Howell Davis/Davies | |
|---|---|
 An engraving of Davis in a 1728 edition ofA General History of the Pyrates. | |
| Born | c. 1690 |
| Died | (1719-06-19)19 June 1719 |
| Piratical career | |
| Nickname | Dave or Davies |
| Type | Pirate |
| Years active | 18 July 1718 – 19 June 1719 |
| Rank | Captain |
| Base of operations | Caribbean Sea andWest Africa |
| Commands | FrigateCadogan Sloop-O-WarBuck Sloop-O-WarSaint James FrigateRoyal Rover |
Howell Davis (c. 1690 – 19 June 1719), also known asHywel and/orDavies, was aWelshpirate. His piratical career lasted just 11 months, from 11 July 1718 to 19 June 1719, when he was ambushed and killed. His ships were theCadogan,Buck,Saint James, andRover. Davis captured 15 knownBritish andFrench ships.
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Born inMilford Haven,Pembrokeshire,Wales, Davis started out in piracy on 11 July 1718 when the slave shipCadogan, on which he was serving as a mate, was captured by the pirateEdward England. Deciding to join the pirates, Davis was given command of theCadogan and set out forBrazil on 18 July 1718. However, his crew mutinied and sailed toBarbados instead. Here Davis was imprisoned on the charge ofpiracy, but was eventually released and sought shelter in thepirate den ofNew Providence in the Bahamas. With New Providence being cleaned out by GovernorWoodes Rogers, Davis left on thesloopBuck and conspired with six other crew members, who includedThomas Anstis andWalter Kennedy, to take over the vessel offMartinique. Davis was elected captain and conducted raids from his base atCoxon's Hole.
Subsequently, he crossed theAtlantic to terrorize shipping in theCape Verde Islands. One of the prizes he took there became the newflagship of Davis's pirate fleet, the 26-gunSaint James. He then formed a partnership with a French pirateOlivier Levasseur, known asLa Buse, and another pirate captain,Thomas Cocklyn, which lasted until they fell out in a drunken argument. Transferring to the 32-gunRover, Davis sailed south and captured more rich prizes off theGold Coast. One of his prisoners was fellow WelshmanBartholomew Roberts, who was destined to become even more famous as a pirate, as well asThomas Sutton, who would sail alongside Roberts for his entire pirate career.[1]
A clever and charming man as he was, Davis pretended to be a legitimateprivateer to deceive the commander of aRoyal African Company slaving fort inGambia. 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 ofPríncipe, 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.
There are known descriptions of three black flags used by Davis.
An account fromThe Information of Edward Green published on 29 April 1721:
hoysted up a black flag with a Death’s head and fired several Guns at the said Ship and took her within Sight of the said Island. And the said sloop was called theDuke and Duchess and was commanded by Howell Davis and mounted with ten Guns and had 70 Men on board or thereabouts.[2]
Other descriptions:
their Standard, which they hoisted at Main-topmast-head, with a Gun and Sword[3]
represented a man asleep and a skeleton with one hand a clock, a sword of the other[4]
CaptainWilliam Snelgrave, the master of theBird, a vessel captured by the pirates in 1719, later wrote an account of his experience. His ship was taken byThomas 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".[5]
The legend of Howell Davis has inspired recent works of fiction such asThe Noble Pirates by R. Laham.
Howell Davis makes a minor appearance inUbisoft's 2013 gameAssassin'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's shot corpse, and then makes a partnership with Roberts and kills the two corsairs responsible for Davis's death,John Cockram andJosiah Burgess. Later in the game, Roberts wears Howell's costume.
