In 1830 William Henry Davies was brought to Albion Mines (now Stellarton), Nova Scotia, to run the foundry of the General Mining Association. Davies would achieve several manufacturing firsts for the Province of Nova Scotia: the first pig iron (probably 1830-31), the first marine engine (1833), and the first locomotive (1839). Davies has been called "the father of engines and locomotives" in Nova Scotia, and "the father of the iron foundry business".

In 1854 Davies left the General Mining Association, moved to Pictou and in 1856 established the Iron Foundry, also known as the Pictou Iron Foundry, which he operated under the name of Wm. H. Davies; by the 1860s the name became Wm. H. Davies & Son, and then Wm. H. Davies & Sons (the sons were George and Charles; the eldest son, William Henry Davies, Jr., would become a medical doctor in San Francisco). The foundry and shop were located on the Pictou waterfront. The firm manufactured steam engines, sawmills, and hoisting engines, among other products. The business continued until at least 1888; at some time after that date the business was sold to Joseph Robb and Douglas Hannon. In 1906 Allan A. Ferguson bought out Robb and the business name was changed to the Pictou Foundry & Machine Co.. On Hannon's death in 1910, Ferguson took over leadership, a position he would hold for 25 years.

Ferguson expanded and diversified the Pictou Foundry & Machine Co. In 1913 they were the first manufacturing plant to switch from steam to electric power. During World War I they manufactured shells. After the war their primary business was ship repairs. Ferguson died in 1932 and the business was taken over by eldest son Robert A. Ferguson. During World War II three other brothers joined the business which manufactured freighters during the war, the first ships manufactured in Pictou since 1879. The shipyard closed at war's end, but the remaining Ferguson brothers—Robert had died during the war years—took over the remaining equipment and incorporated as Ferguson Industries Ltd., which manufactured steel ships until 1984 when the business went into receivership.

Information Sources

• 1873 book Nova Scotia, in Its Historical, Mercantile and Industrial Relations, by Duncan Campbell, page 511, in a recitation of manufacturers.

  At Pictou Mr. W. H. Davis [sic] has excellent machine works and a foundry and may be said to be the father of engines and locomotives in the Province. Mr. Davis. came to Nova Scotia in the year 1830, under the auspices of the General Mining Association, as lessee of the Iron Foundry at the Albion Mines—a position which he occupied with credit to himself and benefit to the Company for twenty-five years. The first pig iron manufactured in the Province was produced by him at the Albion Mines, and the first marine engine made in the Provide was that of the steamer Richard Smith, plying between Pictou and New Glasgow, being constructed by Mr. Davis in 1833. He also made the first Provincial locomotives at the mines in 1839. Mr. Davis removed to Pictou in 1856, where he built the Iron Foundry, and where he now carries on a prosperous business, manufacturing steam engines, grist and saw mills.

• 1884 Sessional Papers of the Second Session of the Fifth Parliament of the Dominion of Canada, Volume 5, page 125, in a listing of expenditures of Harbor Commissioners during 1883, payment to "W. H. Davies & Son" for $37.
• 1887 book, A History of the County of Pictou, Nova Scotia, by George Patterson, page 441. "In the Manufacture of iron, besides the Albion Mines Foundry, previously established, three others are now in successful operation, Messrs, Davies', in Pictou..."
• 1888 Sessional Papers of the Second Session of the Sixth Parliament, Volume 2, page 393, in a list of expenditures related to the Colonial Railway: "Davies, W. H. & Sons, Pictou— 1 donkey engine $400.00 / Repairs to steamer 'Mayflower' $441.66 / Machine supplies $258.42".
• We have found several 1880s mentions of "Noonan & Davies" of Pictou but they were "Ship Brokers and Commission Merchants".
• 1923 mention of "Pictou Foundry & Machine Co." From page 404, in a discussion of coal mining.

  ...the General Mining Association... In the Patriot of January 28, 1829, the progress of these works is thus noted:—

  "The progress of the Mining Company appears to be daily becoming more important. The foundry is in successful operation, and railways (rails) are now casting... It is also gratifying the learn, that orders have been received...to build two steamboats..."

  The foundry was under the charge of a man named Onions, but did not do much till the arrival of W. H. Davies, Esq., in 1830, to take charge of it, and who may be regarded as the father of the iron foundry business in Nova Scotia. The boilers for the foundry and pit engines were put together, at John McKay's blacksmith sop, near where Russell's now stands, the plates and rivets having been brought out from England....

• 1986 book Sawpower: Making Lumber in the Sawmills of Nova Scotia, a publication of the Nova Scotia Museum, reproduces an 1860s ad from William H. Davies, Pictou Iron Foundry, on page 66.
• Wikipedia page on Pictou Shipyard, as operated by Pictou Foundry & Machine Co. and Ferguson Industries Ltd.
• findagrave.com page on William Henry Davies, Jr..
• The buildings of the Pictou Iron Foundry still survive, as shown in the page for Pictou Iron Foundry at HistoricPlaces.ca. In 2022 the main building was converted into a home.
• Brief biography of William Henry Davies, with information on his time before coming to Nova Scotia.