Background
Born in London, in 1832 he was sentenced by an English court to deportation for seven years to Australia for stealing a shop-keeper’s wooden till containing five shillings in copper.
Born in London, in 1832 he was sentenced by an English court to deportation for seven years to Australia for stealing a shop-keeper’s wooden till containing five shillings in copper.
In Australia he was confined but escaped and was recaptured three times, for which his sentence was increased by four years. After his fourth escape he took refuge in the bush and emerged as leader of a gang of bushrangers,convict slaves like himself who had deserted the farms of their masters. He became widely known as Teddy the Jewboy and his gang was called the Jewboy gang. An outstanding rider, Davis and the gang worked on horseback. For two years they ranged over northern New South Wales, imposing a reign of terror, raiding towns and villages, and holding up and robbing travelers.
For two years the gang scrupulously avoided murder but eventually one of their members, John Shea, killed a storekeeper. This spurred the authorities to an intense search and in 1840, after a gun battle, Davis and his men were captured. At the trial in Sydney the Jewish community engaged a lawyer to defend Davis, but it was to no avail as Davis, Shea, and four others were sentenced to death. Davis was the first Jew to be hanged in Sydney. Dressed in a black suit, he went penitently to his death, accompanied by the hazan from the Sydney synagogue. His body was saved from the common criminal grave and buried in the Jewish cemetery.
One account in a contemporary paper reports that the gang waylaid a doctor but upon discovering his identity, returned to him everything they had taken. The doctor said he had been treated in a most gentlemanly way and never spent a happier night in his life. They insisted that he make himself at home, fed him lavishly, cleared a sofa for him to lie on, and covered him with their greatcoats “the pockets of which were stuffed with ball cartridge and buckshot.” He reported, “Their attire was rather gaudy as they wore broad rimmed hats, turned up in front with an abundance of braid, pink ribbons, satin neck cloths, splendid brooches, rings, and watches. One of them (a Jew I believe) wore five rings. They used neither violence nor uncivil language. They then went off to rob people on the highway.”
He differed, however, from other gang leaders of his time, in that he robbed the rich and helped the poor, for which he earned a reputation as Australia’s Robin Hood. He even rounded up a party of police who were searching for him, took their cattle and money, and rode away in triumph — in the best tradition of the hero fo Sherwood Forest. Davis and his men considered themselves “chevaliers of the road.” They were gallant to women and distributed part of their booty among convict servants, who, like the common people, revered him and made him a legendary figure.