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Howell Davis

Pirate captain on the Guinea coast, commodore of the confederacy that took the fort at Sierra Leone in April 1719 and plundered about ten English ships in the road, killed at Principe later that year and succeeded in command by Bartholomew Roberts.

BornNot establishedDied1719, PrincipeAlso writtenHowel Davis (Johnson, General History, 1724); Captain Davis (Snelgrave, A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, 1734); Howell Davis (modern conventional form; no period source read spells it so)

Howell Davis was commodore of a pirate confederacy on the Guinea coast for a few months of 1719, and was killed at Principe at the end of them. The one man who met him and wrote it down, the English slaving captain William Snelgrave, never learned his Christian name and called him Captain Davis.1,2

The name and the birthplace

Howel Davis and Captain Davis are the only period forms of the name. Johnson's chapter is headed "Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew"; Snelgrave, who stood on a deck with the man, gives no forename at all. Howell is the modern spelling, and the one a reader will look for.3

He "was born at Milford, in Monmouthshire, and was from a Boy brought up to the Sea", in Johnson's line, which trips over itself: Milford Haven is in Pembrokeshire, at the other end of south Wales. Either the town or the county is wrong. A Welshman, then, and nothing more exact than that.4

Sierra Leone, April 1719

Snelgrave came into Sierra Leone on 1 April 1719 and found Davis there, confederated with Cocklyn and La Bouse. He found a generous man who kept his company, near a hundred and fifty of them, in good order, and who spoke for him when it counted.5,6

The three companies took the fort and plundered about ten English ships in the road, Snelgrave's Bird Galley among them. His ship was taken by Cocklyn's crew and not by Davis: the generosity and the loss came from different quarters. The confederacy appointed Davis commodore, then drank itself into a quarrel, and he ended it: "since we met in Love, let us part in Love, for I find, that three of a Trade can never agree".7,8

From the Cadogan to Anamaboe

The route in runs through the Cadogan snow of Bristol, of which Davis was chief mate. The pirate England took her at Sierra Leone, where her master Skinner was murdered and the snow and cargo were given to "Howel Davis the Mate". His crew informed on him at Barbados, where he was held three months and discharged "without being brought to any Tryal", having been in no act of piracy. He was next aboard one of Woodes Rogers' trading sloops, the Buck or the Mumvil Trader, and off Martinique he rose in the night, secured the master and took her. The company elected him captain.9,10,11

Then a run of takings with no dates on them. Two French ships off Hispaniola, the second of twenty four guns taken by a show of false force, both let go. Shipping plundered in the road at the Isle of May, one vessel mounted with twenty six guns as the King James. The Portuguese fort at St Jago, gone at in the dark, three men killed. Gambia Castle, a Royal African Company fort, entered by a party posing as Liverpool merchants and stripped of about two thousand pounds in bar gold with no man lost on either side. A Dutch interloper off Cape Three Points that cost him nine men and became the Rover. Three ships at Anamaboe, one the Princess, out of which came her second mate, Bartholomew Roberts. And the richest of them, a Dutch ship carrying the Governor of Acra with fifteen thousand pounds sterling aboard.12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19

The company kept articles of its own, and two of them are known. The man who first sighted a sail that proved a prize was entitled to "the best Pair of Pistols on Board, over and above his Dividend", and such a pair "has sometimes been sold for thirty Pounds". The second was that "Quarter should be given whenever it was called for, upon Pain of Death".20,21

Principe

Davis died at Principe in 1719. He came in under English colours as a man of war hunting pirates. The French ship lying in the harbour he plundered on the pretext that she had traded with pirates. Then he meant to invite the governor and the chief men aboard and hold them for forty thousand pounds. The plot went ashore ahead of him. An ambuscade was laid on the way up to the governor's house, and Davis was shot through the bowels.22,23,24

His company elected Bartholomew Roberts captain in his room. The year is another matter: Johnson's Roberts chapter has Roberts leaving England in November 1719 and reaching Guinea about February following, which would put him at Anamaboe months after the man who took him there was dead.25,26

