James Davis

Who was James Davis?

James Davis was an English ship captain and author. He was part of the expedition of the Virginia Company of Plymouth which established the short-lived Popham Colony, also called "Northern Virginia."

Records suggest that Captain Davis and Virginia made at least one other Atlantic crossing, from England to the more successful Jamestown Settlement, a project of the Virginia Company of London. Virginia was apparently one of the two pinnaces in tow behind one of the larger ships of the Third Supply mission to Jamestown, which left Plymouth in 1609. They encountered a 3 day storm thought to have been a hurricane, resulting in the shipwreck of the flagship of the fleet, the Sea Venture on an uninhabited archipelago after the ships became separated. Virginia apparently survived the storm, and under the command of Captain James Davis, arrived in the Colony in October 1609. At that time, Captain Davis assumed command of Fort Algernon at Point Comfort, where he survived the Starving Time of 1609-10. The Virginia disappears from records in 1610.

The date of Captain Davis' death is uncertain.