James Davis (mariner)

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James Davis (1575-1623?) was an English ship captain and author. He was part of the group of the proprietary Virginia Company of Plymouth which established the short-lived Popham Colony near present-day Phippsburg, Maine in August of 1607. During his brief tenure in the New World, Captain Davis was involved in the construction of the Virginia, a pinnace built to demonstrate shipbuilding potential of the new colony. When the Popham Colony failed in 1608, Virginia was one of the vessels to carry the surviving colonists back to England.

Records suggest that Captain Davis and Virginia made at least one other Atlantic crossing, from England to the more successful Jamestown Settlement, a project of the Virginia Company of London. Virginia was apparently one of the two pinnaces in tow behind the seven large ships of the Third Supply mission to Jamestown, which left Plymouth in 1609. They encountered a 3 day storm thought to have been a hurricane, resulting in the shipwreck of the flagship of the fleet, the Sea Venture on an uninhabited archipelago (which was to become Bermuda) after the ships became separated. Virginia apparently survived the storm, and under the command of Captain James Davis, arrived in the Colony in October 1609, probably in tow behind one of the larger ships. At that time, Captain Davis assumed command of Fort Algernon at Point Comfort, where he survived the Starving Time of 1609-10. The Virginia disappears from records in 1610.

The date of his death is uncertain. Some sources believe Captain Davis was among those killed in the Indian Massacre of 1622 along the James River. However, his name is not listed on official lists of the victims of the Virginia Company. Other records indicate that he died on February 16, 1623 at his plantation in Virginia. However, there are also others who believe that he may have lived as much as 10 years longer.

Captain Davis is credited with being the author of Relation of a Voyage to Sagadahoc, 1607-1608. [1]