Two portraits

The generous commander of Snelgrave's narrative and the captain of Johnson's chapter do not average into one man. In the same months Davis stormed forts with men killed on both sides, left forced men behind, went up-country at Principe after other men's wives, and died over a ransom scheme of his own devising. Johnson says the crew resolved to revenge his death, "he being more than ordinarily respected by the Crew for his Affability and good Nature". Davis was killed before any court could hear him, and neither picture was ever put to one.27,28,29

No official paper naming Davis has been found. Jameson's Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period carries nothing on him, on the Buck, the Rover or Gambia Castle, and the colonial state papers read for July and September 1719 carry no entry either, though that is two page ranges of one volume. The Royal African Company's own books in T 70, which would settle Gambia Castle in a morning, and the Board of Trade papers in CO 388, are unread. Until one of them is read, the life rests on a chapter in a book.30,31

What the evidence does not settle

Forename and birthplace

  • Whether Howel was his forenamePossible
  • Whether Milford meant the town or the county
  • Johnson places Milford in Monmouthshire, a county Milford is not in

Chronology of the cruise

  • Independent dates for the cruise described by JohnsonPossible

Official record

  • Royal African Company or Board of Trade papers naming DavisVery likely

Each line is one question with its own grade, taken from the register where a claim carries it. Nothing here is graded as a whole.

Sources for this record

Every statement above that rests on a checked claim carries a small number; the numbers lead here. Each entry gives what is claimed, how far the record supports it, and where it comes from.

