| Arthur Gordon Davies | |
|---|---|
|
Born |
Arthur Gordon Davies |
|
Died |
19 January 2008 |
|
Office |
Coroner of the Royal Household from 1959-1983 |
|
Preceded by |
William Bentley Purchase |
|
Succeeded by |
G. McEwan |
Dr. Arthur Gordon Davies (1917-2008) was the Coroner of the Queen's Household from 1959 to 1983 and south London coroner from 1959 to 1987.
Career[]
Born in Southampton to Russian Jewish immigrants during World War I, Dr. Davies was the only boy of four children. Beginning his career as a general practitioner, Dr Gordon Davies then developed an expertise in psychological medicine.
After the first heart transplants took place, in the late 1960s, Gordon appeared on television to provide a coroner's definition of death, clarifying matters and facilitating the expansion of transplant treatment.
He was the assistant deputy coroner for London and Middlesex (1955-59), before being appointed to Coroner of the Queen's Household in 1959, holding the role for over 20 years until he resigned in 1983. During his career, he investigated such events like the Hither Green rail crash (1967), the Big Dipper roller coaster crash (1972) and the New Cross fire (1981).
Gordon continued as the South London coroner for a few more years before he retired in 1987, but continued working well into his eighties. He died at the age of 90 in January of 2008.[1]