Sir Robert Davers, 5th Baronet (1729 – 6 May 1763) was a British

baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

. He was killed during

Pontiac's Rebellion Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region follow ...

while on a surveying expedition of the

St. Clair River The St. Clair River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part ...

Biography

Davers was born at

Rushbrooke Hall Rushbrooke Hall was a British stately home in Rushbrooke, Suffolk. For several hundred years it was the family seat of the Jermyn family. It was demolished in 1961. History The original manor house on the moated site to the south of the village ...

, Suffolk, the eldest surviving son of Sir Jermyn Davers, 4th Baronet and Margaretta Green. Upon the death of his father in February 1742, Davers inherited his

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. The following July he entered

King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds King Edward VI School is a co-educational Comprehensive school, comprehensive secondary school in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England. The school in its present form was created in 1972 by the merging of King Edward VI Grammar School, with the Silv ...

. In 1756 he undertook the Grand Tour in Europe and was painted by

Pompeo Batoni Pompeo Girolamo Batoni (25 January 1708 – 4 February 1787) was an Italian painter who displayed a solid technical knowledge in his portrait work and in his numerous Allegory, allegorical and mythological pictures. The high number of foreign vis ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. In around 1760 he completed his studies in

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

. In 1761 he travelled to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

to tour the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

, leasing his estate in Suffolk. By September 1761, Davers had introduced himself to Major General

Jeffery Amherst Field Marshal Jeffery Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst, (29 January 1717 – 3 August 1797) was a British Army officer and Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He was tasked to carry dispatches from Amherst to

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, arriving on 1 December 1761. He spent the winter there studying the language and culture of the neighbouring Native Americans. In April 1762, Davers began exploring the Great Lakes in a small canoe with either his

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...

slave boy or a small group of colonists. By June he was at

Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Sault Ste. Marie ( ) is a city in northern Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of the St. Mary's River directly across from its "twin city," Sault Ste. Marie, in the state of Michigan. The city's population was 72,051 at the 2021 census, makin ...

having completed a journey across

Lake Superior Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. Lake Michigan–Huron has a larger combined surface area than Superior, but is normally considered tw ...

. There he met

Alexander Henry the elder Alexander Henry 'The Elder', in French: ''Alexandre Henri Le Vieux'' (August 1739 – 4 April 1824) was an American-born explorer, author, merchant who settled in Quebec following the Conquest of New France (1758–1760), Conquest of New France a ...

and travelled with him to

Fort Michilimackinac Fort Michilimackinac (/fóːt ˌmɪʃələˈmækənɔː/ FAWT MISH-ə-lə-MAK-ə-naw) was an 18th-century French, and later British, fort and trading post at the Straits of Mackinac; it was built on the northern tip of the lower peninsula ...

. Davers had returned to Detroit by 23 September 1762. He subsequently prepared a petition to the

Privy Council of Great Britain The Privy Council, formally His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its members, known as privy counsellors, are mainly senior politicians who are current or former m ...

for a grant of land on

Grosse Isle Grosse Isle (, , "big island") is an island located in the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada. It is one of the islands of the 21-island Isle-aux-Grues archipelago. It is part of the municipality of Saint-Antoine-de-l'Isle-aux-Grues, locate ...

and several neighbouring islands.

Death in Pontiac's War

In May 1763, he accompanied Lieutenant Charles Robertson and 6 to 8 others on a surveying expedition to determine the navigability of the

. Despite being warned by French settlers of hostile Native Americans in the area, the group proceeded and were ambushed by Pontiac's warriors in an early event in

Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754– ...

. Davers was killed in the attack. Reports from the time indicated that Davers body may have been boiled and eaten. It was later determined that although Davers’ body was mutilated, he was given a proper burial near an

Ojibwa The Ojibwe (; syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the northern plains, extending into the subarctic and thro ...

village. Davers never married and was succeeded in his title by his younger brother, Charles Davers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davers, Robert, 5th Baronet 1729 births 1763 deaths Baronets in the Baronetage of England British explorers of North America People educated at King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds Pontiac's War