Howell Davis

Howell Davis
Pirate
Captain Davis
Nickname	Dave or Davies
Type	Pirate
Born	ca. 1690
Place of birth	Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Died	19 June 1719
Place of death	Principe
Years active	18 July 1718 - 19 June 1719
Rank	Captain
Base of operations	Caribbean Sea and West Africa
Commands	Frigate Cadogan Sloop-O-War Buck Sloop-O-War Saint James Frigate Royal Rover
Wealth	Equiv. US $4.9 million today;^[1] #14 Forbes top-earning pirates^[2]

Captain Howell Davis (or Hywel) (or Davies) (ca. 1690 – 19 June 1719) was a Welsh pirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719, when he was ambushed and killed. His ships were the Cadogan, Buck, Saint James, and Rover. Davis captured 15 known English and French ships.

A Short Career

Born in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Davis started out in piracy on 11 July 1718 when the slave ship Cadogan, on which he was serving as a mate, was captured by the pirate Edward England. Deciding to join the pirates, Davis was given command of the Cadogan and set out for Brazil on 18 July 1718. However, his crew mutinied and sailed to Barbados instead. Here Davis was imprisoned on the charge of piracy, but was eventually released and sought shelter in the pirate den of New Providence in the Bahamas. With New Providence being cleaned out by Governor Woodes Rogers, Davis left on the sloop Buck and conspired with six other crew members, who included Thomas Anstis and Walter Kennedy, to take over the vessel off Martinique. Davis was elected captain and conducted raids from his base at Coxon's Hole.

Subsequently, he crossed the Atlantic to terrorize shipping in the Cape Verde Islands. One of the prizes he took there became the new flagship of Davis' pirate fleet, the 26-gun Saint James. He then formed a partnership with a French pirate Olivier Levasseur, known as La Buse, and another pirate captain, Thomas Cocklyn, which lasted until they fell out in a drunken argument. Transferring to the 32-gun Rover, Davis sailed south and captured more rich prizes off the Gold Coast. One of his prisoners was fellow Welshman Bartholomew Roberts, who was destined to become even more famous as a pirate.

Trickery and Deception

The death of Captain Davis in an ambush on Principe

A clever and charming man as he was, Davis pretended to be a legitimate privateer to deceive the commander of a Royal African Company slaving fort in Gambia. After capturing the commander at a welcoming dinner, Davis held him for ransom and gained 2,000 pounds in gold.

He once seized a more powerful French vessel by flying a black pirate flag from another large but lightly armed ship he had recently taken. The French ship quickly surrendered, thinking she was outgunned.

However, when he tried his pretence of being a Royal Navy pirate hunter in order to kidnap the governor of the Portuguese island of Príncipe, the governor saw through it. Davis was invited to call at the fort for a glass of wine. On the way there, the pirates were ambushed and Davis shot dead on 19 June 1719. Bartholomew Roberts was elected to succeed him and raided the island in retaliation later that night.

Character

Captain William Snelgrave, the master of the Bird, a vessel captured by the pirates in 1719, later wrote an account of his experience. His ship was taken by Thomas Cocklyn's men, who abused him. However, when informed of this, Davis protected Snelgrave and obviously made a favourable impression on him. Snelgrave concluded that Davis was a man "who (allowing for the Course of Life he had been unhappily engaged in) was a most generous humane Person".^[3]

In popular culture

The legend of Howell Davis has inspired recent works of fiction such as The Noble Pirates by R.L. Jean.

References

General

Breverton, Terry (2003) The book of Welsh pirates and buccaneers. Glyndwr Publishing. ISBN 1-903529-09-3
Pickering, David. "Pirates". CollinsGem. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. pp 80–82. 2006.

Specific

↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2014. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
↑ Woolsey, Matt (September 19, 2008). "Top-Earning Pirates". Forbes.com. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
↑ Breverton p. 252

External links

Piracy

Historical times	1610s 1620s 1630s 1640s 1650s 1660s 1670s 1680s

Modern times	1995 1996 1998 1999 2000 21st century

Types of pirate	Pirates Privateers Buccaneers Corsairs Sindhi corsairs Timber pirate River pirate Caribbean Pirates Barbary pirates Moro Pirates Wōkòu Vikings Ushkuiniks Narentines Cilician pirates Baltic Slavic pirates Uskoks Cossack pirates Sea Beggars Sea Dogs Freebooters

Areas	Piracy in the Caribbean Piracy on Lake Nicaragua Piracy in the British Virgin Islands Piracy in the Strait of Malacca Piracy in Somalia Piracy on Falcon Lake Anglo-Turkish piracy Port Royal Tortuga Saint-Malo Barbary Coast Lundy Lagos Salé Spanish Main Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Piracy in Indonesia Barataria Bay Piracy in the Persian Gulf

