Treasure on Juan Fernandez?

Hello All

Idaho Jones How did you go with records on John Edward Davis? That seems like an interesting lead.

Hello Dig4it  Thank you for your interesting post. I hope you have enjoyed this topic as much as I have.

Goldnboy that pub is looking pretty good.

But old hardluck has spent more than his fair share in them. So I have to be good. 

Hardluck 

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Hello Hardluck and GB,

So far I haven't tried to trace Davis back in the Americas. I was actually looking for some info on Blackbeard and saw the reference to Porto Bello. I did find a library link to the file but it's not open to the general public and I don't have access.

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The search continues





I still cannot access the volume, all copies are restricted that I have found.

It was actually written by Charles Leslie and not Edward Vernon. The taking of Porto Bello seems to refer to Vernon commanding a force in the 1740s, far to late for what I had hoped. 

The book is said to contain eyewitness accounts of Port Royal's fall into the sea. That would be interesting.

Only one tidbit I found relating to Davis, clipped supposedly from the Leslie work.

"The redoubtable John Davis carried fire and sword into Nicaragua and St. Augustine, retiring with immense booty."

Perhaps he did

 

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Hi Hardluck, glad you have enjoyed the post, I have learned a lot in digging for tidbits

I totally agree on the restricted access. I can see governing access to old or ancient books somewhat but this one is transcribed to the web. Where is the harm there?

Edward Davis is listed as John Davis in a few documents. Just because of the similar nature of occupation and friends I believe they are the same man. Edward Davis was a large muscular man though not described as tall, while John Davis remains a mystery as yet.

Point of fact to keep in mind is that all three names, John, Edward, and Davis are very common. I cannot therefore rule out they are two seperate people.

Back to digging 

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So where did William Knight go after the treasure split at Juan Fernandez?

Perhaps he took his new wealth to America and settled down? Here is a piece from a geneology work in the Louisiana area:

As indicated on the Knight Family Tree, the name William has been handed down repeatedly in every generation since Peter?s son William in the 1600?s. William was in every Knight family in Virginia, in Bulloch County, Georgia and in Washington Parish, LA. The name William Knight is still found in almost every Knight family, today. James is also a very common name in the Knight family, both in Louisiana and Georgia. Alvin Knight said that that there were so many William Knights and James Knights in Washington Parish in the 1800's that people had to start giving them nick names so that everybody would know which one they were talking about.

Just a wild guess at this point for somewhere to start. I'm guessing he didn't die in the company of pirates or we would likely have an idea. Perhaps he made a name change or just became mundane enough not to show up on the radar. I do know people like to name their children after prominant or famous ancestors. Perhaps he was the start of it all? The search goes on

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Hardluck - very interesting that you saw the 1994 documentary in which Maria Eugenia Beeche Brum presented (copies of) the letters supposedly written by Cornelius Webb to George Anson. I was beginning to wonder whether even the existence of the documentary might be a hoax!

Could you by any chance post the details of who made the documentary and when and for whom? It's variously said to have been made by the Discovery Channel or the BBC, or in cooperation between them, but I haven't been able to track it down. I'd very much like to get hold of a copy.

I first heard the Cornelius Webb story when I was about 12 in the mid-1970s. I specifically remember reading that Cornelius Webb found the treasure on Juan Fernandez and then reburied it. (I have a family interest in Juan Fernandez). What I don't recall is where I actually read this! I think it was in some kind of 'list' book, containing a large number of lists including a 'list of the world's top 10 treasures', but it would seem very hard to find the source at this distance in time. Webb was called a pirate. I don't recall Anson being mentioned. I haven't been able to find any indication that the story was abroad in the 1950s, but it was certainly out in the mid-1970s.

According to Glyn Williams in his book 'The Prize of All the Oceans', there was some British colonial interest in establishing a base on Juan Fernandez in the early 1750s, even if it didn't come to much.

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