Herbert Nathaniel Davis (20 December 1867 – 14 March 1900) was an Australian architect responsible for designing a number of the extant heritage buildings in Fremantle, Western Australia.^[1][2]

He died at the age of 32, and was interred in the Jewish section of Fremantle Cemetery.^[1]

Davis was born on 20 December 1867 in Sydney, New South Wales, into a Jewish family.^[3] His father Eleazor (or Eleazer) M. Davis, originally from Exeter,^[4] was a businessman,^[2] importing and selling a variety of goods from their shop "The Civet Cat" (also known as "The Civet Cat Fancy and General Repository"^[5] and "The Civet Cat Fancy Bazaar")^[6] at 98 King Street in central Sydney.^[2][7] His mother Frances (Fanny) Matilda Lazarus of London^[4] raised Herbert and his elder brother Edward Davis, and suffered a number of miscarriages between the births of the two boys.^[2]

In December 1865, a fire destroyed a great deal of the shop's stock — more than they were insured for.^[2][8] They relocated briefly to George Street^[9] before returning to their original location a year later.^[10] Five years before the fire, the business had also briefly been declared insolvent and was unable to reopen until 1863.^[11][12]

Davis' mother died in 1888, when Davis was 19,^[2] and his father died in 1908 at his son Edward's home after returning to London.^[13]

Not much is known of Davis' education, but by the age of 21 he was a member of the Hebrew Literary and Debating Society, debating at the Great Synagogue.^[2] Soon after this he moved to Western Australia.

Davis married Miriam Louise "May" Levine in August 1894 and, a little over a year later, their daughter, Gladys Elizabeth "Poppy", was born in Fremantle.^[2][14] After Davis' death, May and Poppy were both nurses at St. Omer's Hospital in Perth^[15][16] before Poppy moved to Melbourne and became engaged to Bombay-based accountant John Hewet Hardie.^[17] Davis only had one grandchild, Hewitt Ian, who died in Bombay in March 1920 at two days old.^[18] Poppy died in February 1972 and left the public trustee as the sole executioner of her will.^[19][20]

In addition to a number of villas and cottages in places such as Cottesloe Beach^[21] and on Beach Street,^[22] Davis' portfolio included:

• 1893: Extensions to the Pier Hotel, Cliff Street.^[1]
• 1895:
  • Refurbishment of a private residence into the Esplanade Hotel, Marine Terrace. (Interior only; the exterior was redesigned by J. Herbert Eales in 1903).^[1]
  • The McDonald Smith Building.^[1]
  • The Union Stores Building, corner of High and Henry Streets. Built for Bateman Hardware. The verandahs of this building were removed, and restored in 1986.^[1][23]
• 1896: The Lilly Building, 34-36 Cliff Street (next door to the above).^[1][24]
• 1897: The Tolley & Company Warehouse, 1 Pakenham Street. The building still bears the sign for the Tolley Co. even though that company only occupied their purpose-built facility for eleven years.^[1][25][26]

After briefly setting up business in 1892^[2] in the Swan Chambers building in Hay Street in the Perth CBD, Davis moved to Fremantle where he was to have a successful career, albeit one that lasted little more than a decade. In 1896, he entered into a partnership with G. Anketell Wilson and they operated Davis and Wilson out of a building on Cliff Street in Fremantle.^[27] For a time, he also operated out of the Rialto Chambers.^[28]

• Biography of Davis Archived 31 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine from the Australian Institute of Architects.

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