Howell Davis (ca. 1690 – 19 June 1719), also known as Hywel and/or Davies, was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. 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 Milford Haven ( cy, Aberdaugleddau, meaning "mouth of the two Rivers Cleddau") is both a town and a community in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It is situated on the north side of the Milford Haven Waterway, an estuary forming a natural harbour that has ...

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, 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 Edward England ( –1721) was an Irish pirate. The ships he sailed on included the ''Pearl'' (which he renamed ''The Royal James'') and later the ''Fancy'', for which England exchanged the ''Pearl'' in 1720. His flag was the classic Joll ...

. Deciding to join the pirates, Davis was given command of the ''Cadogan'' and set out for

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

on 18 July 1718. However, his crew mutinied and sailed to

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

instead. Here Davis was imprisoned on the charge of

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

, but was eventually released and sought shelter in the pirate den of

New Providence New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...

in the Bahamas. With New Providence being cleaned out by Governor

Woodes Rogers Woodes Rogers ( 1679 – 15 July 1732) was an English sea captain, privateer, Atlantic slave trade, slave trader and, from 1718, the first List of colonial heads of the Bahamas, Royal Governor of the Bahamas. He is known as the captain of ...

, Davis left on the

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

''Buck'' and conspired with six other crew members, who included Thomas Anstis and Walter Kennedy, to take over the vessel off

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

. Davis was elected captain and conducted raids from his base at Coxon's Hole. Subsequently, he crossed the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

to terrorize shipping in the

Cape Verde Islands , national_anthem = () , official_languages = Portuguese , national_languages = Cape Verdean Creole , capital = Praia , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , demonym ...

. One of the prizes he took there became the new

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...

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 Jeremiah Cocklyn, better known by the name Thomas Cocklyn ( fl. 1717–1719), was an English pirate known primarily for his association with Howell Davis, Olivier Levasseur, Richard Taylor, and William Moody. History Cocklyn was among the hu ...

, 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 Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

. One of his prisoners was fellow Welshman

Bartholomew Roberts ) , type=Pirate , birth_place = Casnewydd Bach, near Puncheston, Pembrokeshire, Wales, Kingdom of England , death_place = At sea off of Cape Lopez, Gabon , allegiance= , serviceyears=1719–1722 , base of operations= Off the coast of the Americ ...

, who was destined to become even more famous as a pirate, as well as

Thomas Sutton Thomas Sutton (1532 – 12 December 1611) was an English civil servant and businessman, born in Knaith, Lincolnshire. He is remembered as the founder of the London Charterhouse and of Charterhouse School. Life Sutton was the son of an official ...

, who would sail alongside Roberts for his entire pirate career.

Trickery and Deception

A clever and charming man as he was, Davis pretended to be a legitimate

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

to deceive the commander of a

Royal African Company The Royal African Company (RAC) was an English mercantile (trade, trading) company set up in 1660 by the royal House of Stuart, Stuart family and City of London merchants to trade along the West Africa, west coast of Africa. It was led by the J ...

slaving fort in

Gambia The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...

. 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 Príncipe is the smaller, northern major island of the country of São Tomé and Príncipe lying off the west coast of Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of (including offshore islets) and a population of 7,324 at the 2012 Census;

, 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.

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

'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".Breverton p. 252

In popular culture

The legend of Howell Davis has inspired recent works of fiction such as ''The Noble Pirates'' by R. L. Jean. Howell Davis makes a minor appearance in

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Assassin's Creed'', ''Far Cry'', '' ...

's 2013 game '' Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag'', where his ship is tracked by protagonist Edward Kenway, who is seeking Bartholomew Roberts. When Kenway arrives in Príncipe, he discovers Davis' shot corpse, and then makes a partnership with Roberts and kills the two corsairs responsible for Davis' death,

John Cockram John Cockram ( fl. 1689–1719) was a pirate, trader, and pirate hunter in the Caribbean, best known for his association with Admiral Benjamin Hornigold. History Cockram was among a group of pirates active in the Bahamas, including Benjamin Ho ...

and

Josiah Burgess Josiah Burgess (1689–1719) was an English pirate active in the Caribbean. He is best known as one of the heads of New Providence’s “ Flying Gang.” History Burgess was leading a pack of four ships near Panama in September 1716. Outgun ...

. Later in the game, Roberts wears Howell's costume.

References

;General * Breverton, Terry (2003) ''The book of Welsh pirates and buccaneers''. Glyndwr Publishing. *Pickering, David. "Pirates". CollinsGem. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. pp 80–82. 2006. ;Specific

External links

Pirate Encyclopedia: Howell DavisPirates: Life at sea: Maritime, sea & ships: Fact files
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Howell 1690 births 1719 deaths 18th-century pirates Welsh pirates Mutineers People captured by pirates People from Milford Haven