Information Category | 08-03-08 02:26 GMT | Posted by Ian Chicken

William Dampier 1651-1715
Explorer, Buccaneer, Hydrographer and Navigator.

Dampier went  to sea at 16.

He was one of the most highly regarded map-makers and navigators of all time. He is credited as being the first to make contact with Nova Hollandia (Austrailia).

He was on board the pirate ship the Cygnet which ran aground there.

He kept very precise notes of his journeys, which in turn gave him a reputation.
 
He told of these trips in his own books, the first being published in 1697.
In 1699, these books where to get him his own ship the Roebuck, and a commission for exploration of Nova Hollandia and the area of New Guinea.

The Roebuck was not exactly of sound build, but Dampier got his crew to Dirk Hartog Island, just of the north west coast of Austrailia. He was looking for water but did not find any. He eventually refreshed his crew in Timor.

They eventually reached Batavia (and hit rocks there). The ship eventually sank on its return Journey in Clarence Bay, Ascension Island.

He was eventually court martialled for the Roebuck journey.

1675 – 1678 saw him become involved with buccaneers along the Spanish Main in Central America. Writing of his trips and they are corroborated by two of his shipmates, Basil Ringrose and the surgeon Lionel Wafer.

His most unusual associate, however, was probably Alexander Selkirk, a member of the crew of the 1703 voyage who was marooned by his own wish on Juan Fernandez Island.
 
 Selkirk, whose story was retold by Daniel Defoe in Robinson Crusoe in 1719.
 
 He was eventually rescued by Dampier on his last voyage.

Dampier led several mapping and exploration voyages around the world.

Notable Dates:
1673                Fought in the Dutch War
1679-1681        Buccaneering expedition against Spanish America
1683               Sailed from Virginia on a piratical voyage of the African coast,        
                       crossing the Atlantic, and then rounding Cape Horn
                       to prey on cities on the west coast of South America.He was   
                       Marooned on the Nicobar Islands
1699-1701      Made a Naval officer for an expedition to Australasia, Discovering the
                       Dampier Archipeligo and Strait, His ship The Roebuck eventually
                       sank off Ascension Island
1703-1711      Commanded an expedition, Pilot to Woodes Rogers on a round the
                       world Voyage