John Davie Ferguson Davie was born October 27, 1830, the second son of Henry Robert Ferguson (1797-1885) and Frances Juliana Davie (1802-). Henry Ferguson was the illegitimate son of Robert Ferguson of Raith, Scotland, and Frances Davie was the niece of the last Davie baronet, Sir Humphrey Phineas Davie (1775-1846). With Frances Davie's marriage, the baronetcy was revived, and Robert Ferguson became the first Baronet Ferguson Davie in 1847.

The Davies lived at Creedy House in Creedy, in the parish of Sandford, near Crediton, Devon, England. J.D. Ferguson Davie attended Eton School and then joined the Grenadier Guards, serving as a captain in the Crimean War in 1855-1856. He later served as lieutenant-colonel in the 1st Devon Militia.

In 1857, Ferguson Davie married Edwina Augusta Williams. They had one child, who died in infancy. They lived at Bittiscombe House in Upton, Somerset. Ferguson Davie served as a member of Parliament for the Barnstaple, North Devon constituency from 1859-1865. Ferguson Davie became the 2nd baronet upon his father's death in 1885 because his elder brother Henry died without any heirs in 1850.

John and Edwina Ferguson Davie moved to Creedy House upon his father's death, but Edwina died soon thereafter in 1889. John Ferguson Davie remained at Creedy House until his death in 1907, retaining Bittiscombe House as a shooting lodge.

[Information retrieved from Robinson, Phillip E., "J.D. Ferguson Davie & His Family," in American Philatelist. Vol. 118, no. 11, November 2004.]