Famous pirates	Bartholomew Roberts Hendrick Lucifer Hayreddin Barbarossa Blackbeard Stede Bonnet Anne Bonny Abshir Boyah Laurens de Graaf Michel de Grammont Calico Jack Alexandre Exquemelin William Kidd Edward Low Redbeard William Dampier Black Caesar Henri Caesar Roberto Cofresí Jean Lafitte Henry Morgan Lawrence Prince François l'Olonnais Henry Strangways José Gaspar Charles Gibbs Benito de Soto Diabolito Pedro Gilbert Mansel Alcantra Hippolyte Bouchard Samuel Hall Lord Nathaniel Gordon Albert W. Hicks Eli Boggs Bully Hayes Rahmah ibn Jabir al-Jalahimah Louis-Michel Aury Shirahama Kenki John Newland Maffitt Joseph Baker Joseph Barss Jørgen Jørgensen Vincenzo Gambi Dominique You Pierre Lafitte John Hawkins Peter Easton Nicholas van Hoorn Moses Cohen Henriques Piet Pieterszoon Hein Charlotte de Berry Samuel Bellamy Benjamin Hornigold Samuel Mason Henry Every Roche Braziliano Gan Ning Liang Daoming Wang Zhi Limahong Zheng Zhilong Zheng Jing Cai Qian Cheung Po Tsai Ching Shih Shap Ng-tsai Chui A-poo Lai Choi San Fūma Kotarō Olivier Levasseur

Categories	Pirates By nationality Barbary pirates Female pirates

Pirate ships	Adventure Galley Fancy Ganj-i-Sawai Queen Anne's Revenge Quedagh Merchant Saladin Whydah Gally Marquis of Havana Ambrose Light York

Pirate hunters	Pedro Menéndez de Avilés Angelo Emo Richard Avery Hornsby Robert Maynard Chaloner Ogle Pompey Woodes Rogers David Porter James Brooke Miguel Enríquez (privateer)

Pirate battles and incidents	Turkish Abductions Chepo Expedition Battle of Mandab Strait Blockade of Charleston Battle of Cape Fear River Battle of Ocracoke Inlet Capture of the William Sack of Campeche Attack on Veracruz Raid on Cartagena Battle of Cape Lopez Capture of the Fancy Persian Gulf Campaign Battle of New Orleans Anti-Piracy in the Aegean Anti-piracy in the West Indies Capture of the Bravo Action of 9 November 1822 Capture of the El Mosquito Battle of Doro Passage Falklands Expedition Great Lakes Patrol Balanguingui Expedition Battle of Tysami Battle of Tonkin River Battle of Nam Quan Battle of Ty-ho Bay Battle of the Leotung Battle of Escape Creek Battle of Fatshan Creek Antelope Incident North Star Affair Battle off Mukah Salvador Pirates Battle of Boca Teacapan Capture of the Ambrose Light Irene Incident 1985 Lahad Datu ambush Operation Enduring Freedom – HOA Action of 18 March 2006 Action of 3 June 2007 Action of 28 October 2007 Operation Atalanta Carré d'As IV incident Action of 11 November 2008 Action of 9 April 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking Operation Ocean Shield Action of 23 March 2010 Action of 1 April 2010 Action of 30 March 2010 Action of 5 April 2010 MV Moscow University hijacking Operation Dawn of Gulf of Aden Operation Dawn 9: Gulf of Aden Beluga Nomination incident Battle off Minicoy Island Quest Incident

Slave trade	African slave trade Atlantic slave trade Arab slave trade Barbary slave trade Blockade of Africa African Slave Trade Patrol Capture of the Providentia Capture of the Presidente Capture of the El Almirante Capture of the Marinerito Capture of the Veloz Passagera Capture of the Brillante Amistad Incident Capture of the Emanuela

Fictional pirates	Tom Ayrton Hector Barbossa Captain Blood Captain Crook Captain Flint Captain Hook Don Karnage Monkey D. Luffy Captain Nemo Captain Pugwash Red Rackham Captain Sabertooth Captain Stingaree Sandokan Long John Silver Jack Sparrow Roronoa Zoro

Miscellaneous	Truce of Ratisbon Piracy Act 1698 Piracy Act 1717 Piracy Act 1837 Paris Declaration Respecting Maritime Law Golden Age of Piracy Confederate privateer Jolly Roger Walking the plank Treasure map Buried treasure Pirate booty No purchase, no pay Marooning Pirate code Pirate utopia Victual Brothers Pirate Round Libertatia Sack of Baltimore A General History of the Pyrates Mutiny Pegleg Eyepatch Letter of marque Davy Jones' Locker Space pirate

Lists	Pirates Privateers Timeline of piracy Years in piracy Pirate films Women in piracy Pirates in fiction Pirates in popular culture List of ships attacked by Somali pirates

Literature	Treasure Island Facing the Flag On Stranger Tides Castaways of the Flying Dutchman The Angel's Command Voyage of Slaves Pirate Latitudes