Who Was Robinson Crusoe?

Robinson Crusoe was BIG when I was a kid. We loved the movie and we loved playing the role of Robinson Crusoe.

The story of Robinson Crusoe is based on a true story as most everyone knows, but often I read or hear that Robinson Crusoe was a real person, I have to ask, “What?”

Robert Foe, who changed his name to Robert De Foe, wrote the story based on the earlier accounts of writers who told the story of William or Alexander Selkirk.

I got the following from: http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/eng/biblio/author/defoe.html:

“Robinson Crusoe (published in 1719) is based on the real story of William Selkirk, a Scottish sailor who went to sea in 1704 under William Dampier and was put ashore at his own request on an uninhabited island in the Pacific, where he survived until his rescue in 1709 by Woodes Rogers.”

When I was a boy, we followed the story that Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked. That was more exciting to De Foe and to us than having him abandoned by a sea captain with adequate tools and provisions to survive.

Extracted from: http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/william_dampier.html, Selkirk was born in 1676. Troublesome in church, he went to sea on August 27, 1695. Being “a pain” too on shipboard, he asked to be dropped off on a deserted island in October, 1703.

The island was the archipelago of Juan Fernandez. He took with him survival gear and a Bible. He was later rescued, as stated above, and returned to England.

This is from: http://www.famousamericans.net/woodesrogers/ “ROGERS, Woodes, English navigator, born in Derbyshire, England, about 1665; died in London in 1732. He was a commander in the navy when he was chosen in 1708 as captain of an expedition that was sent by merchants of Bristol, at the suggestion of William Dampier, to explore the Pacific ocean. …landing, 1 February, 1709, at Juan Fernandez island, rescued Alexander Selkirk (q. v.). On the southern coast of Peru, Rogers secured some rich Spanish prizes, attacked the city of Guayaquil, exacting from the citizens an enormous ransom, and sailed along the coast as far as Cape San Lucas in Lower California. After visiting Batavia he passed the Cape of Good Hope, and anchored in the Downs, 2 October, 1711.”

The above record says rather than William Selkirk, Alexander Selkirk. Both names are readily retrievable on the Internet and William and Alexander was the same guy. I always knew him as Alexander Selkirk.

After being rescued, he sailed for two years before returning to England. His life on shipboard had to have been exciting after sitting on the beach for so long, completely alone, watching for a rescue ship.

It is said that Bible reading changed his nature. He may not have enjoyed raiding Spanish vessels for profit.

His later marriage in England was a failure. He went back to his life at sea.

He died at sea on December, 12, 1721.

The End