A native of Richmond, Davison earned a B.A. in 1935 and LL.B. in 1937 from UVA. After his graduation, Davison practiced law in Richmond and then became a general tax attorney for the Treasury Department from 1938-41. From 1942-47 he was associated with Covington and Burling in Washington, D.C. In 1944-46 he was on active duty with the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve in the South Pacific. From 1947-63, Davison worked for the Southern Railway, first as head of its accounting department and then as vice president for finance and taxation. During this time, he remained a loyal alumnus of the law school, serving as chairman of the Washington, D.C.-area placement committee. He joined the faculty of UVA in 1963. During this time he was the official reporter for the Supreme Court of Virginia. His reports are volumes 208 to 217 of the Virginia Reports, covering the years 1967-77. After his retirement in 1979, he remained a professor emeritus until his death in 1995.