  1. A pirate captain surnamed Davis was active on the Guinea coast in 1719, and the merchant captain William Snelgrave, who met him at Sierra Leone, corroborates his existence at first hand while calling him only Captain Davis. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates)
  2. Charles Johnson's General History of the Pyrates (1724) is the only continuous narrative of Howell Davis's life, and almost every episode, ship name and figure in the standard story derives from it alone. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  3. The forename Howel, and so the modern Howell, rests only on the heading of Johnson's chapter, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew, Snelgrave supplying no forename at all, so that the two attested period forms are Howel Davis and Captain Davis. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates); A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  4. Johnson states that Davis was born at Milford, in Monmouthshire, and was from a boy brought up to the sea, a birthplace that is internally doubtful because Milford Haven lies in Pembrokeshire and not in Monmouthshire. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  5. Snelgrave arrived at Sierra Leone on 1 April 1719 and found Davis confederated there with Cocklyn and La Bouse, which is the one firmly datable point in Davis's career. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates)
  6. Snelgrave, an eyewitness, describes Davis as a generous man who kept a company of near 150 men in good order and who interceded on Snelgrave's behalf. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates)
  7. The confederacy of Davis, Cocklyn and La Bouse took the fort at Sierra Leone and plundered about ten English ships including Snelgrave's Bird Galley, which was taken by Cocklyn's crew rather than by Davis. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative and period narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates); A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  8. The three confederate captains appointed Davis their commodore, and Johnson records that Davis ended their quarrel by telling Cocklyn and La Bouse that since they met in love they should part in love, for three of a trade can never agree. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative and period narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates); A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  9. Johnson traces Davis into piracy through the Cadogan snow of Bristol, of which he was chief mate: the snow was taken at Sierra Leone by the pirate England, her master Skinner was murdered, and the vessel with its cargo was given to Howel Davis the mate. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  10. Johnson's chapter states that Davis was seized at Barbados on his crew's information, kept in prison three months, and discharged without being brought to any trial, having been in no act of piracy. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew), the Barbados imprisonment after the Cadogan reached the island
  11. Davis's independent command began, on Johnson's account, with a night rising aboard one of Woodes Rogers' trading sloops at Martinique, the Buck or the Mumvil Trader, in which the conspirators secured the master and seized the vessel, after which the company elected Davis captain. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  12. Johnson has Davis take a French ship of twelve guns off the north side of Hispaniola and then a French ship of twenty four guns by a stratagem of false force, both of which were later released. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  13. Johnson has Davis plunder the shipping in the road at the Isle of May and take one vessel into his own use, mounting her with twenty six guns and calling her the King James. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  14. Johnson describes a night assault by Davis's company on the Portuguese fort at St Jago in the Cape Verdes, in which three of his men were killed. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  15. Johnson describes the capture of Gambia Castle, a Royal African Company fort, by a ruse in which Davis and two of his men posed as Liverpool merchants, taking about 2,000 pounds sterling in bar gold with no man lost on either side. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  16. Johnson describes the capture of a Dutch interloper of thirty guns off Cape Three Points after a long fight in which nine of Davis's men were killed, the prize being fitted up and renamed the Rover of thirty two guns and twenty seven swivels. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  17. Johnson describes the taking of three ships at Anamaboe, the Hink Pink, the Princess and the Morrice Sloop, and it is from the Princess that her second mate Bartholomew Roberts was taken into the company. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  18. Johnson describes the capture of a Dutch ship carrying the Governor of Acra with money to the value of 15,000 pounds sterling aboard, the richest prize of the cruise in his account. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  19. The great majority of Davis's cruise, from the Cadogan through Coxon's Hole, the Cape Verdes, Gambia Castle, Cape Three Points and Anamaboe, is known only from Johnson and carries no independent calendar dates. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  20. Johnson's Davis chapter records the company's article that whoever first espies a sail, if she proves a prize, is entitled to the best pair of pistols on board over and above his dividend, and that such a pair has sometimes been sold for thirty pounds. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  21. Johnson's Davis chapter records a further article of the company, that quarter should be given whenever it was called for, upon pain of death. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew), the taking of the Dutch ship carrying the Governor of Acra
  22. Johnson describes Davis entering Principe under English colours as a man of war in quest of pirates and plundering a French ship lying there on the pretext that she had traded with pirates. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  23. Howell Davis was killed at Principe in 1719. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  24. Johnson gives the manner of the death: a plot to lure the governor of Principe and the chief men aboard and hold them for a ransom of 40,000 pounds was betrayed to the governor, an ambuscade was laid, and Davis was shot through the bowels. Possible Consistent with the evidence, not established. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  25. After Davis's death his company elected Bartholomew Roberts captain in his room. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  26. Johnson's own chronology is internally strained: his Roberts chapter has Roberts leaving England in November 1719 and reaching Guinea about February following, yet Davis, who took Roberts at Anamaboe, is placed dead in 1719. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  27. Snelgrave's first-hand portrait of a generous commander stands beside Johnson's record of storming forts with men killed, of forced men abandoned, and of a death arising from Davis's own attempt on the Principe women and his ransom plot. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. First-hand captive narrative and period narrative: A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade (Part III, the author's being taken by pirates); A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  28. Johnson's Roberts chapter states that the company resolved to revenge Davis's death, he being more than ordinarily respected by the crew for his affability and good nature as well as his conduct and bravery. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew) and Chap. IX, Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, and his Crew
  29. Davis was never tried and no court adjudicated his personal guilt, since he was killed at Principe in 1719, so that none of his acts can be called proven. Confirmed Directly supported by the record. Period narrative: A General History of the Pyrates (Chap. VIII, Of Captain Howel Davis, and his Crew)
  30. J. F. Jameson's Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period (1923) was searched and contains no Howell Davis, Buck, Rover, Gambia Castle or Principe material. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Modern source edition: Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents
  31. No contemporary official document naming Davis was located, the pages of the Calendar of State Papers Colonial volume 31 read for July and September 1719 carrying no Davis entry, and the Royal African Company (T 70) and Board of Trade (CO 388) series remaining unsearched. Very likely Strong evidence, short of proof. Calendared state papers: Calendar of State Papers Colonial, America and West Indies, Vol. 31 (1719-1720), pages read: July 1719 (pp173-185) and September 1719 (pp214-228)