Reginald Davies was born on 17 November 1887. He was educated at Hymers College, Hull, and studied at St. Catherine's College, Cambridge, where he was awarded the degree of B.A. (Hons. Maths) in 1909. Davies rowed for Cambridge in 1910. He entered the Sudan Political Service in 1911, and was the Resident at Dar Masalit in 1920. By 1927 he was Director of Intelligence, and in 1929 Assistant Civil Secretary. Other steps in his career included: Deputy Financial Secretary, 1930; Secretary for Economic Development, 1931; and Chairman of the Board of Economics and Trade, and Member of the Governor-General's Council, 1934. He retired from Sudan service in 1935. Davies then went on to become Deputy Director-General of Alexandria Municipality between 1935 and 1939, then Director of the Publicity Section of H.M. Embassy in Cairo, 1939 until 1942. He was Finance Officer at the British Council, 1942 to 1947, then Assistant Director-General of the British Council, 1947. Davies finally retired in 1953. His publications includeThe camel's back: service in the rural Sudan(1957) and various contributions toSudan notes and records. He had been awarded the Order of the Nile, 3rd Class, in 1932, and in 1950 he became a Companion of St. Michael and St. George. Reginald Davies died on 18 December 1971. Latterly he had been living near Bicester, Oxfordshire.