by other members of the colony. Some, including a local pastor, documented Davey as a ‘kind and warm hearted’ man who attended church and threw massive alcohol infused suppers for the island’s inhabitants. Sources say Sir Thomas Davey also ‘took pleasure in practical jokes and rough humour and frequently dropped in at public houses.’ Another report says he seemed unashamed to hang out with the region’s convict women. Davey was also considered a bit crazy because, to the horror of the English aristocracy, he often was found out in public “sleeveless,” that is, in informal dress, meaning a shirt with no jacket. While these could all be signs of a corrupt and ineffectual governor, it sounds to me like whatever Sir Thomas Davey was, what he was not, was a snob. The man might have just been ahead of his time. What does all of this have to do with cocktail history?
All his ‘failures’ aside, there is another reason to remember the governor of Tasmania. Davey is also rumoured to have had an interesting way of appointing people to his cabinet. This consisted of mixing a batch of punch and ladling it into each man’s cup for them to drink joyously until the barrel was empty. The last man standing during this process would be the man he chose to appoint. Is this a bad system for appointing someone to political office? Maybe. Although I am confident it might be better than some of the methods we use today. And while this election system is not known to have been duplicated since, the punch has. Sir Thomas Davey is in fact believed to be the creator of the famous ‘Blow My Skull’ punch. Included in Edward Abbot’s English and Australian Cookery Book in 1864, this recipe is Australia’s very first published, homegrown cocktail.
**What do you think? Do you think Sir Thomas Davey is remembered poorly because of his bad drinking habits? Or do you think it was because he refused to behave like a rich stuck-up politician? I want to know! Share your thoughts in the comments/chat below.