 Engineer of the Week No.21 Caroline Maude Davis (27th April 1890- 25th October 1972) Caroline Maude Davis was born in Yorkshire was probably educated in Sussex where her family lived for a while at the turn of the century. Her father was initially an indigo dyer but her mother’s family were ironmongers and by 1911 they were all living in Walsall where her father had become an ironfounder. The company, of which he became chairman of the board, was William Trow & Sons Ltd in nearby Wednesbury.There is no record how he moved to the iron industry but a connection via his wife’s family seems likely as her father was an ironmonger. What we do know is that Caroline worked there with him for some years and that in 1923 The Woman Engineer tells us that Caroline “ … has for some time assisted with her father's foundry at Wednesbury, has now joined Miss C. Griff at Birmingham, with a view to enlarging the scope of the Stainless and Non-Corrosive Metal Co.”. Miss Griff was a somewhat eccentric WES member who went by a number of names but this company they set up together operated briefly, making such things as stainless steel tin openers. It is not clear what Caroline’s involvement was to be but she did invest in the company to the tune of 60 shares, other shareholders including her mother, sisters, aunt and uncle, plus a mixture of aristocratic ladies and others.The Davis ladies must have been quite prosperous at this time as they were living in Hartopp Road, one of the most prestigious addresses in Sutton Coldfield. Miss C. Griff, who went by a number of names in this period, was a self-educated engineer also from a prosperous family but not a great businesswoman and this company only lasted a short while. This is the last evidence that Caroline was involved in the metal industries and she died in Stroud in 1972.
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