- 1801: She worked as a domestic servant in Liverpool.
- 1815: She travelled around Europe with the family of one of her employers.
- 1816: She moved to work as a maid in London.
- 1820: She worked as a maid and a nurse for the wives of merchant navy captains, visiting many countries across the world.
- 1854: She was inspired by a newspaper report about the Crimean War, and decided to go there to help.
- 1854: December – She left London for the Crimea.
- 1855: She worked for seven months on the war’s front line in a hospital in Balaclava.
- 1855: November – She returned to Britain due to illness caused by overwork and the hospital’s uncleanliness.
- 1857: Because of her poverty, she published her autobiography, 'The Autobiography of Elizabeth Davis, a Balaclava Nurse, Daughter of Dafydd Cadwaladyr' to raise money to sustain her.
- 1860: She died in her sister’s home, and was buried in a pauper’s grave in Abney Park cemetery.
- 2012: The location of her grave was found, and a memorial stone placed at the site by the Royal College of Nursing, Wales.
‘The accounts of her travels, in particular, are full of dangerous and exciting adventures, many of which demonstrate her intrepidity, physical courage, resourcefulness, and presence of mind.’ – Gwyneth Tyson Roberts, The Dictionary of Welsh Biography