Philip Ashton (17021746) was a

castaway A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade captors or the world in general. A person may also be left a ...

on then-uninhabited

Roatán Roatán () is an island in the Caribbean, about off the northern coast of Honduras. It is located between the islands of Utila and Guanaja, and is the largest of the Bay Islands of Honduras. The island was formerly known in English as Ruatan ...

island in the

Gulf of Honduras The Gulf or Bay of Honduras is a large inlet of the Caribbean Sea, indenting the coasts of Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras. From north to south, it runs for approximately 200 km (125 miles) from Dangriga, Belize, to La Ceiba, Honduras. ...

for 16 months in 1723/1724. His memoirs about his solitary stay were published in book form in Boston in 1725. While some people believed it was a novel in the style of ''

Robinson Crusoe ''Robinson Crusoe'' () is a novel by Daniel Defoe, first published on 25 April 1719. The first edition credited the work's protagonist Robinson Crusoe as its author, leading many readers to believe he was a real person and the book a tra ...

'' (1719), Ashton's book was the account of a genuine experience. He was born in

Marblehead, Massachusetts Marblehead is a coastal New England town in Essex County, Massachusetts, along the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore. Its population was 20,441 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town lies on a small peninsula that extends ...

in 1702 and married twice.Edward E. Leslie, "Desperate Journeys, Abandoned Souls", 1988, pp. 107–8

Castaway life

In June 1722, Ashton was captured by pirates while fishing near the coast of

Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine in the United States. The Mi'kmaq call the large and well-sheltered h ...

. In the ''Boston News Letter'' of 9 July 1722, Ashton was listed as being one of those captured by the pirate

Edward Low Edward "Ned" Low (also spelled Lowe or Loe; 16901724) was a notorious pirate of English origin during the latter days of the Golden Age of Piracy, in the early 18th century. Low was born into poverty in Westminster, London, and was a thief from ...

. As Ashton refused to co-operate with the pirates, he was often threatened, especially by Low's quartermaster John Russell. He managed to escape in March 1723 when the pirates landed at

Island in the

Bay Islands Bay Islands may refer to: * Bay Islands Department, Honduras * Southern Moreton Bay Islands, Queensland, Australia See also * Bay of Islands * Bay of Isles * Island Bay, Wellington * Little Bay Islands Little Bay Islands is a vacant town in ...

Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...

, hiding in the jungle until the pirates decided to depart without him. He survived for 16 months, in spite of many insects, tropical heat and

alligator An alligator is a large reptile in the Crocodilia order in the genus ''Alligator'' of the family Alligatoridae. The two extant species are the American alligator (''A. mississippiensis'') and the Chinese alligator (''A. sinensis''). Additiona ...

s. In the beginning he seems to have eaten only fruit, because he only had his hands to collect food; he could not kill any animal. He had no equipment at all until he met another castaway, an Englishman. A few days later the Englishman "went out but he never returned." The Englishman left behind a knife, gunpowder, tobacco and more. Ashton could then kill

tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

s and

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, mu ...

and make fires to have hot meals. Ashton was finally rescued by the ''Diamond'', a ship from

Salem, Massachusetts Salem ( ) is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located on the North Shore of Greater Boston. Continuous settlement by Europeans began in 1626 with English colonists. Salem would become one of the most significant seaports tr ...

. In 1725 Ashton's "Memorial" - a short recollection of his adventures - was published with the help of his minister.

Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (; born Daniel Foe; – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel ''Robinson Crusoe'', published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its ...

is believed to have incorporated elements of Ashton's story into his 1726 novel "The Four Years Voyages of Capt. George Roberts."

References

Books

* Barnard, John. ''History of the Strange Adventures and Signal Deliverances of Mr. Philip Ashton'', publ. by

Samuel Gerrish __NOTOC__ Samuel Gerrish (1680s–1741) was a bookseller and publisher in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. He kept a shop "near the brick meeting house in Cornhill," and published works by Thomas Prince and others. Employees included ...

, Boston (1725)
online source
*Flemming, Gregory. ''At the Point of a Cutlass'', ForeEdge (2014)
online information
*Leslie, Edward E.. ''Desperate Journeys, abandoned Souls'',

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

(1988) *Neider, Charles. ''Great Shipwrecks and Castaways'',

Harper & Brothers Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

(1952)
Ashton's memorial. An history of the strange adventures, and signal deliverances, of Mr. Philip Ashton, who, after he had made his escape from the pirates, liv'd alone on a desolate island for about sixteen months.
*Andrews, Michael. ''Stranded in Roatan: The true account of escape from pirates by Philip Ashton in 1722''
online information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Philip 1720s missing person cases 1702 births 1746 deaths Castaways Formerly missing people Kidnapped people Missing person cases in Canada People captured by pirates People from Marblehead, Massachusetts People of colonial Massachusetts Roatán